the NEO Reviewer report zone
GBA/NDS Game Reviews (Final as of Apr 1.) --- By
sumiguchi
The NDS/GBA GAME division of NEO SPRING COMPO 2008 (25 entries
total)
I tested with DSMotion for all games supporting motion and
considered that in the score. The games are sorted by score
with the first being the best.
Position Project Title Author/Poster Score
[NDS GAME] Super Wings [GBA] eKid 9.5/10
A really cool retro shooter! It offered up a tough challenge
but really fun gameplay. The story had lots of funny lines like
"The more good luck of the next time" and "Somebody set us up
the bomb!" adding to the overall retro appeal. The weapon power
ups are awesome and the bombs blew up big. Very fun game but I
really wish I could power down my gba and start it up again on
any level that I already beat once.
[NDS GAME] LoneWolfDS - Flight From The Dark Michoko
9/10
The DS is well suited for this type of game - which is a choose
your own path novel type of experience. The games is very well
done with profesional graphics and solid interface! Keeping
track of all your attributes manually is a thing of the past
since this version takes care of it for you - which makes the
experience a little more casual and enjoyable (at least now...I
can't be bothered with that kind of tedium - but it was fun as a
kid).
The game could use a few more animations, maybe some content
specific stuff(?) and I like to see the page # reference go away
but this is nitpicking - this is a great idea and I hope more
adventures will come!
[NDS GAME] Legion smealum 8.5/10
This is a very original 3d shooter with a lot of style and
humor. It has some great graphics and cutscene images, the
music sets the mood well and the sfx all sound good. The
dialogue was good - which is important because there is a lot of
it. I wish that touching the screen or pressing a button would
advance to the next page immediately instead of waiting a couple
seconds.
The inventory system is there but doesn't really seem to be
functional or necessary yet. The controls were intuitive and
the shooting was great! This would have been more fun if there
were more bad dudes as the action seemed to end too quickly.
The zoom level would work better if there was a good cover
system in place as implied in the dialogue. I really enjoyed
playing through this game and will be checking for updates.
[NDS GAME] Game Melody Oratorio DesertDog
8.5/10
This is a great concept that teaches you how to play some great
classic video game music on piano. I have a piano that I can't
play...well couldn't play I guess - now I can play super mario
and bubble bobble! The graphics are very clean and the menus
work very well - though I wish I could replay a practice stage.
There are three practice stages to help you learn the song - but
I found I had to play through a few times to memorize all the
notes before I could get through the recital.
I'd like to have the songs start playing when you select them in
the main menu and I think a level editor would be a great
addition or just more more more songs!
[NDS GAME] Scogger 0.2 scognito 8/10
This is a simple concept puzzle game where you need to sink all
the pads by jumping on them. The game features nice looking
graphics and good sound effects. Each game consists of 10
levels that start out easy and get hard as you progress. The
beauty of this game is that everytime you play, you'll play a
different combination of levels out of a total of 100 - so there
is a lot of gameplay here if you like this type of puzzle. I
do.
I wish the game had some highscores - maybe just the amount of
time it takes to complete the 10 levels with some penalty for
restarts (or something like that) so that you could compete with
yourself. As it stands though this is a great game to pick up
and play if you have 10 minutes to spare though I have to wonder
if it wouldn't be better if all 100 levels were avialable by
progressing through the game (like how Casses DS does it) .
[NDS GAME] Piztog Tower Defense Shoog 7.5/10
This is a really nice tower of defence game that has a nice look
and very good purchase/place mechanism and no need to keep
switching screens. The top screen has all the information about
the options, a birds eye view of the map and a tip box. The
bottom screen is the area zoomed in and sports some slick popup
menus that are complimented by the information panel on the top
screen. Very nicely done.
The game does suffer a little in that it takes a really long
time to play and I haven't quite figured out how to stop some of
the monsters...those damn fish make it through every time.
This game seems to be mocking me - I last a little longer, a
little longer ...and die!(repeat) I think my best is to get
28/30...but I'm not sure what happens if I get 30/30 so I'll
have to keep trying.
[NDS GAME] Escape From Island Ben2303 7.5/10
This a remake of an online point and click game. If you haven't
played the online version, which I hadn't, then all the better
because the fun part is to figure out what you need to do to
escape the island. I checked out the online version and the ds
version has the same graphics but is missing some of the
animations.
It does add some fitting music and the inventory control worked
well. It took me several tries to get through this game and
beating it is a very rewarding! You get ###### ## ## ######.
(censored by spoiler alert!) This is a great experience but by
its nature lacks replayability.
[GBA Game] Super Mario : The Last GBA Quest omg
7.5/10
This has really good retro gameplay - it is a very well done and
very mario-ish as subtly implied by the title. Every detail
has been considered from sound effects and animations. I have
to say that I hate spawn points where you immediately fall into
a hole if you are impatient like me and are holding down the
d-pad as you respawn. Dead. Dead Ok I remember don't hold the
dpad...whoops Dead. Dead....
I had to supercard patch this game to get it to work with my
supercard sd - which is really unusual - most homebrews don't
need patching. I found the game a little frustrating but I
think fans of this genre will really enjoy this.
[NDS GAME] DiceSoldiers t4ils 7/10
This has familiar gameplay to risk which overall works very
well. The game is very functional and could use some animations
and better sound effects. The game does move at a fast pace
and does support a range of local multiplayer options. This
would be a good game to get online or to further develop the
local game play modes - maybe some gameplay to sway the outcome
of the battle.
[NDS GAME] Puzl SiW 7/10
Hey! - a really good puzzle game and puzzle maker! Adding my
own jpeg images worked effortlessly and the mechanism that
locked your peice into place worked really well. The main menu
seems to have a few options, but only one option was available -
which basically allows you to browse folders and select an image
to use.
Overall this worked well and was easy to use so I think any
puzzle fan will be very pleased with this offering. I'm not the
only one that added a boobs folder to the puzl directory am I?
[NDS GAME] 15a. ULTIMATE SLIDING PUZZLE - Pack Ecchi kukulcan
7/10
[NDS GAME] 15c. ULTIMATE SLIDING PUZZLE - Pack Arcade
kukulcan 7/10
[NDS GAME] 15b. ULTIMATE SLIDING PUZZLE - Pack Sci-Fi
kukulcan 7/10
The three Ultimate Sliding Puzzle Pack games offer the same
gameplay with a variety of different themed images. This takes
a little time to get your head around how to move peices around
but by the time you solve the first puzzle it all makes sense.
There are 50 puzzles to unlock in each game which gives a lot of
selection! The menu's, transitions etc are all well polished
but I think I prefered the music in Virus DS. Something a
little more mellow would have been nice.
[NDS GAME] ChessNET - Online Chess Game (Release 1)
CYBER_Aeon 7/10
This is a really clean looking chess game that supports 2 player
local or asyncronise online. The iterface is slick, the
animations and icons are good. The interface for the main
menu's and the gameplay is really good and so far the online has
worked flawlessly - though these menus were mostly text based
and used some crazy long number as an id instead of, say the
name on your ds. The game is unfinished and there is no music
or sound effects but its a terrific & very functional start. A
live-mode online version would be a nice addition as I tend to
forget that I'm in a game if it was more than 5 minutes ago!
[NDS GAME] Electro chris28 6.5/10
This is an interesting game that has two modes - one is a
falling blocks game and the other is more like tetris attack.
The difference is that to clear blocks you need to make a
connection from one side of the screen to the other with the
same type blocks. So think Tetris and Tetris Attack mixed with
Polarium.
I found the gameplay to be challenging and unique but I think it
could be much more fun. I hope the author plays around with some
different ideas to jazz up the gameplay. The graphics looked ok
but there really wasn't much animation or sound effects and that
small font was hard to read! I think this game has a lot of
potential but this version falls a little short.
[NDS GAME] MarbleMan: The Arena MagNet 6.5/10
Stay alive as long as you can by moving your marble into the red
zone to add time to the clock. The game plays pretty well
especially with motion - but after getting used to it, the
stylus controls worked well too. I'd like to see some more
variation in the gameplay - maybe multiple balls on the screen
or maybe different zones or power ups - like one to add speed,
one to add power (to blast through obstructions). It is a well
done game but there wasn't enough gameplay to keep my attention
for too long. The game does keep track of scores, so I'll
probably go back in and see if I can't beat my record!
[NDS GAME] 13. AREA TEN kukulcan 6.5/10
This a very polished game based on a simple concept. The menu's,
transitions, and all the graphics look professional (apart from
the clapping sound :p). The music in the game really adds to
the atmosphere and overall I love the style. I did find the
gameplay to get frustrating as you level up because it gets
really really hard - though I left my ds running while I type
this up and
I just got another round of applause so I did something right!
[NDS GAME] DualShooter eadmaster 6/10
Dual shooter is a top down shoot'em up with really fast moving
bullets making this game quite challenging. I found the stylus
control to be only option to stay alive through a level. The
graphics were ok but not great and they weren't animated. There
was an overall lack of polish on the game -f or example the bomb
kills everything on the screen but there wasn't any sign of the
bomb (except that everything died!).
The HUD was impossible to read and I had no idea when my energy
was gone until I died. Trying to read that tiny hud would
basically insure my demise negating the need for me to have
looked at it in the first place.
[NDS GAME] Star Wars Battles space1 6/10
This is a single player battleship type game set in the star
wars universe. The game does add a twist - where you have to
battle 1 vs 1 across a meteor belt when you hit the enemy ship
or when it hits you. So just because you got hit does not mean
all is lost - you have a chance to defend yourself. While this
is a great twist - it gets monotonous and I found it to be too
easy to exploit the AI in this shooting match which heavily
swayed the odds of winning in my favour.
[NDS GAME] ASCIIWAR 0.9999 samel 6/10
I have mixed emotions - an interesting adventure game that
suffers from ridiculous controls and ascii graphics. I guess
the ascii-ness gives it some retro-appeal especially when you
consider the story but I found it to be just too destracting and
the controls were too bizarre. I think just changing the
controls would make this game a whole lot more playable and I
may be able to get past the ascii.
[NDS GAME] Snake Dual Screen edddy 5.5/10 (Updated
April 1)
This is a classic snake game that is so classic it moves the
snake in blocks. I found that this made the control a little
harder because if I just tapped the direction - it didn't seem
to register if I didn't time it right.
I can see that the author put a lot of polish in this in terms
of menus options and the static graphics (well level gfx are ok
too). Once I got used to the controls I got better but still
gave it a low score because it is a snake game, but the game was
put together very well.
[NDS GAME] NoobMiniGames tiancai 4.5/10
This is a spot the differences game that tracks your highscores
by seeing how many differences you can spot in a set amount of
time. Since there is only one type of game it got pretty old
pretty fast. Needs more minigames!
[NDS GAME] PongClassicDS (0.5) minishlink 4.5/10
This is a pretty good pong game with a lot of attention to
detail. I like the fast pace but it would have been nice to see
classic mode run a little slower. The psychodelic mode wasn't
what I was expecting but it does add a nice brain twist to the
game.
Overall I wish the length of the game was shorter - say 5 points
instead of 25, and a I found the menu to be cluttered/confusing.
