DSiWare Reviews - Page 9

A game with a lot of heart

Card enthusiasts searching for quick and casual DSiWare fun are in luck with Hearts Spades Euchre from Cosmigo, the same company that brought us the surprisingly high-quality 505 Tangram. The studio returns here with another above average title with a modest, to-the-point name that risks seeing potential customers underestimate it and pass it by. But don't sell this..

Not quite as big a rip-off as the real thing

For as long as humans have stacked milk bottles in pyramid formations, people have yearned to topple them. Salvation for these individuals came by way of the carnival – but what's a toppling enthusiast to do on the walk home, or on the bus the next day? Enter Boardwalk Ball Toss, the perfect solution for such a predicament. It comes to us from..

Shoulder pads and mullets optional

DSiWare has seen some glorious titles since its launch, but for wannabe pop stars, there's been something missing. Stepping forward is DTP Entertainment, filling the void in the DSiWare catalogue with Just Sing! 80’s Collection. Time to get busy with the hairspray, dig out those old shoulder pads and return to the golden age of synth music. This is the fourth..

There is no tagline for a title like that

If you’ve never been confused by a video game’s title, now’s your chance! With all of its punctuation and absurdity, Pro Jumper! Guilty Gear Tangent!? is easily one of the most interesting titles on the DSiWare service. As the name suggests, this is a spin-off of the Guilty Gear series of fighting games, but it strays pretty far from the franchise’s..

Stratego on the go

Ah, Stratego. A game with rules so simple you'll understand them fully the first time you play, and yet so open to strategy and cleverness that you'll never play the same game twice. With its fast setup and addictive play style, it's the kind of game you find yourself playing twenty rounds of when you only wanted to play one or two. The fact that the board game is a stone-cold..

Mein Name ist Freddy, ich bin ein Vampir

It seems that Tivola is keen to make the humble DSi the definitive language learning tool of the 21st Century. Perhaps that is an exaggeration, but Successfully Learning German: Year 2 has arrived to help young German speakers improve their language skills. Freddy the Vampire returns as the series mascot, and we’re once again led back to the classroom..

Nah-jong

Legend has told of a Mahjong game that would stand out above the rest. This game would be different, original, and would finally bring an end to the dull and lifeless Mahjong games of the past. This game would be unlike the usual Mahjong Solitaire games that have players simply matching pairs of tiles, but would instead be like the traditional Chinese game of skill and chance. Zimo:..

Turns out hell is actually pretty fun

Long, long ago, in a place no one remembers, a young maiden was praying to the heavens to bring back her lover, who had perished. All at once, she was surrounded by an infinite number of glittering crystal orbs. A voice from above called out to her, "...These crystal orbs hold the secret to your lover's...

Shutterbug fun, or shudder and run?

Two of today's most cherished timewasters are fun with photographs and hidden object puzzles, so it's a wonder that it's taken so long for someone to combine the two. Continuing on their recent trend of porting retail DS titles to downloadable DSiWare, Most Wanted and Subdued Games bring us Hidden Photo – but is...

Worth the day trip?

Though Diner Dash has yet to make an appearance on DSiWare, other publishers have stepped up to offer fans similar action on the platform. Alawar Entertainment is now bringing Beach Party Craze to the service, but is this PC port worth a download? The storyline in Beach Party Craze is simple, as you fill in for a friend as an attendant at a swanky beach resort. You’ll need to..

Just crazy enough to work

If there’s one thing that can certainly be said about DSiWare games, it’s this: no matter how ridiculous the name of your game is, it can be made. Proving this point with much gusto is Crazy Cheebo: Puzzle Party, the latest addition to the countless puzzle games already available on the service. But, beyond the title, is this one different and original enough to..

A dream come true

We all know that there are plenty of puzzle games available on the DSiWare service, but every now and again one pops up that has just the right amount of charm to merit attention. Dreamwalker, the intriguing new puzzle game from Code Mystics, fits that description perfectly. From a silly concept to engaging and endearing visual and...

Puzzles rock

Cinemax has seen both highs and lows on DSiWare — its Rytmik games have proven to be excellent composition tools, but games like Snakenoid, a bizarre mix of Snake and Arkanoid have missed the mark. Puzzle Rocks is a puzzle game, but we're not quite sure it's really similar to anything else, except maybe Connect Four. It's one of very...

Run and gun and not so fun

Run-’n-gun shooters usually wind up one of three ways: either they’re totally crazy awesome with intense action, really really boring, or rock-solid efforts that do no real wrong but regardless fail to spark much of anything in players. B Team - Episode 1: Dust & Steel is the heart-breaking latter kind of game. It isn’t that there is no fun to be had, as this..

The doctor is out

Everyone’s favourite sharp-tongued, cane-wielding, drug-addicted TV doctor has finally arrived on DSiWare in House, M.D. – Globetrotting Episode 1. In this game it is your job to join the medical team at Princeton-Plainsboro Hospital and uncover the truth behind a mysterious ailment afflicting an elderly television host. Through a series of medical procedures and patient..

Saved by the bell…

Tivola’s campaign to help young DSi owners master the English language has reached its finale, with Successfully Learning English: Year 5 bringing the series to a close. It’s time to pack up your pencil cases, give the teacher a farewell gift – if you’re a gold-star student – and take your new English language skills into the big, bad world. For those who have..

All of the pieces fit

In many cases, the idea of combining two unlike video game genres into one game can be very off-putting. The result usually consists of clunky controls, confusing gameplay, overbearing tedium, or any combination of these factors. Sometimes, however, a game comes along that finds a way to balance out the genre differences and...

Blast or dud?

The shoot 'em up genre hasn't exactly seen a lot of love on the DSiWare service to date, but EnjoyUp! Games is looking to change that with the release of 99Bullets. While the basic core of the game does revolve around an old-school shooter premise, there's a unique twist that injects a very puzzle-like atmosphere into the mix. The basic premise of 99Bullets revolves heavily around the..

First person picture puzzler

In the 8- and 16-bit eras, there were quite a few games that featured first-person dungeon crawling. Looking through your character's eyes, you had to navigate a maze by moving forward one square at a time, possibly also having to collect treasures and fight monsters along the way. Games like The Legend of the Mystical...