Definitely “Digging” DSiware’s Downloadables!
It’s clear that Nintendo was not fully behind it’s new downloadable market at launch, especially for the western world. Not being an insider I can only guess as to why, but I imagine the unreasonable secrecy companies wrap their new gadgets in prevents them from revealing their future hardware to potential game developers until launch and that creates the delay we’ve experienced.
Japan’s DSiware marketplace saw a stream of attractive titles in its first year while we’ve had to make due with a few interesting games like Mini’s March Again and PiCTOBiTS alongside a string of forgettable mini-games. With PSP Minis breathing down its neck, critical response to the marketplace has been luke-warm in the States — paling in comparison with the juggernaut that is the iPhone App Store (though I would guess the ratio between good and bad games in Apple’s bottomless pit of mobile software is actually worse).
But it’s a new year and it finally looks like the western DSiware marketplace will live up to expectations. Over the past few weeks I’ve anticipated the arrival of several interesting titles and over the past few days my gaming attention has been engaged by the following four…
Dark Void Zero
Yep. This is an obvious bit of promotion for Capcom’s console-based “Nikola Tesla meets the Rocketeer” shooter (which I might get through GameFly, but would never drop $60 for). You know what, its also a fun little throwback to the NES era. It’s a short game to be sure and not that difficult, but something tells me I enjoyed playing this version more than I will the console version. The faux history they create around this game is quite entertaining as well. Worth five bucks? Sure, especially if it saves you $60 by fulfilling your need to shoot strange aliens in the void beyond the Bermuda Triangle!
Glow Artisan
This game was perhaps the least engaging. Unlike the other three, I was not aware of it until the day it was released and I bought it primarily due to the glowing praise of a review. Picross fans may adore this puzzler, but as I made my way through the increasingly difficult levels, I realized I wasn’t having that much fun. Also, the overall design of the game is not very “crisp” or “creative”, especially when compared to the next two games. I hate to be negative about a simple puzzle game because I know there will be plenty of people who appreciate it, but this one was not my cup of tea.
Starship Defense
If there is a game type over-saturating the market more than zombie shooters, it has to be desktop tower defense games. In fact, I’ve done my best to avoid buying any since enjoying Subatomic’s Fieldrunners when it first came out. That is until now. I succumbed to this one on the stylistic strength of its designer, Q-Games of PixelJunk fame. It’s a tower defense game. A good one in fact. If you’re tired of tower defense games, this one probably won’t interest you. But it brings some interesting ideas to the table and has a lot of style. I’m already about a third of the way through and find it very challenging. Of course, I refuse to move forward unless I get a perfect score and a higher rank, but that’s because I have completionist issues.
Trajectile
Of the all these games, it’s been Q-Games’ Trajectile (known as Reflect Missile in Europe) and the medals it awards for each stage that has kept me playing my DSi over the past two weeks (and I finally have Borderlands in my Xbox and that game is crazy good). What do I love about Trajectile? Everything. Missle Command meets Arkanoid? Brilliant. The music? Perfectly chosen. The pixel art style? Delightful. The use of “The Rule of Three”? Works to balance the game very well.
Some stages do demand a more trial and error approach but I find that most offer a real thoughtful challenge. Similarly, the twitchy nature of the aim can be a little annoying until you get used to it. With that said though, Trajectile is now, officially, my favorite DSiware game and one that I wholly recommend you add to your DSi.
I really think Trajectile is a much better name than Reflect Missile. I wonder why the different titles were necessary?