[NDS GAME] jaPongG leinad 4/10
This pong game seems a little more true to the original but does
offer a new 3 player mode which is interesting. The menus could
have been improved a little but overall this plays as well as a
pong game should!
[GBA GAME] Chocobo World Deluxe Davgav 2/10
Well this is a start of a game but is buggy and not done enough
to be fun. There are some interesting ideas in it but.... well
- what can I say? |
NDS Division reviews by thebawp --- By:
thebawp [
* No.1 NEO Reviewer *
]
Neoflash 2008 Competition NDS/GBA Game Reviews
My Top 10 Games (in order)
1. LoneWolfDS ~ Play the popular gamebook on your DS,
with automated battles, game saves and more!
2. ASCIIWAR 0.9999 ~ This is a faithful homage to the
classic game Rogue, but with a technological twist. Addictive
and fiendish fun.
3. Super Wings ~ A frantic but retro flying shooter with
awesome power ups and fast action.
4. Escape From Island ~ Adventure fans everywhere
should give this a whirl, this game showcases what an excellent
platform the DS is for the genre.
5. Game Melody Oratorio ~ Learn to play classic video
game tunes with this polished piece of kit.
6. Legion ~ Quirky dialogue, 3D graphics and some fun
shooting action - and this project's only in its early stages!
Definately one to watch the development of.
7. Electro ~ A puzzle game that's just a bit different,
but still plenty of fun and with great visuals and acoustics.
8. AREA TEN ~ Another interesting puzzle game, it starts
off simple, but soon gets frantic!
9. Piztog Tower Defence ~ A very well laid out, polished
piece of homebrew, that sees you constructing defence towers
(No, really!) to attack any passing invaders.
10. Dice Soldiers ~ Play with up to 5 other opponents
(CPU or humans) to CONQUER THE WORLD. With dice. Although
actually, there are no dice in the game.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Snake Dual Screen edddy
Impressions: Being a fan of the original snake, I was intrigued
by the idea of playing the game on the DS. The idea of making
the game play over both screens is a nice idea, but I'm not sure
if it's entirely successful, as I often found myself clearing
one screen then the next, rather than scrolling back and forth
over the two.
Presentation: Cheap and cheerful, with a very homemade look
about it, although I'd like to stress this is no bad thing. The
music is fairly pleasant and upbeat, and suits the graphical
style well.
Gripes: First few levels are almost painfully slow. The sound
effect of your snake dying is a bit random (sounds like a duck!)
Closing Comments: It's a nice effort which is quite well
realised. I'm not sure if it's a classic, in a way, there's
almost too much added to this game which detracts from the
essentially classic gameplay.
Score: 7/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Game Melody Oratorio DesertDog
Impressions: This is a simple idea, with the aim of helping
players to learn classic video game themes on the piano. The
keyboard is perfectly responsive, and the 'recital' stage is
nicely executed.
Presentation : It's simple without anything overly fancy, but
it serves its purpose well enough. It's presented in a clean
and pleasant manner.
Gripes: None, this is a smart, well executed idea. A few more
songs might be nice but as it stands, this is a very nice piece
of homebrew.
Closing Comments: Very impressive. This type of homebrew is
what really makes me think the DS homebrew scene is great to be
a part of.
Score: 8/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ChessNET - Online Chess Game (Release 1) CYBER_Aeon
Impressions: Everything is responsive, and well implemented. I
liked that you could easily resume local games.
Presentation: The presentation is simple but slick.
Gripes: It would have been nice for a single player option, but
I know it's meant to be multiplayer. Also, I could not connect
to server for online gaming, which is a great shame.
Closing comments: Development is still ongoing, but I think
this seems to be a well supported project that's definately
worth keeping an eye on.
Score: 7.5/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Legion smealum
First Impressions: Everything about this game is very
impressive from the start. It has a very professional air about
it, with lots of dialogue (with some fun ideas), interesting
characters, and a very 'fallout' feel to it.
Presentation: Very slick, very stylish. Music is well suited to
game and is as slick as the graphics. However, some areas seem
a little lifeless though and because your own character takes up
a large part of the screen, sometimes you don't see enemies
until you're face to face with them which makes shooting them a
bit tricky and wild at times.
Gripes: In the dialogue sections, when trying to go to the next
page, you have to tap 'next' more than once which can get a
little tedious. There are still some bugs present (you're able
to enter areas you shouldn't).
Closing comments: Overall, I think this is extremely promising
and is probably the most ambitious of all the entries, but this
is not a finished product which makes it hard to rate it above
more polished entries.
Score: 8/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Star Wars Battles space1
Impressions: I'm a big battleships fan, and a Star Wars fan to
boot, so I was interested in this immediately.
Presentation: Nice use of sound effects and music (I paused the
game whilst writing down my thoughts and was treated to the Star
Wars bar music!) and appropriate graphics, the controls are also
fairly responsive.
Gripes: The mini game, although a nice idea, can get a little
tedious especially when you've hit a ship one turn, and your
opponent hits your ship the turn after. Also, the AI is
definately flawed. Additionally, there is no indication of your
own ships damage, or when you've actually destroyed one of your
opponents ships. No 2 player option?
Closing Comments: Overall, this is a nice effort, with an
interesting twist on a classic game. However, there are too
many niggling flaws in this to make it a mainstay on my homebrew
cart.
Score: 6.5/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PongClassicDS (0.5) minishlink
Impressions: I really wasn't keen on the music at all (to the
point that I had to turn it down completely.) There's plenty of
levels of difficulty to choose from, and the psychedelic mode
makes things a little more interesting.
Presentation: Very basic, I expected 'psychedelic' mode might
bring in a touch of colour, but everything remained a resolute
black and white.
Gripes: The music (as already mentioned) and that I just didn't
find it very fun to play.
Closing comment: Not a bad effort, but it's not something I'll
be playing in the foreseeable future.
Score: 6.5/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Escape From Island Ben2303
Impressions: This is a smart and fairly fun adventure game,
with some nice little nods to old school Lucasarts point n
clicks like Zak McKracken, Indiana Jones and Day of the
Tentacle. The puzzles aren't terribly taxing, and the game only
took about 20 minutes to complete, but it was fun nonetheless.
Presentation: Very nice presentation, with nicely drawn graphics
and nice music. The game works well on the NDS, with good use
of the touch screen/dual screen. It's easy to travel from
screen to screen using the stylus or the cross pad, and it's
equally easy to flip to your inventory screen via touching the
back pack icon with your stylus or just clicking L or R. Again,
it's easy to combine items via drag and drop.
Gripes: None really. There are one or two leaps in logic and a
red herring or two, but those are things commonly present in
most adventure games!
Closing Comments: A fun diversion that has been ported well to
the DS. The interface is pretty much without fault, and it's
hard to think of a more perfect candidate for conversion to the
DS.
Score: 8/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ASCIIWAR 0.9999 samel
Impressions: Wow, just wow. I have always been a massive fan of
roguelikes, so to see asciiwars and play it on my DS is
amazing. The command list at first is a little daunting (a lot
to remember), and I didn't take it all in to begin with. The
game itself is extremely smooth and well implemented. The
keyboard works very well and is very responsive, and the
controls are well thought out. Being able to map a command to
the A, X, and Y button is a definite plus.
Presentation: Sure the graphics are only asci characters, but to
me they're beautiful.
Additional thoughts: The intro is a nice touch, with missing
characters and broken English which perfectly illustrate the
idea that things have gotten corrupted in a nasty way. The
first few plays saw me die very quickly but I got to see that
the scoreboard seemed to work perfectly. I soon learned that
resting is essential to survival, as was the help menu (easily
found by touching L and hitting h on the keyboard). Also, the
spell system is essential, and a very nice feature which I don't
really recall using so much in a rogue-like game before.
Gripes: Some 'monsters' can be hard to see (dark grey c's on a
black/light grey background) and of course you can't attack
diagonally (though that is a fault of the DS rather than the
game).
Closing comments: I sense there's a lot of depth to this game
despite the deceptively simple appearance of it. This is
definitely a game I will be keeping on my supercard.
Score: 8.5/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scogger 0.2 scognito
Impressions: The opening screens of this game are pretty
polished for homebrew. From the title, I expected a fogger
esque game, and I wasn't misled.
Presentation: Quite polished. I wouldn't quite say it's
commercial quality (although it definately beats some of the
shovelware commercial releases!) with clear, colourful graphics,
and soundtrack that was quite reminiscent of Banjo-Kazooie.
Gameplay: This is a fun little puzzle game that I actually
found quite challenging.
Gripes: The 'herald' music at the start of each level is fine,
but as it repeats every time you restart a failed level (which
can happen very quickly), it soon gets a bit irritating, but I
could mute it.
Closing comments: This is an entertaining and well thought out
diversion. It's not the most flashy game in the contest, but
it's well realised.
Score: 7.5/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DiceSoldiers t4ils
Impressions: I've never played Risk, so I wasn't sure what to
expect. After a few turns (and after watching the cpus duke it
out) I soon got the idea, though I've got a lot more to learn.
Presentation: I thought the music was suitable for the game,
and the graphics weren't bad, although having everything cramped
onto the bottom screen wasn't ideal.
Additional thoughts: As a new comer to this type of game, I'll
admit to being a bit overwhelmed at first. I found it very
difficult to begin with, but I can see myself learning to enjoy
this.
Gripes: A tutorial mode might have been a good addition for
those new to the game, and not everything is labelled clearly
(that button you can put a red X through when beginning a game -
what is that for?).
Closing comments: This is a good game which is enhanced by the
fact you can have multiple players. It's well executed, with
responsive controls.
Score: 7.5/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DualShooter eadmaster
Impressions: There's little to form first impressions on, but
this is a scrolling flight/shooter which utilised the dual
screen function and the touch controls.
Presentation: The graphics and sound are both nothing too
advanced, but they do the job. They do seem a little 'flat'
though. The start screen is also disappointingly basic.
Additional thoughts: I thought this game made good use of both
the dual screens and the touch controls, although you could use
the D pad if preferred. I was also impressed by how fast the
game was, with no slowdown despite all the action.
Gripes: I wasn't that keen personally on the music.
Closing comments: This is frantic, fast, fun shooter, but it's
a touch on the basic side.
Score: 7/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Electro chris28
Presentation: The presentation of this game is excellent, and
I'd say it could easily be mistaken for a piece of commercial
software. The graphics, whilst not anything amazing, are
polished and look good. There's a nice selection of tunes to
listen to while you play aswell.
Additional thoughts: This is an original game that is quite fun
to play, although, as with a lot of puzzle games, it can also be
frustrating.
Gripes: Sometimes, the screen doesn't register your stylus taps
which can be frustrating. Also, I'm still not sure if I'm sold
on the left to right concept.
Closing comments: I think this is certainly a piece of homebrew
I could see myself recommending to others.
Score: 8/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JaPongG leinad
Impressions: Not a lot. This is a faithful recreation of
Pong.
Presentation: Everything about this game is extremely basic.
There's no sound, and the graphics are what you'd expect from a
Pong game. I did like that all the instructions were on the top
half of the screen at the start.
Gripes: The basic presentation will not appeal to a lot of
people.
Closing comments: If you want to play Pong on your DS, this is
the game I'd recommend. Yes, it's simple, but it's fun. You can
play vs. the cpu or a friend, and I liked that there was an
option to play across the 2 screens too.
