DSsections
I’ve had my Nintendo DS since August last year and in that time it’s seen its fair share of cartridges (do we still call them that or are they called something trendier nowadays). I have thus far not posted anything about any of them, not even in passing and so I thought it might be time to change that in a set of quick fire reviews of the most notable things I’ve played to date.
With no further ado and in no particular order:
Animal Crossing
Create a little person with a daft name. Put him or her in a little town with an equally daft name. Design some clothes, dress the little person in them and a finish the ensemble with a luchador’s mask. Hope that this fashion statement catches on and the rest of the townsfolk pick up on you unique trends. Collect assorted wildlife, dig holes and furnish your house with stuff you find in bins.
It reminds me very much of my childhood in rural Wales.
I disliked my childhood intensely.
New Super Mario Bros.
Like all other Mario games only prettier.
Lost Magic
An interesting magic system lost in a world of tedious missions.
Castlevania - Dawn of Sorrow
Retracing your steps while using an enormous sword to twat a catalogue of monsters has never been so much fun.
Advance Wars - Dual Strike
A great way spend to a fortnight’s holiday and the perfect thing to see you through those transatlantic flights. In fact, don’t bother going away; use the cash you’ve saved for plane tickets and hotels on beer and find a comfortable chair to settle down in with this little gem. If you combine it with Castlevania take three weeks off and forget about the everyday distractions of washing, eating and dressing.
Trauma Centre
It’s Life and Death! With a stylus. And a ridiculous plot. And some hilariously awful dialogue. And the world’s most difficult-to-pull-off zooming mechanism.
Final Fantasy 3
Lovely looking and enjoyable RPG from formulaic wizards Square Enix. Let down by the plot, and the lack of characterisation (all the playable characters are entirely defined by their jobs). Still an amazing technical achievement on the little hand-held.
Contact
An interesting, if thoroughly daft departure from the typical RPG mainstays of big swords and powerful magic. Its endearing graphics and down to earth weaponry and skills (I’m currently a chef, armed to the teeth with a small fruit knife) lend it a certain charm that was missing from FF 3.
New Zealand Story Revolution
Initial impressions would have you believe that this game is a little girl; wearing a frilly pink dress; holding a comically oversized lollipop and singing a song about how lovely the birds are.
Don’t be fooled, under the frills and golden locks is an angry crack-addled midget who remembers when men were men and games didn’t need learning curves or tutorials. He’s been living the old-school way since the eighties and right at this moment he wants nothing more than to drop his saccharin disguise and kick you square in the nuts.
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan
Is possibly the best thing to land on any hand-held system. Not only is it the defining reason to own a DS, it’s probably the reason our primordial ancestors went to the trouble of evolving hands in the first place.
What can you say? It has little works of comedic genius that accompany the action. It has an instant pick-up and play appeal, but a difficulty curve that makes it MORE FUN to play as it gets harder. And it’s home to one of the all time great game soundtracks.
Buy it, import it, do whatever you have to do, but for the love of all that’s holy get a copy.