Yet another mediocre Nintendo DS card game, I hear you think! That’s almost right. This time, I have some good news: it’s slightly better than mediocre, go fish—no wait, figure! It’ll be the last one, pinkie swear. Ultimate Card Games from Cosmigo GmbH looks like another bargain bin game, but by the time they got this out in 2011 (after first releasing a version on the GBA), I can finally but still a little hesitantly say that I like winning tricks on my DS. Contrary to 18 Classic Car...| Nintendo DS on Jefklak's Codex
After revisiting Clubhouse Games on the Nintendo DS to satisfy my craving for (mobile) (digital) classic trick taking games and digging deeper into the Nintendo DS’s huge library, I realized my mistake: I clearly undervalued Clubhouse Games—and perhaps even the PC granddaddy of card gaming Hoyle Card Games. Especially by putting those two games in context of the more obscure DS card games like this one. I rectified the mistake by upping the score. So what’s up whit 18 Classic Card Games...| Nintendo DS on Jefklak's Codex
Clubhouse Games/42 All-Time Classics: Trick Taking On The Go. As part of my digital trick taking craving, after being done with Sierra’s funky opponents in Hoyle Card Games, I suddenly remembered the possibility to play Hearts on the Nintendo DS thanks to 42 All-Time Classics (the name of my PAL copy) or Clubhouse Games (for some reason the name to the rest of the world?). Let’s see how this game collection, this time not limited to just card games, still holds up twenty years later. Hint...| jefklakscodex.com
Zoo Keeper a.k.a. Animal Bejeweled. The rise and fall of web-based Flash games netted us a permanent addiction to tile-matching games ever since PopCap’s Bejeweled in 2001 and its innumerable subtle and not so subtle ripoffs. Zoo Keeper is one of the latter ones, initially also a Flash game built by the Japanese Robot Communications, which can still be played in your favorite browser thanks to Archive.org’s Flash-emulator. Success Corporation fleshed out the concept and released it for Ni...| jefklakscodex.com
New Super Mario Bros: The First Cheerful One. After finishing New Super Mario Bros. 2 on the 3DS, I wanted to revisit the 2006 title that revived classic 2D Mario platforming: the original New Super Mario Bros. Via Jefklak's Codex| jefklakscodex.com
Etrian Odyssey Review. Old School dungeon crawlers. It has been a long time since we’ve seen these types of games properly released. Veteran Roleplaying players should remember Eye of the Beholder, the Bard’s Tale, Might & Magic, Wizardry and other series, released upon different non-console platforms: DOS, Commodore 64, Amiga, … These games all used to have a few things in common, as explained in the Roleplaying Concepts article. Via Jefklak's Codex| jefklakscodex.com
Castlevania Portrait of Ruin Review. Castlevania games tend to pop up each year on Nintendo’s Handheld platform. The last entries: Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow, followed the story of Soma, who mysteriously inherited Dracula’s dark abilities. Via Jefklak's Codex| jefklakscodex.com
Animal Crossing: Wild World Adventure Blog. It is a wild world indeed as the Acorn festival is about to start. Should I exchange some acorns ro net me a chair so I can gift Drift something for his birthday? What to do! Via Jefklak's Codex| jefklakscodex.com
About the Codex. Hi, I'm Jefklak/Wouter and you're looking at Jefklak's Codex, a dedicated and highly opinionated website about nostalgic games. The word nostalgic should be emphasized here. I grew up with a Game Boy between my hands and PC RPG games burnt into my retina. That healthy cocktail left a lasting impression—and netted me the Codex (and glasses). Via Jefklak's Codex| jefklakscodex.com
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes. If you’ve ever wondered what a “Puzzle RPG” might look like, you should play Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes, a successful blend of tactical puzzling with light RPG elements that perfectly fits on Nintendo’s mobile DS platform. Via Jefklak's Codex| jefklakscodex.com
Puzzle Quest a.k.a. Roleplaying Bejeweled. What do you get when you combine an animal zoo with the Bejeweled gemstones in a 2D grid? Zoo Keeper (2004). What do you get when you combine RPG mechanics with those same jewels? Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (2007) and a bazillion successors, spin-offs and rip-offs such as Puzzle Quest Galactrix, Gems of War, and even a Marvel Puzzle Quest. As an RPG fan but a match-three skeptic, I was long aware of this game but dismissed it as too casu...| jefklakscodex.com