Score: 7/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
15c. ULTIMATE SLIDING PUZZLE - Pack Arcade kukulcan
15b. ULTIMATE SLIDING PUZZLE - Pack Sci-Fi kukulcan
15a. ULTIMATE SLIDING PUZZLE - Pack Ecchi kukulcan
Impressions: There's a lot of detail, here, so if you like
sliding puzzles, this would be heaven.
Presentation: Everything is clean and clear, and well presented
and the music is fairly interesting to listen to.
Additional thoughts: I found it disappointing that you couldn't
use the stylus when playing the puzzles although I suppose it
makes more sense to use the dpad. There are a lot of different
puzzles in each pack, almost to an exhaustive extent!
Gripes: No touch screen control in the puzzles.
Closing comments: For sliding puzzle fans, I wouldn't recommend
anything else!
Score: 7.5/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AREA TEN kukulcan
Impressions: I had to read the info screen to find out what to
do (it's good that it was provided), but I was initially very
impressed by this game. Further investigation proved it to
fulfil my early expectations.
Presentation: The presentation for this game has clearly had a
lot of work put into it. The menus look good, the controls are
responsive, and generally, the graphics are pretty good. The
music is pretty cool, but after a while, I had to turn it down,
as it's quite brash.
Additional thoughts: This is quite a fun puzzler that can soon
get quite challenging. I did like that the speed and size of
the balls could be altered to your own preference.
Gripes: I got the blue and red areas confused because I was
looking at the sides of the screens rather than the colours of
the actual play area.
Closing comments: An interesting concept that's well executed
and fun to play.
Score: 8/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Super Wings [GBA] eKid
Impressions: The introduction sequence and title screen is
pretty basic, but none of that really matters once you begin to
play.
Presentation: Although you could argue the graphics look dated,
I think they look great. There are some nice vehicle animations
and varied back drops which reflect any explosions by leaving
dark patches behind. The music is well suited to the action.
Additional thoughts: I love the dialogue in this game,
particularly the text you get when you die. It made me
chuckle! Also, the power ups you can pick up are very cool!
Gripes: I could have done with more lives and when I first
began to play, the game did stutter very slightly.
Closing comments: This is fast paced and frantic, and actually
very fun. It's also quite challenging, but not annoyingly so,
it just makes it more satisfactory to play as you get better.
Really, this is an excellent game and one I would happily
recommend to shooter fans.
Score: 8/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LoneWolfDS - Flight From The Dark Michoko
Impressions: I must admit that I am a huge fan of the Lonewolf
game books, so when I saw this had been made for the DS, I was
very excited by the prospect. Just to replay the books would
have been enough to make me very happy, but what Michoko has
delivered was above and beyond even my wildest expectations.
Presentation: The presentation of this homebrew is stunning. I
think I could easily convince any of my friends that this was a
commercial piece of software. The music is very suitable for
playing along too, it's quite dark and atmospheric, and the
composition quality is very good. The page turning sound effect
is a very sweet touch.
Additional thoughts: The execution of this homebrew is note
perfect. The layout is superb, and there has not been a feature
implemented that does not work incredibly well. The touch
screen controls are responsive, the battles and stats all work
well and of course, it's based on a great story. You can also
save your progress at any time, and it's so much fun, you'll
want to play each and every path you can.
Gripes: This is only the first game book, so I hope the entire
series is converted to this format.
Closing comments: I've been a Lone Wolf fan for years, but it's
projects like this that should win the series a whole new set of
fans. LoneWolfDS is certainly my favourite entry of the Neoflash
contest, but also the most impressive piece of homebrew I've
played. It actually makes the gamebooks more fun to
play, because it takes away all of the tedious elements (rolling
the dice for battles/keeping track of inventory) and does it all
for you.
Score:9.5/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MarbleMan: The Arena MagNet
Impressions: The howto screen is quite helpful, and the whole
style of the game feels quite retro to me.
Presentation: The graphics are fairly simple, but are
effective. The music is okay, but I had to turn it down after a
while.
Additional thoughts: This is a game of survival against the
clock, and the action can get quite frantic, with lots of
obstacles thrown in the way. It's fun and fast, and although
the concept is fairly simple it is well executed.
Gripes: I found it tricky to get to grips with the stylus
controls.
Closing comments: It's a shame I couldn't try out the DSMotion
controls, as I really think Marbleman would be a lot more fun
using them.
Score: 7.5/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chocobo World Deluxe Davgav
I'm afraid I had some problems running this. After patching it
for my Supercard, it did run, but I got error screens. I
restarted, got into the game properly but it froze.
Score: Unable to score.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NoobMiniGames tiancai
Impressions: I thought this was going to actually be a
collection of mini games, but it's actually spot the difference,
with a few different pictures.
Presentation: Everything is well laid out and the touch screen
is pretty responsive. The graphics are quite nice and fairly
polished.
Additional thoughts: I think there has been some nice work done
here, the interface really is very good, and you can even save
your scores, but it lacks any depth to be anything more than a 5
minute play.
Gripes: Basically you just have to touch the differences,
rather than circle them, but this can be a touch frustrating on
some as you might not touch the right spot. Also, the same
pictures seemed to cycle through quite quickly. It would have
been nice if you could choose which picture you wanted to play.
Closing comments: This isn't a bad piece of homebrew and it's
mildly diverting, but it really lacks the depth to make it stand
out at all.
Score: 5/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Piztog Tower Defence Shoog
Impressions: I was quite interested in this game as I've never
played a Tower Defence game before. Playing it was certainly a
different experience.
Presentation: The graphics and music is fairly slick, with
options to change the song in the level. Although there's quite
a bit to take in, the actual layout of the game is very good,
with some nice info screens and on screen instructions to give
you an idea of how to do things.
Additional thoughts: There looks like there has been quite a
lot of effort put into this game. Everything seems well thought
out, there are plenty of options, and I think fans of this type
of game would love it.
Gripes: This really could have done with some kind of tutorial,
or more detailed info for the unitiated. Also, as this is only
a beta, there are parts that don't work yet (like the save).
Closing comments: This is one of the more polished entries
(though it's not complete), but offers a simple and easy way to
play a tower game on your DS.
Score: 8/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Puzl SiW
Impressions: This is not far from seeming a professional piece
of software, with everything fairly straight forward and well
laid out.
Presentation: The presentation is fairly slick and effective,
with some fairly peppy music to accompany while you play.
Additional thoughts: This seems to be a work in progress, as I
could only select one of the options (quick play). The touch
screen controls are responsive enough.
Gripes: The area for all the jigsaw pieces (bottom screen) is
just too small to make this easy to play. Also, I could find no
way to quit a game and get back to the main screen, or to mute
the music (which after a while did grate).
Closing comments: I'm not a jigsaw fan at all, and Puzl did
little to change that. I can, however, see it's merits as a
game, and am sure jigsaw puzzle fans would enjoy it.
Score: 7.5/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Super Mario : The Last GBA Quest omg
Impressions: Being a big fan of Mario games, I was quite
intrigued by this game. Early signs are promising.
Presentation: This could easily be an genuine Mario game in
terms of the graphics and sound. Very polished and colourful.
Additional thoughts: For fans of Mario, this is a nice wander
down memory lane. I thought the bomb koopas were an inventive
touch (not seen them in any other Mario platformer).
Gripes: The controls weren't quite as smooth as I would have
liked, and Mario seemed very slow if you didn't hold down B (but
I find that with most Mario games!).
Closing comments: Although this looks and almost plays exactly
like a Mario game, I found the level of difficulty early on a
bit frustrating. It could just be me getting old, but it
drained my enjoyment considerably.
Score: 6.5/10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As with the applications, I am pretty much blown away by how
creative and hardworking the coders in this community are.
Almost every game I tried made me look at the DS in a slightly
different way, and although it was quite a long process to play
each game and also review it, I never found it to be a chore.
Again, I bow down to the coders behind these games.  |
My reviews of the NDS-games --- By
The Compiler
My reviews of the NDS-games
First of all, my English isn't that good, because I'm Swiss, so
sorry for all mistakes I make.
But let's start with the reviews:
Game Melody Oratorio by DesertDog
A game that teaches you how to play game melodies from
several games (Super Mario Bros, Sonic the Hedgehog, Tetris,
Bubble Bobble and The Legend of Zelda) on a keyboard/piano.
pros and cons
+ Nice and polished UI
+ Good samples
- Only 5 Songs
   3.5/5
graphics
Very nice UI, everything looks very polished.
4.5/5
sound
Good samples, all the sounds it needs.
4.5/5
ideas, innovation
It´s a completely new idea to teach piano on a ds!
5/5
usability
Everything good, too!
3.5/5
motion support
No (but it won't make any sense)
0/1.5
original enter
Yes.
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
Yes, I´ve got a keyboard some time ago, but I can´t play
anything on it, so I´m going to let me teach the Zelda music
What I would improve/add
overall ranking
   22.5/30
ChessNET by CYBER_Aeon
This is a online or local chess game for two players
(online via "play-by-mail")
pros and cons
+ Nice and polished UI
+ Online gaming in a new form
- No En Passant/Castling implemented
3/5
graphics
Very nice UI, everything looks quite polished
4/5
sound
There isn't any.
2.5/5
ideas, innovation
Chess on the ds isn't new, but it's a great idea how to play it
online.
3.5/5
usability
The icons in the GUI should have a label, but bedide of that
it's good.
3.5/5
motion support
No (but it won't make any sense)
0/1.5
original enter
Yes.
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
No, because I can't play chess (I really should learn it!)
What I would improve/add
- Probably a CPU-mode to play against the DS (maybe you
could take the one from
DSChess)
overall ranking
18/30
Chocobo World Deluxe by DavGav
I couldn't really rate this, because I haven't got a way to play
.gba-homebrews. So it's non-competitive.
Super Mario : The Last GBA Quest by omg[/url]
Same here.
Puzl by SiW
A puzzle-game where you can puzzle with your own images.
pros and cons
+ Cool GUI
+ You can puzzle with your own images
+ Love that penguin
- Image-previews load slowly
- All the pieces are visible on the screen, so that's a little
bit a mess
3.5/5
graphics
Quite nice gui, puzzle-pieces also look good.
4/5
sound
Many music-tracks, nothing that's annoying, so simply excellent.
5/5
ideas, innovation
Well, a puzzle is nothing new, but you can puzzle with your own
images on your ds!
3.5/5
usability
It's a little bit messy when you're puzzeling with many pieces,
all other things are good
3.5/5
motion support
No (but it won't make any sense)
0/1.5
original enter
Yes.
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
No, I don't like puzzle games!
What I would improve/add
- It would be cool if you add the grayish features in the
menu
overall ranking
21/30
DiceSoldiers by t4ils
A "risk"-like game.
pros and cons
+ Nice graphics
- Messy GUI
2.5/5
graphics
I like them, good graphics for a "minigame" like this
3.5/5
sound
First not bad, but it's getting annoying after some minutes.
3/5
ideas, innovation
The idea is not new, but it's something like a "port" to the ds.
3/5
usability
The GUI is quite messy, and you need to read the readme before
you really can enjoy playing.
2/5
motion support
No (but it won't make any sense)
0/1.5
original enter
Yes.
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
Yes, I like playing this.
