The popular Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) came to the United States at the beginning of 1999, a few months after the original Game Boy games and simultaneous with the anime show. One year later, on April 10, 2000, the first digital implementation of the game arrived in the form of a Game Boy Color game. Although it features only the first three sets–just over 200 cards–and a low-resolution interface, it is a complete and faithful reproduction of the card game. I've played Magic: The Gathering, the world's first (and best) TCG, since 1994 but only got into the Pokémon TCG a couple years ago thanks to the free digital version. As a teenager I dismissed Pokémon as too simple, but the game is a lot of fun. I no longer see the simplicity as a drawback. There is plenty of strategy, and tournament-quality decks can do crazy things thanks to powerful deck-searching cards. A skippable tutorial teaches you how to play the Pokémon TCG. Players use their card collection to build decks of...

When I ordered an Analogue Super Nt to begin collecting and playing SNES games, I knew which game I wanted to play first: SimCity. This game hasn't been rereleased since the Wii Virtual Console in 2006! Analogue Super NT SimCity was created by Will Wright as a PC game, published in 1989. Nintendo worked with Maxis to have it ported to the Super Nintendo for their new console's launch. The SNES version is a huge improvement over the original, with better graphics, pop-up advice screens from Dr. Wright, and, most importantly, gifts. But let's start at the beginning. SimCity was the first ever city-simulation video game. Your goal is to build up a city as successfully as you can. You can play however you like, as it is not possible to "beat" the game, but the main achievement is reaching a population of 500,000, at which point your city becomes a "megalopolis." The maps are fairly small (and some have a lot of water), so the only way to achieve this is to h...

Pilotwings 64 was the N64's only launch title other than Super Mario 64 . As a flight simulator, it was perfect for Nintendo's first 3D-capable system. It easily surpassed the original Pilotwings . Pilotwings 64 boasts seven vehicles in total. The rocket belt and hang glider return from the original, though surprisingly there's no plane! It's been replaced with a new vehicle: the gyrocopter, which is like a primitive helicopter. All of the vehicles are controlled with the control stick. You can switch between first- and third-person perspectives with the R button and pan the camera by holding a C button. The A button speeds up the gyrocopter, while the B button slows it down. The hang glider can't be sped up except by diving. Instead, pushing A or B causes you to "flare," which slows you down. To land the hang glider, you have to hold down A, which neither the game nor manual explains. I repeatedly crashed because I thought I was supposed to tap the button...

Pilotwings (like F-Zero ) was intended to show off the SNES's Mode 7 scaling graphics. Although its visuals hardly impress today, it looked amazing thirty years ago. How much fun it is to play is another question. Watch a video version of this review The game consists of a series of lessons (or Flight Areas), each of which requires completing objectives. Each objective uses a different vehicle, of which there are four: light plane, skydiving, Rocketbelt, and hang glider. You can do them in any order and are shown the objective, controls, and scoring criteria before you begin. When you complete a lesson, you receive a License Number that is actually a password, which I suppose is clever. The first lesson has two objectives. For the former, you have to fly the plane along a predetermined path (marked with green dots) and then safely land it on the runway. You're graded on accuracy, time, angle, and beam. The first instructor, Tony, tells you that you have 45 seconds, but don'...