Sept 19, 2007
No other rhythm action game on DS has yet to use the touch screen as a single, real instrument, for the duration of the game. In Rhythm Tengoku you're banging objects, shooting arrows, and punching cans. In Ouendan you're tapping a few random balls whose shapes are abstract rather than musical in nature. In Taiko No Tatsujin DS, however, as in its former arcade incarnations and Donkey Konga (made by the same team), the game is all about a real instrument. Styluses become
RPGs most certainly have their fans. But among those who don't enjoy them, the main complaint seems to be that the battles are boring - you're usually limited to picking options off of a menu, after all. Well, Tales of Phantasia is the game designed to fix that. While it has the look and story of an ultra-traditional RPG, the battles give you direct control over the action. It's a welcome change of pace whether you love or hate turn-based fighting, and it's little surprise that the series has
The first few minutes of Tamagotchi Connection are some of the cutest you'll ever find in gaming. You're greeted by adorable, bloblike creatures that are living in squalor, and now want to be your friend for life.
It's just you and your little tamagotchi buddy, opening a business on the corner, cleaning teeth, making brooches, cleaning laundry with the stylus ... all minigames that simulate work we should hate, but will spend countless hours playing. Then, after you've scrubbed your 100th
Remember the digital pet craze of the mid-ninties? If so, then you probably remember that it was Tamagotchi that started it all. They've come a long way since then, and now they're back in Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop 2.
Leaving behind the original Tamagotchi's roots, Corner Shop 2 is more a collection of minigames than a virtual pet. The game consists of various themed shops (burger joint, clothing boutique, bowling alley, sushi bar, airline, and so forth), and each one is a minigame.
Tank Beat combines rolling combat action and real-time strategy command, dividing attention between the top screen's muddy 3D rendering and the touchscreen's rote 2D world of targeting, route management, and support direction. Draw a blue line from your tank's radar blip to a destination, sweep the stylus to change the view, blow enemies up with a tense tap of the corresponding red dot, and issue orders to companions. The elements are simple, and there might've been a decent game in there
The DS' touch screen and microphone abilities have given developers ample opportunity to innovate. But for every genre-busting use of these features, there's a Tao's Adventure. The only thing worse than this turn-based RPG's inhumanly counterproductive interface is the total lack of anything remotely fresh, or hell, even fun.
In order to do virtually anything in this game, you have to tap a field of small, just slightly legible text on the touch screen. You can't end a conversation, search an
Back in the NES days, there was only one football game that mattered: Tecmo Bowl. Today it may come off as unrealistic and pretty shallow, but it was amazing then and is remembered fondly now. And with today’s football games dominated by sims like Madden, perhaps it's a good time for the return of Tecmo's simplicity. Just not with Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff.
As we stare down the barrel of a fresh new year, our thoughts turn to games. In this most futuristic year of 2010, technology will surely bless us with unparalleled experiences. Well, here’s hoping it does, because 2009 went out on a low with this cack-fest.
Arcade Attack is a fighting game so tedious that we suffered a total neural shutdown about five minutes in.
Is there no end to the abundant joy that’s been provided over the years by that most retarded of foils, the zombie? No, apparently not. The screenshots for this might look a bit kiddy, but the puzzling work definitely hits the mark like a shovel to the jugular. Take control of a trio of zombies who must rid the world of aliens, using each character’s unique moves and powerups.
Tenchu: Dark Secret takes ninjas Rikimaru and Ayame from the popular PlayStation series and squanders their potential in a generic action title that has little, if anything, to do with stealth. Even the plot is tired: players must rescue and defend a Japanese princess from being kidnapped by a group of evil bandits who have surrounded her village.
Viewed from above at a slight angle, players run around blurry, pixilated backgrounds trying to sneak up on guards from behind for a one-hit kill.