What I would improve/add
overall ranking
15.5/30
LoneWolfDS - Flight from the dark by Michoko
A port of a gamebook to the DS
pros and cons
+ Very very nice graphics and sounds
+ Great port to the DS
+ 3 save slots
5/5
graphics
Wow! Simply WOW! (Nah, I don't mean World of Warcraft, and even
not the Windows Vista-Ad). Looks like a commercial game does!
5/5
sound
Fits to the book, and also smooth, so it doesn't interfere with
the reading.
4.5/5
ideas, innovation
Well, the first port of a gamebook to the ds. The story isn't
new, but anything other is
4/5
usability
Couldn't be simpler and more intuitive!
5/5
motion support
No (but it won't make any sense)
0/1.5
original enter
Yes.
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
No, but only because I already play throught this
What I would improve/add
- I can't wait for LoneWolf 2....
overall ranking
25.5/30
Legion by smealum and Lobo
It's a mix beetween an RPG, an action game, and a shooting game
in a isometric perspective
pros and cons
+ 3D
+ Polished GUI
+ Nice jokes at the topscreen while playing
- I can only see a yellow ground at the beginning.
3.5/5
graphics
Looks good in the menu, but in the game it could be better. But
hey, it's 3D!
4/5
sound
Not bad, but also not that good.
3.5/5
ideas, innovation
Some new ideas in it, but all others are not new.
3/5
usability
Well, you can't do more than walk and shoot, so it's usable
3/5
motion support
No
0/1.5
original enter
Yes.
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
No, because it hasn't got a story or something. If a want a
shooter, I rather play doom or so.
What I would improve/add
overall ranking
18.5/30
ASCIIWAR by Samel
A completely sick mix beetween adventure and shooter, but in
ASCII
pros and cons
+ Sick idea
+ ASCII is cool
- Not very usable
3.5/5
graphics
Uhhmmm, graphics? What's this? I only know what ASCII is! And I
like ASCII.
3/5
sound
There isn't any, would be cool if there would be some beeps or
so
2.5/5
ideas, innovation
A very different story, and very sick and new ideas.
5/5
usability
You have to use the keyboard and type a command if you want to
do something. Cool for nerds, but confusing to non-nerds.
2/5
motion support
No.
0/1.5
original enter
Yes.
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
Yes, of course!
What I would improve/add
- A simple GUI (or TUI - text based interface) for
selecting the spells, etc.
overall ranking
17.5/30
Star Wars battles by space1
A battleship-game with a starwars look-and-feel.
pros and cons
+ Nice idea to mix battleship with starwars
- Very buggy
2/5
graphics
Nice graphics and ideas, but the need some more polishing.
4/5
sound
Yay, Star Wars sounds!
4/5
ideas, innovation
Everyone knows battleship, but you mixed it with starwars,
included a mini-game, and so on.
4/5
usability
You easly can do everything you have to do.
4/5
motion support
No, but it won't make any sense
0/1.5
original enter
Yes.
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
Probably. It would, if it would include some more features.
What I would improve/add
- A 2-player-mode
- Probably more mini-games to determinate who has won the
battle
overall ranking
19.5/30
Snake Dual Screen by edddy
A dual-screened snake-game
pros and cons
+ Very good graphics for a snake
+ Dual screen
+ Chicken!
- Horrible sounds
4/5
graphics
Very very nice for a snake!
4/5
sound
Just put your hand to the volume control and move it to the
left. Or for non-ds-owners: Mute it.
1/5
ideas, innovation
Snake is nothing new, but this one is dualscreen (and it has got
CHICKEN!)
4/5
usability
Well, you need to start the game and collect the eggs...
3/5
motion support
Yes
1.5/1.5
original enter
Yes.
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
Yes, this is the best homebrew snake for the ds.
What I would improve/add
- A mode without the clock
- Better sounds...
overall ranking
19/30
Piztog Tower Defense by Shoog
Yet another tower-defense for the ds.
pros and cons
+ No need to switch the screens as in Warcraft Tower Defense for
the DS
3/5
graphics
Quite good!
4/5
sound
Errr... Quite good!
4/5
ideas, innovation
Some new things are here, but the idea was there before.
3/5
usability
You should know the subject of the game before playing it, then
it's... ... quite good!
4/5
motion support
No
0/1.5
original enter
Yes.
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
Yes, because it's better than Warcraft tower defense in my
opinion.
What I would improve/add
overall ranking
19.5/30
Ultimate Sliding Puzzle Pack
Ecchi/Arcade/SciFi
by kuklcan
The first dual-screen sliding-puzzle for the ds
pros and cons
+ Dual-Screen
+ Many images (50 per pack)
4.5/5
graphics
Good.
4/5
sound
It rocks
4.5/5
ideas, innovation
It's the first dual-screened sliding-puzzle ever!
4.5/5
usability
You haven't got anything more to do as move the pieces.
3/5
motion support
Yes
1.5/1.5
original enter
Yes.
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
I don't know. I want to see the Ecchi pics, but I can't solve
these puzzles...
What I would improve/add
overall ranking
23.5/30
PongClassicsDS by Minishlink
Another Pong for the DS.
pros and cons
+ Much features
+ Wifi
- Uncomfortable GUI
3.5/5
graphics
The old boring pong-graphics.
3/5
sound
It's too psychadelic!
2.5/5
ideas, innovation
It has got many modes never seen before.
4/5
usability
The menu isn't very usable.
3/5
motion support
Yes
1.5/1.5
original enter
Yes.
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
Yes!
What I would improve/add
overall ranking
19/30
MarbleMan: The Arena by MagNet
A game where you have to touch the red squares with a marble,
but brickable walls are blocking the way, and the sqare is
getting smaller.
pros and cons
+ New idea
+ Nice physics
3.5/5
graphics
All it needs.
3.5/5
sound
It's boring after a couple of minutes.
2.5/5
ideas, innovation
It seems to be a new idea from scratch!
5/5
usability
It's good, and very simple
4/5
motion support
Yes (I think it makes way more fun with Motion)
1.5/1.5
original enter
Yes.
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
Yes, I'm going to order a Motion Pak
What I would improve/add
overall ranking
21.5/30
Electro by chris28
This is a puzzle game with a new concept.
pros and cons
+ New idea
- The font on the topscreen is to small to read it
- The rom is overloaded with music
2.5/5
graphics
It looks very good and polished.
4/5
sound
I don't like classical music, but it has got many different
songs, so the rom is quite big.
3.5/5
ideas, innovation
It seems to be a new idea from scratch!
5/5
usability
It's good to use.
4/5
motion support
Yes.
1.5/1.5
original enter
Yes.
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
No, as I already said, I don't like puzzle games
What I would improve/add
overall ranking
22/30
jaPongG by leinad
A pong-game with a 2 or even a 3 player mode on one ds
pros and cons
+ 3-Player-mode
+ All modes vs. CPU
- Strange way to select the settings in the menu
- Weird behavior in the menu, sometimes it says "Baelle"
("Balls" in German), and sometimes it says "Balls".
3/5
graphics
Again the old boring pong-graphics...
2.5/5
sound
There isn't any.
2.5/5
ideas, innovation
Some ideas like the 3-player-mode are new, all others aren't
3/5
usability
Quite bad, you have to read the instructions at the upper screen
until you know how to select the modes.
2/5
motion support
No
0/1.5
original enter
No
0/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
Yes!
What I would improve/add
overall ranking
13/30
Noob Mini Games by tiancai
A "Spot the Differences" game
pros and cons
+ All pictures are selfmade and free!
+ Polished look for a such small game
4/5
graphics
Good, there are some comic-style pics, and some photos.
4/5
sound
Cool sounds, but no music while playing
3.5/5
ideas, innovation
Dunno how old "Spot the differences" is, but now it's on the DS!
3/5
usability
Good.
4/5
motion support
No
0/1.5
original enter
Yes
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
No, I don't like to search differences beetween images.
What I would improve/add
overall ranking
21/30
Escape from Island by Ben2303
A point&click adventure for the DS
pros and cons
+ Good additions to the flash-version
- Very short
2/5
graphics
All the graphics are from the flash game, but they are good
3/5
sound
Good sounds and nice music.
3.5/5
ideas, innovation
It's only a port of the flashgame, the only new thing is the
music.
2/5
usability
You can control everything with the stylus and most of the
things per drag&drop
4/5
motion support
Yes!!
1.5/1.5
original enter
Yes
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
Not anymore, because I'm done with it.
What I would improve/add
- A map of the island
- Probably code a second part
overall ranking
17.5/30
Area ten by kukulcan
A puzzle-like game for the ds, you have to sort marbles.
pros and cons
+ Very polished look
+ Settings for DSMotion
4/5
graphics
Everything good
4/5
sound
4/5
ideas, innovation
Seems to by a entirely new idea
5/5
usability
You only control some kind of a panel, and the menu is usable.
4/5
motion support
Yes.
1.5/1.5
original enter
Yes
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
Yes, this is very cool!
What I would improve/add
overall ranking
24/30
Super Wings by eKid
One more GBA-Game. Sadly, non-competitive.
DualShooter by eadmaster
Yet another shoot 'em up for the DS
pros and cons
+ More than one weapon
- Unpolished graphics
2.5/5
graphics
A little bit unpolished in my opinion, but the backgrounds are
very good!
3/5
sound
Not bad!
3/5
ideas, innovation
Nearly nothing is new.
2.5/5
usability
You have to remember which button is for which action, but you
have to do that in nearly every game.
3/5
motion support
Yes.
1.5/1.5
original enter
Yes
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
Yes, probably I'll play this from time to time
What I would improve/add
overall ranking
17/30
Scogger by scognito
A puzzle-like game, smiliar to SensitiveDS, but more
puzzle and less action
pros and cons
+ Nice graphics
- Elevator music, everywhere?
3/5
graphics
Polished and... just good
3/5
sound
Move your volume-controller to the left one more time
2/5
ideas, innovation
Some new ideas, some old ideas.
3/5
usability
Just start the game and let the frog jump! But you should know
the rules before.
3/5
motion support
Yes.
1.5/1.5
original enter
Yes
1.5/1.5
Will this stay on my flashcard?
No, I rather play SensitiveDS, with more action and less puzzle.
What I would improve/add
overall ranking
17/30
Ranking
list
| Place |
Name |
Author |
Points |
| 1st |
LoneWolfDS - Flight from the dark |
Michoko |
25.5 |
| 2nd |
Area ten |
kukulcan |
24 |
| 3rd |
Ultimate Sliding Puzzle |
kuklcan |
23.5 |
| 4th |
Game Melody Oratorio |
DesertDog |
22.5 |
| 5th |
Electro |
chris28 |
22 |
| 6th |
MarbleMan: The Arena |
MagNet |
21.5 |
| 7th |
Noob Mini Games |
tiancai |
21 |
| 7th |
Puzl |
SiW |
21 |
| 8th |
Piztog Tower Defense |
Shoog |
19.5 |
| 8th |
Star Wars battles |
space1 |
19.5 |
| 9th |
Snake Dual Screen |
edddy |
19 |
| 9th |
PongClassicsDS |
Minishlink |
19 |
| 10th |
Legion |
smealum and Lobo |
18.5 |
| 11st |
ChessNET |
CYBER_Aeon |
18 |
| 12nd |
Escape from Island |
ben2303 |
17.5 |
| 13rd |
DualShooter |
eadmaster |
17 |
| 13rd |
Scogger |
scognito |
17 |
| 14th |
ASCIIWAR |
Samel |
15.5 |
| 14th |
DiceSoldiers |
t4ils |
15.5 |
| 16th |
jaPongG |
leinad |
13 |
| ---- |
Super Wings |
eKid |
-- |
| ---- |
Chocobo World Deluxe |
DavGav |
-- |
| ---- |
Super Mario : The Last GBA Quest |
omg |
-- |
Wow, done with all the reviews! Spend around 10 hours in it...
Hope it was worth the time
Let me know if anything is uncorrect, I was very tired and had
headache when I finished this
Florian |
GBA/NDS games review --- By
Ben2303
| Super
Wings - GBA |
|
8
|
Presentation
Classic shoot'em up with all needed ingredients :
different ennemies waves, power-ups, homing missile,
special bombs, and of course huge bosses with bullet
patterns !
|
|
6
|
Graphics
Main ship is a little bland, ennemies are much better,
bosses are nice, and did I said they were huge ?.
Landscapes are not always good looking, but they do
their job. |
|
7.5
|
Sound
Great background musics, nice sound effects.
|
|
8.5
|
Gameplay
Awesome ! Plays like old time shooters ! Difficulty is
well balanced thanks to well designed ennemy waves and
clever power-ups upgrade. Boss battles are very
enjoyable !
|
|
8.5
|
Lasting appeal
Everything is just well thinked. A great game for shmup
fans !! Not many levels yet, but a really enjoyable
experience.
|
|
9
|
Overall (not an average)
Super Wings is the kind of game I expect in a compo...
Silent but surprisingly good !
Side note : This test proudly made no reference to games
such as 1943 or Area 88 just to keep eKid away from too
much self confidence. |
|
Super
Mario Last Quest |
|
7
|
Presentation
Good old Super Mario, mushrooms, coins, stars, goompas,
... ! Now in new adventures !I think there are several
levels, but I couldn't progress much... |
|
8
|
Graphics
Colourfull, just plain Mario. |
|
8
|
Sound
Music is good, Mario actions are making all the sounds
you expect !
|
|
4
|
Gameplay
Controls are awkwards. Mario is not responding accuratly,
and that cripples the experience. That's a shame cos
everything is great.
|
|
6
|
Lasting appeal
Great sound, great graphics, but awkward gameplay
prevents for exploring all the available levels.
|
|
5.5
|
Overall (not an average)
What a shame controls don't work... Fix that and you've
got one great game ! |
|
Chocobo World Deluxe |
|
5
|
Presentation
Chocobo world. Mog is missing. Chocobo must find Mog.
From now, it should look like a RPG, but I'm not
chocobosure... |
|
6
|
Graphics
Colorfull Chocobo graphics. Chocobo zooms are
chocobo-pixelated. |
|
6
|
Sound
Good chocobo music, but no chocobo sound.
|
|
3
|
Gameplay
No chocobo possibility.
|
|
5
|
Lasting appeal
No more Chocobo please.
|
|
4.5
|
Overall (not an average)
This chocobo is still in its egg, I hope it won't get
mad at me when going out for my not that funny
comments...
I'm sure the game will be ok in a few versions. |
|
LoneWolfDS - Flight From The Dark |
|
7
|
Presentation
Role Playing Book adaptation. Who never play those books
? If you never played, go to §235, if you already
played, go to §124, else you can draw your weapon and
attack some guy looking at you with animosity in §94.
This game is one big adventure, and is commercial
quality. Only one book in english though.
|
|
7.5
|
Graphics
Interface is nice, text clear and sharp, illustrations
have style and popup quite often, everything looks good |
|
8
|
Sound
Music is perfect for that kind of game, page sounds are
crisp and some light fighting sounds. More would have
been too much.
|
|
9
|
Gameplay
I played those kind of books when I was a child, and
this DS version IS the way they were meant to be played
! Every command is intuitive, and soon you'll be reading
and living an adventure forgetting you have a DS in your
hands. The only reason it does not have a 10 is that I'm
a bad person.
|
|
8.5
|
Lasting appeal
It will take you some hours to go through the book. Once
you did you can play again taking new paths, trying new
disciplines, ...
By the way, kids who used to cheat (like "An ennemy,
throw a dice !"... "-Whatever, I'm stronger, it's
dead"), will be disapointed, here you can't...
|
|
8.5
|
Overall (not an average)
Great work, but only in english (for now). I hope many
other books will show up, and if possible other than
lonewolf, they're far from my favourites in fact...
|
|
Game
Melody Oratorio |
|
8
|
Presentation
This one's pretty original, it's a Virtual Piano
Teacher. Select a tune, watch it played on the piano and
follow the notes !
Looks great and very pro. Very good music selection imho.
|
|
6
|
Graphics
Well, obviously that's a piano, interface is slick. |
|
9
|
Sound
You wouldn't expect less for a piano sim ! Music are
great, notes are great, it all sounds good.
|
|
7
|
Gameplay
Must be far easier for english people, we don't have
your weird notes here in France... Piano is a bit small
to fit all the notes too. Except that the learning with
colors then with notes name is great, it let's you
progress smoothly.
|
|
8
|
Lasting appeal
Only 5 songs and a free mode, but great songs you'll
want to master ! Once you've done that, go to your local
mall for a real session at the piano store !
|
|
8.5
|
Overall (not an average)
Now that's original ! And pretty well made, what more do
you want ? More songs maybe... But, there's Bubble
Bobble for God sake, who needs another song ??
|
|
Puzl |
|
8
|
Presentation
Jigsaw game with a lot of images, and you can choose the
number of pieces, from 12 (super easy) to 128 (super
hard). All pics are categorized and I suspect you can
add your own pics in the fat part. |
|
8
|
Graphics
Interface is neat and fun, images are mostly excellent,
good looking and fitting the jigsaw game. |
|
7
|
Sound
Some good background musics here.
|
|
8
|
Gameplay
Excellent jigsaw ! Pieces stick to where they're
supposed to go, you can shuffle the unplaced ones to see
better, I really appreciate that...
No piece rotation though, but I'm not complaining, that
would have been too hard for me...
|
|
8
|
Lasting appeal
Many puzzles, great gameplay, you'll spend a lot of time
on this one !
|
|
8.5
|
Overall (not an average)
Great work, great game. You can even play with the puzl
folder to add/remove images !. Near commercial quality
for this one.
You'll never unfinish a jigsaw cos you lost some pieces
under the couch again ! |
|
Scogger 0.2 |
|
|
7
|
Presentation
Puzzle game involving a leaping frog. No, that's not
Frogger, here you must leap on every single leaf in 10
different levels among 100 availlable (missed that the
first time). This is more tricky than it sounds cos the
leaves disapear once you leap off them. But your frog is
pretty strong, it can make big jumps as easily as small
ones. Yeah it's strong but can't jump backward (see
gallery).
|
|
6.5
|
Graphics
Simple but working good, I like the colors and the ice
water effects. Animations are a bit jerky though |
|
6
|
Sound
Repetitive childish music. Damn it, I can't take it out
of my head...
|
|
7
|
Gameplay
Simple and addictive, everything is working the way it
should.
|
|
7
|
Lasting appeal
Cool addictive puzzle game, 100 levels are a bit too
many when if I'm stuck on level 5 (see gallery for more
infos).
|
|
7.5
|
Overall (not an average)
Good puzzles, good style, good overall realisation. Nice
version, and believe me or not, it HAS many levels,
thanx to the people who correct my shamed
10-levels-is-not-enough-comment...
+0.5 for DS Motion support.
|
|
Chess
Net |
|
|
7
|
Presentation
A multiplayer Chess game that can be played over WIFI. |
|
7
|
Graphics
Interface looks really great ! Board is a litlle more
tedious though. |
|
-
|
Sound
Sounds can deconcetrate you. Sounds are not your friend
when you play Chess.
|
|
8
|
Gameplay
Chess game with move hints, hotseat and WIFI. That's
cool.
|
|
7
|
Lasting appeal
Couldn't try it online, and didn't find anyone to play
against, but I'm sure ther must be lots of chess lovers
around. Aren't all geeks or are movies lying to us ?
|
|
7
|
Overall (not an average)
Nice design, nice functionnality, even if I'm not a real
chess player, I liked it. |
|
Marble
Man |
|
|
7
|
Presentation
Original dextirity game. You must roll the ball over the
red squares, which are getting smaller and smaller, to
gain playtime. Obstacles will show up, you can smash
them if you hit them hard enough.
A good DS Motion advertising !
|
|
5
|
Graphics
Graphics are simple, the ball is round, walls are
squares, and grid is... griddy. A little dull overall. |
|
6
|
Sound
Amiga demo scene like music. Quite dynamic and fitting
the game.
|
|
7
|
Gameplay
Simple and addictive. Forget about the stylus and play
it the way it's meant to be : DS Motion, it works great
!
|
|
6.5
|
Lasting appeal
Score challenge only, beating your friends can be cool
but quite repetitive. Some mazes would have been nice
too.
|
|
7
|
Overall (not an average)
Nice game to promote DS Motion which is handled nicely.
But a little repetitive.
+0.5 forDS Motion support.
|
|
Piztog
Tower Defense |
|
6
|
Presentation
Tower Defense looks quite popular game these days. You
must protect your place by setting up and upgrading
towers that will shoot ennemies while they follow the
path to your home.
Of course these towers have different effects, and work
best with different ennemies.
|
|
5
|
Graphics
Backgrounds are empty and not good looking, so are the
towers. Monsters are better. |
|
5
|
Sound
Background music is trying to take your attention away
from the so-so graphics. But it fails. I didn't hear any
other sounds
|
|
6
|
Gameplay
Classic tower defense, but crippled with a small visible
area and a messy interface.
|
|
6
|
Lasting appeal
This game is hurt by another one on my flashcard :
Noda's TD.. At this point there's no challenge.
Coming on Noda's territory is brave. Piztog TD does not
have the maturity of TD, only one map and an odd style.
|
|
6
|
Overall (not an average)
TD mechanisms are well implemented, but the game failed
to entertain me.
|
|
Pong
Classic DS 0.5 |
|
|
6
|
Presentation
Well pong is pong... Some nice additions though, like
Mental Pong controls can change any seconds, switching
from stylus to pad, .... DS Motion works good. |
|
5
|
Graphics
Angles are squares, what more do you want ? I would have
liked particles effect or stuffs like that in fact... |
|
5
|
Sound
Only music, no "pong" sound. Music is a little
aggressive for me.
|
|
7.5
|
Gameplay
several difficulty levels, psychedelic additions, it's
all pretty good. (Really) Minor collision issues (you
can send back the ball with the back of your raquet).
DS Motion support is not as fun as it should be. Dunno
why...
|
|
6
|
Lasting appeal
Additions won't make this pong last on my card. Maybe
the music helps too. That's a shame, cos the IA is nice.
|
|
6
|
Overall (not an average)
Good work for a pong, but still that's Pong... Give me
Arkanoid now !!
+0.5 for DS Motion.
|
|
Snake
Dual Screen |
|
|
7
|
Presentation
You're a snake that grows when eating eggs. You must eat
all eggs without eating your own tail (yeah, snakes are
not that smart, they can die by touching their own
tail.)
Kid cartoon design is really nice and fits snake's world
perfectly. DS Motion is great for young kids on this
one. |
|
6
|
Graphics
Kids will love graphics, adults will be more so-so... At
least everything is clear. |
|
6
|
Sound
Music is rather repetitive, but fits the child-audience
touch.
|
|
7.5
|
Gameplay
Agiain I'll seperate young kids and older people. Youngs
will love it, older will find it too slow... Inputs are
very accurate, and that's something very important in a
snake game.
|
|
7
|
Lasting appeal
The game is simple but addictive, so you'll probably
play a game once in a while. Don't show it to your
younger sister or brother...
|
|
6.5
|
Overall (not an average)
A very good game for young kids, controls are neat and
DS Motion well implemented (even if console initial
position is not the one prefer).
Sadly I'm not young enough to rate this one higer, but
once again, great game for kids.
+0.5 for DS Motion.
|
|
Legion |
|
8
|
Presentation
Oh my God !. This game has a scenario !! And dialogs !!!
Great design and artworks. You're some kind of brute
with a huge gun, and you must shoot bad guys and collect
pieces of a talking device. Between Diablo and Fallout
one can say.
|
|
8
|
Graphics
Artworks are nice, as the main character in game. Levels
are not that good looking. Main character runs very
smoothly, a real eye pleasure. |
|
7
|
Sound
Nice background music, nice rifles, but ennemies
screaming are... awkward... (anyone played Rank Xerox in
the old days ?)
|
|
4.5
|
Gameplay
Control scheme is good, but the camera is way too close,
making impossible to adopt any strategy. Just run in an
ennemy to notice it exists... Levels are huge, but feels
empty, there's not much to do.
|
|
6
|
Lasting appeal
Quite frustrating, great artwork, good work on scenario
and dialogs, all that opens your appetite, but the game
is not rewarding.
|
|
6.5
|
Overall (not an average)
Technically impressive, but gameplay is not that good.
|
|
Noob
Mini Game |
|
6
|
Presentation
Quickspot clone with several images. You must quickly
identify differences between 2 pics.
|
|
6
|
Graphics
Some images are good, other not so good. Interface is
nice. But what is that purple halo around sprites ?
Check your magentas.
|
|
6
|
Sound
Nice intro music, no music during gameplay but some cool
Homer quotes.
|
|
6
|
Gameplay
A little ticky sometimes, you have to touch the EXACT
spot, otherwise works good.
|
|
6
|
Lasting appeal
Game is a little difficult, couldn't find too many pics
either.
|
|
6
|
Overall (not an average)
Good fist throw ! Correct the minor visual bugs, add a
BGM, more approrpiate pics and it will be a great game.
|
|
Electro |
|
|
7
|
Presentation
Complex puzzle game. You must connect both sides of the
screens using the given tiles in puzzle mode, and
falling one in classic mode.
The game is nicely polished.
|
|
7
|
Graphics
Colorfull pieces, sober interface, evrything is ok. |
|
8
|
Sound
Very good musics... Would you be mad if I use your game
only as a jukebox ?
|
|
5
|
Gameplay
Forget about DS Motion controls, not accurate enough,
stick with the stylus, it works great. Game IS complex
though.
|
|
6
|
Lasting appeal
Game is particulary complex. Puzzles are not as
rewarding as you could think.
|
|
6
|
Overall (not an average)
Nice polished game, but nor the puzzle nor the classic
mode is actually fun. Maybe that's just me, so I'm not
giving up, I'll try again another time.
+0.5 for DS Motion support.
|
|
Star
Wars Battles |
|
7
|
Presentation
Naval battle revisited in Star Wars world. Place your
ships, fire blindly at opponents map, and be ready for
some dogfights if you hit ! |
|
6
|
Graphics
Ships are simples, interface reduced to the minimum.
Dogfights have cool lasers and explosions. |
|
8
|
Sound
Great music, great laser sounds, great explosions. Who
would have think a naval battle could be so noisy ? Well
except perhaps people who had the talking one made by
MB... Brrr, It stills creep me out...
|
|
6
|
Gameplay
Ships placement sometimes doesn't work properly,
dogfights are simples, targetting ennemy on map is with
dpad (come on, there's a touch pad down here !!). Anyway
the game's core is solid.
|
|
6
|
Lasting appeal
Good for single kids, cos no multiplayer here...
|
|
6
|
Overall (not an average)
Good overall realisation, too bad there's no multiplayer
(probably in next version) and that you can't target on
touch screen. |
|
Ultimate Sliding Familly |
|
|
7
|
Presentation
Puzzle game with pics cut in tiles, you must put them in
the good order using only one free spot to move. You can
slide a tile using stylus, pad or DS Motion.
|
|
8
|
Graphics
Puzzles are beautifull, but interface is too bright and
colorfull for my old eyes. But the main thing is here,
puzzles pics are great. |
|
6
|
Sound
Not much here. Music does not fits the game style.
|
|
5
|
Gameplay
I don't really like the way it plays, even with DS
Motion... I think I'm too attached to the old plastic
game...
|
|
6
|
Lasting appeal
Many, many puzzles, 3 packs with different flavour,
polished game. Nice work, nice slideshow, but the game
is not meant to be played this way...
|
|
6.5
|
Overall (not an average)
Polished game, but definitly not the good media for me.
A rom and a selectable resssource file instead of 3
versions would be nice too.
|
|
JaPong |
|
6
|
Presentation
Clever multiplayer Pong clone, up to 3 players and
multiball ! CPU players are here too if you don't have
enough friends...
|
|
5
|
Graphics
Pong pads and pong ball just like the old times. |
|
-
|
Sound
Sadly no "ping" sound...
|
|
8
|
Gameplay
The 3 players game is actually fun. Good pads movement,
good collisions.
You can play with more than one ball, add CPU players,
... Watch out, CPU players are unbeatable.
|
|
6.5
|
Lasting appeal
2 players mode won't catch you as long as the new 3
players one.
|
|
6
|
Overall (not an average)
Good Pong variation. The second of this compo. I
actually prefer this one, but by DS Motion supprt
lacking, they both come to the same note...
|
|
Area
Ten |
|
|
6
|
Presentation
Agility game, you must keep the blue balls and the red
balls on their respective sides, sides separated by a
moving opening. This opening can be move with DS Motion
for a little more fun.
|
|
6
|
Graphics
Once again too colorfull for me although the menu looks
good, little planets are not very good looking |
|
4
|
Sound
Reminds me some old Magnetic Fields game. I used to like
those musics, but this one is just aggressive. I prefer
it turned off.
|
|
5
|
Gameplay
DS Motion works great and make the game funnier than
pad. Sadly not fun enough to catch me. Some collisions
weirdness occurs here and here.
|
|
5
|
Lasting appeal
I don't think I'll play it again, game is well made but
not fun.
|
|
5.5
|
Overall (not an average)
Menus and interface is appealing, game is less. It's
very repetitive, not very challenging, not as polished
as other Kukulcan's production.
|
|
ASCIIWAR 0.9999 |
|
7
|
Presentation
Kind of adventure game, you must fight some odds memory
things to prevent CPU from burning. Game is quite deep
once you've passed the ascii repulsing look.
|
|
4
|
Graphics
Not an easy one to judge, yes it's ASCII, so there is no
real graphics... Menu and interface could have been
cheered up a little to balance the ASCII part. |
|
-
|
Sound
Sound is not compatible with ASCII, that's why people
invented ANSI.
|
|
6
|
Gameplay
Many things to do, but bringing a whole keyboard just
for a few letters is frustrating, I always need to
consult help before doing anything. Ok, maybe I'm not
the smartest guy around...
|
|
5
|
Lasting appeal
Good ideas, but ASCII graphics are rude, and interface
not very intuitive.
|
|
5.5
|
Overall (not an average)
Put the same game in some other universe and with
another interface, and I'll buy it !
|
|
DiceSoldiers |
|
5
|
Presentation
Looks like a Risk clone. Armies from different countries
are fighting each other to gain world domination. |
|
6
|
Graphics
Graphics are ok. |
|
7.5
|
Sound
Nice musics.
|
|
6.5
|
Gameplay
Once you have human players the game is nice. 2 players
mode is not challenging enough, and you will need to
have multiple CPUs against you to find difficulty. Army
movments are not really "visual", adding small numbers
for example would help understanding and remembering
what you're doing.
|
|
7
|
Lasting appeal
Now that's what I call a Risk clone ! Some will love it,
and some will just hate the dice unfairness ! Strategy
is quite basic with CPU, but I guess against another
human it must be really nice.
As I said before, interface could be better and make the
experience frankly more enjoyable.
|
|
6.5
|
Overall (not an average)
Read the readme for this one or you'll end up watching
the world's future in your DS hands. And believe me, the
DS is not smart enough to handle that. Neither are
humans, but cats are already busy chasing mice, so
they're all we've got... Seriously, try this one if you
like 50% strategy 50% random. |
|
Dual
Shooter |
|
|
6
|
Presentation
A shmup that can be played with pad, stylus or DS Motion
(didn't work on my slot 2 DS Motion). |
|
6
|
Graphics
Nice colors, backgrounds are really good looking. Ships
are a little bland, and bullets very old fashionned. All
moces smoothly, although backgrounds transitions are
rough. |
|
6
|
Sound
Discreet nice music. Explosions are a little weak in
front of shootings.
|
|
5
|
Gameplay
It's hard to play that one after Super Wings. Main plane
movements are too fast and not really accurate (forget
stylus, keep it with dpad), level design and ennemies
patterns needs work too.
|
|
6
|
Lasting appeal
You will find yourself playing that game just to
discover the next background. Once you've seen them,
you're done.
|
|
6
|
Overall (not an average)
Nice graphics, good work, but in a very early stage.
Keep up the work on this one, include some super wings
experience and that will make a great game.
+0.5 for DS Motion.
|
|
GBA/NDS Game reviews ---
MagNet [
* No.2 NEO Reviewer *
]
I've tested each game that has been submitted and tried to
compile a list with descriptions, pros, cons and scores and
some neutral notes of sorts. Hope you like it. However I
have yet to finish Escape From Island so some of the details
for that particular game may change.
NDS
Sliding puzzle Ecchi, Arcade, Sci-Fi 6.5/10
A sliding puzzle collection
If you always wanted a lot of sliding action this might be
just the homebrew for you, but otherwise pass this one.
+Lots of pictures (150 spread over 3 theme packs)
+Uses both screens
+Can diplay grid and preview
+Neat transition effects
-No sliding animation
-Lacks touch control
-Same music for every pack
Alright motion support and graphics
ASCII War 7.5/10
ASCII roguelike
This entry clearly shows that graphics aren't the most
important part of the gameplay, using ASCII graphics this
game manages to offer simple to pickup gameplay and will
have you trying again and again to defeat the damned @, the
fake RAM controller.
+simple yet fun story that fits the setting
+good viewing implementation
+simple to understand (albhabetically sorted enemies)
+crazy RAM REFRESH concept
-complete rom restart after death along with FAT init
-stat screen isn't shown right after getting back to game
from the help screen
-touchable commands would be neat
simple in graphics
would expect less than 400kB
ChessNET 7/10
A Chess game with „play-by-mail“ online mode
This one definitely has a lot of potential and already a lot
is done. Online mode is intact and even though there's still
a few things missing it's really close to being the definite
Chess game on the system.
+Online mode
+Simple yet really polished look
+Board rotates for each player
-It's hard to see in the menu which button is selected
-Lacks castling and En Passant
-No local CPU opponent
-There are bugs to be found
-Game just kinda ends on the checkmate
Dice Soldiers 6.5/10
Risklike
Quite simple in presentation this game allows you to play a
game of Risk with as many as 5 players at once. Not really
any real problems with the game except for maybe no control
over the dice as it is fully random.
+CPU opponents
+Many players possible
+10 countries to choose from, each has its own tune
+Randomly generated map and level editor
+Well implemented stylus controls.
-No control over thrown dice
-Readme lies about the end turn button
Electro 6/10
Original puzzle game
Electro... don't really know what to expect from such name,
eh? Well basically it's something between Tetris, Panel de
Pon (Planet Puzzle League) and maybe Bejeweled. You're
trying to connect the left and right side of the very wide
gamefield with blocks of the same color. One block falls at
a time in classic mode and in puzzle mode there are blocks
already stationed and a new row is added to the bottom time
to time. From my testing it's very complicated to connect
the left side to the right even when you can change the
color of the falling block once. With some fine tuning this
could turn out to be a nice little puzzle game.
+Ok graphics
+Nice idea
-Motion controls are oversensitive
-No pause (except for closing the lid)
-Touch and drag controls are annoying
-Blocks can spawn even above full columns
-No highscores
-In both modes it's very hard to connect left to right
-Music doesn't fit
-9 megabytes? How did that happen? Mindblowing collection of
classical music.
Escape from Island 7.5/10
Point and click adventure game
Your plane crashed on a deserted island and you're trying to
get home. Search for items that may aid you in your quest
and then find the right use for them. You can even connect
two items to form new items (hook and wire for instance).
Definitely one of the better ones in this competition, has a
nice graphical style to it and simple gameplay that will
test out your adventurous wits.
+Nice graphical style
+Polished look and gameplay
-Some minor description bugs (tank filled with water says
„Tank, it's empty)
-No way to save
Ok motion support
Also I'm stuck
Lone Wolf: Flight from the Dark 8/10
Gamebook on your DS
Hyena, the audiogame player from Collecting Smiles wasn't
bad but this one is the obvious winner. This game uses the
portrait view (Brain Training) and displays the text on the
right side while on the left side is your action chart. Dice
is simulated by a looping number which you can stop with the
tap of the stylus. Save and load is of course supported. In
a nutshell it's like playing a gamebook without having to do
all that annoying pageshifting and writing into the action
chart yourself.
+Great looks
+Fitting music
+Ability to influence the dice
+Lovely, lovely portrait mode
+If you like gamebooks this one's for you
-No lefthand support
-The font isn't AA'd
Not possible to play from pocket like in Hyena since the
text isn't read
Game Melody Oratorio 9/10
Melody learning game
From developer Multiple: Option comes this very interesting
package. It sports a virtual piano that you can either
freeplay or learn various game themes, including: Mario,
Sonic, Bubble Bobble, Tetris and Zelda. Why not learn a
melody or two and then amaze your friends on a real piano
+Original idea
+Polished look
+Nice sound
-Could use a bit more melodies
Hard for people like me
jaPongG 6/10
Pong
Here's another pong. This time it allows for 3 players at
once in a quite unusual way when one player defends the top
while others defend the sides. It's very simple in
aesthetics and doesn't add much to the well known pong
mechanics. Also using Start and Select for controlling the
3rd player wasn't the wisest decision.
+Allows for a 3 player game
+CPU opponents
-Player 3 mapped to Start and Select, how about the
touchscreen?
-In 3 player mode pause is achieved by pressing L and R
simultaneously
-Awkward mode selection
Very classic pong like
Legion 8.5/10
Isometric shoot-em-up
If there would ever be a Tech Award in the NEOFlash
competition Legion would be the one getting it. What you'll
see when you launch up the game is a full 3D world with big
environments and full story. Yes some of the textures might
be a bit muddy, stretched, it's really close tho. Also
you'll be meeting CHAP, the never mouth shutting machine
that will both help and annoy you in your quest.
+Great tech
+Good apocalyptic atmosphere
+Fast loads
+Diverse environments
+CHAP has some interesting things to say
-Camera desperately needs zooming out
-Controls take a little time to get used to
-Can't shoot while strafing
-There aren't many ways to avoid the enemy fire
-Angled floor is sometimes hard to see
-Sometimes it's hard to tell where the objective arrow is
pointing
-CHAP isn't dubbed
NoobMiniGames 6/10
Spot the difference
Once you get over the slow loadtimes in the menu you'll get
to play a pretty much flawless spot the difference game.
Question is though if that's what you really want to play.
+Good use of the two screens
+Selecting the differences works well
+Homer Simpson sounds
-Menu navigation and overall loading is very slow
-No names for highscores
-There's just one game even though the name indicates
otherwise
Pong Classic 7.5/10
Pong
Not really innovative in any way but it manages to keep the
solid pong gameplay mechanics intact. If you're bored, have
nothing else to do and have a friend next to you this along
with Explosive Gas, Tunneler DS and some others is the
perfect way to kill some time.
+Menus can be navigated with both stylus and buttons
+Many CPU difficulties to choose from, including adventure
mode (increasing difficulty)
+2 players on one DS
+Brilliant music
-Stylus and motion controls just mimick pad controls
Might be too fast for some
Puzl 7/10
Jigsaw puzzle
Do you like jigsaw puzzles? Yes? Get this one. Already a
nice selection of pictures after download and you're free to
add as much as you want. On top of that you can choose
between 12, 28 and 120 piece automatically generated puzzles
from those images. Neat. Suffers from some minor loadtime
and gameplay issues though.
+A huge 3D puzzle pieces in the menu
+12, 28 and 120 pieces modes
+Displays the completed picture on the top screen
+Allows for your own pictures to be added
+Neat music
+Dancing pesoguin ingame that reacts to your gameplay
-Pieces snap only to their proper positions thus allowing
for some little cheating
-Pieces are only on one screen and thus make it quite
cluttered
-Thumbnails in menu take a long time to load
-No highscores
Scogger 7.5/10
Frog puzzle
I know I've seen a game like this in RL but I can't remember
the name at all. Scogger is all about sinking all tree
trunks by jumping on them with your frog. Problem is the
frog can't move backwards and that's where it becomes
puzzling. Even though it may not sound too appealing it's
quite fun solving the puzzle actually.
+Nice graphics and gameplay mechanics
+Upbeat music
-No highscores
10 levels of increasing difficulty
Motion support is ok but it's not the way you'll want to
play the game
Star Wars Battles 5/10
Battleship in Star Wars universe
Okay I don't know what to say, it's Battleship with added
minigame that can decide if an attack is successful or not.
It's got some nice pew pew lasers and sound effects but that
doesn't make up for a good game. AI opponent sometimes gets
stuck and there is no way to play with a human opponent.
+Star Wars music, oh yes
+Improves the battleship formula by adding a fight minigame
-Pieces don't snap automatically
-There are some ugly music stops to be heard
-No 2 player mode
-Broken AI
-Not particularly fun
Piztog Tower Defense 8/10
Tower Defense
Even though this genre is widely accepted by the public
there aren't many Tower Defense games on the platform. All I
know of is Warcraft Tower Defense. But now Piztog Tower
Defense is here and it seems to be solid enough to hold its
ground against its main rival, the already stated WTD. There
aren't any custom levels yet but the gameplay you can
experience in Piztog is indeed gold. No silly screen
switching anymore!
+Controls very well
+Lots of upgrade types
+Game pauses when building
+Adequate difficulty
+Polished look
+Cool music
-Only 1 map
-No sounds except for building
Could use motion controls for camera movement maybe.
Snake Dual screen 7/10
Snake
How often do you see a snake eat Yoshi's eggs? Well now
you've got the chance! In Snake Dual Screen you take the
role of a green snake that is determined to eat every green
spotted egg there is to be eaten. Are you tough enough to
navigate yourself through more than 20 levels of nicely
crafted visuals. And of course it's got some chickens to
make stuff harder.
+Nice change of gameplay mechanics from the traditional
snake
+Pretty nice graphics except for bushes
+Chicken!
-Motion controls as well as stylus controls are useless
MarbleMan: The Arena 7.5/10
Motion game
The gameplay mechanics in MarbleMan are simple, get your
ball to the red zone and thus gain some extra time. You can
also break blocks that spawn from time to time for extra
score. There definitely isn't much to explore in this game
but there are always highscores to beat. Some may love it
while others hate it, it really depends on the taste of the
player but it's definitely worth a tryout.
+Interesting concept
+Fast paced
+Very responsive motion controls
+Nice music, sfx and graphics
-No names for highscores
-The stylus controls are always based around the center
-The game doesn't get any harder after a certain time
-No bonus items (yet)
-Can get repetitive
13. AREA TEN 7/10
Ball sorting
This game's about getting blue colored balls on the bottom
screen and red balls on the upper screen. To do this you are
given a narrow gap you can move around and allow some of the
balls to pass while making others stay where they are. The
farther you get in the game the more balls you have to sort.
Simple concept and can be fun. Try it out.
+Interesting concept
+Crazy music
+Graphics are ok even though they don't always fit together
-Motion controls just mimick the pad ones
I'd rather have this one reversed, controlling the balls and
trying to filter them through the gap. Something like that
would play well with motion controls.
Dual Shooter 6/10
Shmup
There's sure potential in this game but at this moment it
lacks a lot of polish. First of all please turn your volume
down if you don't want your ears torn off by the
high-pitched laser sounds. Since when did WW2 planes have
lasers mounted on them actually? Anyway what's ruining the
game are the attack patterns, enemies are shooting so many
speedy bullets that often you'll find yourself dodging
instead of shooting the enemy planes down. Also there are no
bossfights and not a single hint of any kind of story. If
the developer continues working on this it can definitely
grow into something much better, but at this moment I
suggest you to wait.
+Good stylus controls
+Many bullets onscreen
-Very basic and sometimes impossible to avoid attack
patterns
-No boss fights
-3 stages only
-Backgrounds are undetailed and have visible seams
-Stylus and pad modes should be separated
-Enemies shamelessly pop up on screen
-Some sprites get corrupted on second play
GBA
Super Mario: The Last GBA Quest 6/10
Mariolike
We've played many Marios before and will play many more in
the future. What makes this one special? It's got some new
enemies and powerups but it's all hampered by shoddy
controls. It's prolly Mario's last GBA outing so you better
give it a shot.
+Copying mario assets went well
+Some new ideas
+Long levels
-Shoddy controls, no acceleration mechanics as in other
mario games
Super Wings 9/10
Retro Shmup
Flying your Super Wings has never been so much fun. Shoot
tanks, shoot helicopters, shoot planes, shoot space heads,
shoot everything that gets in your way and in between
shooting read some hilarious engrish. Great game to look at,
great game to hear and great game to play. Loving it.
+Super retro feel along with proper engrish
+Polished gameplay mechanics
+Impressive music and nice retro graphics
+Great attack patterns
-Very short, only 3 levels
The last level significantly ramps up the difficulty
Chocobo World Deluxe 3/10
RPG Thing
Although you play as a Chocobo and level up time to time
it's nowhere near Square's commercial offerings. The game
isn't even remotely fun as the only way to play it is using
fastmotion on emulators. Walking around takes ages and
combat is nothing but button mashing to attack faster. But I
guess we need to have a really bad game for each really good
one so yeah. Try it if you have a thing for chocobos.
+It's got chocobo in it
-Weird movement system which requires constant checking of
the map
-There's pretty much no difficulty
-Senseless buttonmashing combat
So what do you think? Do you agree with my opinions or not?
Post away!
Also I can do the same for the APP division if you like
these.
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GBA/NDS Games Reviews --- By
koollectablz [
* No.3 NEO Reviewer *
]
GBA/DS Game Reviews.
As with the PSP game section I’m scoring the Nintendo games on
Grafix, Sound and Gameplay out of 10 with an extra 3 points
available dependant on whether an entry is original and if it
supports motion – ending up with a total of 33 points up for
grabs.
A note on gameplay – I think the touchscreen is a huge part of
the success of the DS and if the game makes good use of it I
shall mark the gameplay up accordingly.
AREA TEN by kukulcan - 19/33
Really cool implementation of what ultimately is probably too
simple an idea. You have to keep two different sets of coloured
balls separated from each other by the use of a moving doorway,
and er, that’s it.
Grafix: 6/10 – frankly brilliant grafix for such a limited game
Sound: 7/10
Gameplay: 3/10
Original/Motion: 3/3
ASCIIWAR 0.9999 by samel – 10.5/33
Well, this is totally unlike anything else in the comp – in fact
you’ll have to play it to fully appreciate it. After all you
are just a @ having a stroll around whilst collecting chips and
casting spells. If that sounds weird, well it just is! Shame
no sound. Love the grafix (they’re aren’t any to speak of).
Grafix: 2/10
Sound: 0/10
Gameplay: 7/10 – weirdly good fun!
Original/Motion: 1.5/3
ChessNET - Online Chess Game (Release 1) by CYBER_Aeon –
11.5/33
Now, my scoring of this is only for the local version at the
moment – the whole point really is online chess, against actual
opponents. I shall be revisiting it this week to update with my
online experiences. For now it’s a fairly simple chess
experience, touchscreen moves and a nice clean interface.
Grafix: 6/10
Sound: 0/10
Gameplay: 4/10 – subject to change with online experience
Original/Motion: 1.5/3
Chocobo World Deluxe by Davgav – 16.5/33
The game starts but then, I dunno really, it just is – hard to
tell what you are supposed to do, maybe it’s a Japanese thing
and, well, I am from Birmingham. Nice grafix.
Grafix: 8/10
Sound: 5/10
Gameplay: 2/10 - ?
Original/Motion: 1.5/3
DiceSoldiers by t4ils – 17.5/33
Nicest use of the comp splashscreen! This is Risk for the DS.
I thought I’d lost the plot until I realised I’d set the cpu up
against itself. Nice looking game even if the sound is a bit
overblown. TBH I could never get into Risk as a board game –
Risk on the DS hasn’t changed that view.
Grafix: 8/10 – sweet look
Sound: 4/10
Gameplay: 4/10
Original/Motion: 1.5/3
DualShooter by eadmaster - 18/33
Pretty much a simple bottom up plane vs planes shooter – we’ve
all seen ‘em before but this one is still pretty good. Very
difficult to avoid enemy shots though. That started to piss me
off after a bit.
Grafix: 5/10
Sound: 4/10
Gameplay: 6/10
Original/Motion: 3/3 – gets extra for motion even though
untested by even the developer
Electro by chris28 - 19/33
A coloured block falling game, nicely put together but the
stylus controls sucked for me, ending up getting quite
frustrated with it – and I love block falling games!
Grafix: 7/10
Sound: 7/10
Gameplay: 2/10 – not there yet
Original/Motion: 3/3
Escape From Island by Ben2303 - 17/33
Puzzler where you follow arrows to be presented with obstacles
that need to be overcome with items you collect along the way.
Good fun but a bit too easy as you’re not penalised by just
trying all items in all situations until you find the right
one. Good fun though. Does what it says on the tin.
Grafix: 5/10
Sound: 4/10 – the incidental music really starts to grate
Gameplay: 5/10
Original/Motion: 3/3
Game Melody Oratorio by DesertDog: 25.5/33
Must admit – I really liked this. Very simple, but extremely
well executed. At the end of the day it’s a piano simulator,
you learn a few neat tunes – like the themes to Tetris and Super
Mario and then have the opportunity to play them back to an
appreciative (or not) audience. The touchscreen and stylus is
used to play the keyboard – works 10/10 – didn’t find any bugs
to report. There is room for improvement though – I felt the
keyboard should have filled the whole of the width of the lower
screen and it really needs to be able to play multiple keys one
after another without having to lift the stylus from the screen
– like when you run your finger down the keys of a real piano.
Being able to add your own tunes and save them would also be a
real plus. Like playing polyphonic ringtones or wavs or summat.
Great Homebrew!
Grafix: 8/10
Sound: 8/10 – really liked the audience booing when you mess up
Gameplay: 8/10
Original/Motion: 1.5/3
jaPongG by leinad - 8/33 – sorry.
Well, its just another pong game – and it is. Also amazingly
hard!
Grafix: 3/10
Sound: 2/10
Gameplay: 3/10
Original/Motion: 0/3
Legion by smealum – 24.5/33
Very impressed by this one. Its just about 3D. Though at heart
it’s a 3rd person shooter the detail that’s gone into the
storyline is really very commendable. Great usage of the
touchscreen for controls as well. I found it very much like
rogue agent in that respect. It would help if the camera
weren’t at the same ‘zoom’ all the time though – you really
needed to be able to expand the game area so you can see the bad
guys coming a little earlier – indeed its nigh on impossible to
avoid being hit numerous times all at once. Stay with it to
complete the first level as the next ones get better – less
grey!
Grafix: 8/10
Sound: 7/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Original/Motion: 1.5/3
LoneWolfDS - Flight From The Dark by Michoko – 28.5/33
What can I say? This is as good as a retail game – I dunno if
it’s a port but even so everything about this reeks excellence.
Grafix are superb, music is brilliantly atmospheric. It’s a
gamebook in gameboy form!
In fact I’m quite astounded how good this is! Obviously you
must like gamebooks to get the fullest fun out of it, but, heck
even the number choosing method is frankly astonishingly good.
If you download one game – it has to be this one.
Grafix: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Original/Motion: 1.5/3
MarbleMan: The Arena by MagNet - 21/33
Nice game controlling a ball and trying to stay alive. Gameplay
can be a bit tricky but its worth it when you bash into the
squares at full tilt.
Grafix: 7/10
Sound: 5/10
Gameplay: 6/10
Original/Motion: 3/3
NoobMiniGames by tiancai - 0/33
Didn’t load.
Grafix: 0/10
Sound: 0/10
Gameplay: 0/10
Original/Motion: 0/3
Piztog Tower Defense by Shoog – 26.5/33
What a superb game! I’ve never played one like it before. You
have a set amount of time to construct things on a maze type
thingy that must try to stop a load of weird things get past you
– sounds really odd, but its really good fun. The grafix and
music are spot on as well. This must have a very good chance at
ultimate top spot. Really good game. Must go and play more…
Grafix: 9/10
Sound: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Original/Motion: 1.5/3
PongClassicDS (0.5) by minishlink - 9/33
This is like ridiculously difficult! I’ve had it with pong.
Grafix: 2/10
Sound: 2/10
Gameplay: 2/10
Original/Motion: 3/3
Puzl by SiW – 18.5/33
Jigsaw puzzle for DS. Is what it is. Pretty boring until you
add your own images – and then well gameplay can certainly heat
up a bit. Good, honest, well made homebrew.
Grafix: 7/10
Sound: 4/10 – bit euro eighties for me
Gameplay: 6/10
Original/Motion: 1.5/3
Scogger 0.2 by scognito - 24/33
Yay! Well at least I got it to work on the DS. Good fun frog
jumping puzzler. Frog needs to clear every ‘stepping stone’ –
only problem is he can’t jump diagonally or go backwards – bit
like the little ladies’ driving. Pesky frog! Draws you in and
keeps you playing until you throw your DS at the cat in
frustration.
Grafix: 8/10 – simple yet really nice
Sound: 7/10 – good use of the music, nice to be able to mute it
via shoulder buttons
Gameplay: 6/10 – puzzler at heart, no bad thing!
Original/Motion: 3/3
Snake Dual Screen by eddy - 16/33
Yup, its snake – on both screens. Updated graphix, amusing
sound, unfortunately still snake.
Grafix: 6/10
Sound: 5/10
Gameplay: 2/10
Original/Motion: 3/3
Star Wars Battles by space1 – 17.5/33
Think battleships with Star Wars universe ships, add in a mini
one on one space invaders game when you get a hit and that’s
Star Wars Battles in a nutshell. When I first started playing I
was like ‘hey this is kinda cool’ but as you keep playing there
are some obvious annoyances – the gameplay is very samey and the
computer is a rubbish opponent with no AI that I could make out
Grafix: 6/10
Sound: 6/10 – sound is best thing about the game
Gameplay: 4/10 – gets boring pretty quickly, I didn’t finish a
whole game and I was playing it for quite a while. In fact the
comp did seem to take a huge dislike to one particular square
and lasered the hell out of it for ages
Original/Motion: 1.5/3
Super Mario : The Last GBA Quest by omg – 21.5/33
Now I’m a big Mario fan, though who isn’t! And I came to this
one prepared to be disappointed – I still think Super Mario Bros
3 is the pinnacle of gaming ;-) But I was pleasantly surprised –
it’s a very worthy addition to any Mario library. A number of
levels does indeed draw you on a quest. The feel of the game is
absolutely Gameboy era with with nice updated grafix. There are
some bugs however with ? blocks that can’t be bashed, no slide
when crouched, no acceleration, no change of fall direction when
Super Mario has jumped/bounced off an enemy, rogue blocks giving
endless coins… I could continue but it’d be churlish. This IS
a very good Mario game. Highly recommended.
Grafix: 8/10
Sound: 6/10 – sometimes became a bit distorted, esp on the later
levels.
Gameplay: 6/10 – it’s a Mario platformer, new it ain’t but
exciting? Just!
Original/Motion: 1.5/3
Super Wings [GBA] by eKid - 0/33
My 3-in-1 was having none of this game. Would not load.
Grafix: 0/10
Sound: 0/10
Gameplay: 0/10
Original/Motion: 0/3
ULTIMATE SLIDING PUZZLE by kukulcan - 0/33
Whether or not this is the ultimate sliding puzzle is a moot
point, as it refused to load
Grafix: 0/10
Sound: 0/10
Gameplay: 0/10
Original/Motion: 0/3
My top 10:
1. Lonewolf DS
2. Piztog Tower Defense
3. Game Melody Oratario
4. Legion
5. Scogger
6. Supermario – The Last Quest
7. Marbleman
8. Electro
9. Area 10
10. Puzl |
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