Topic: Art Style: DigiDrive (First Impressions)

So, what do my fellow Americans think of DigiDrive/Intersect? Was it worth the 500 pts?

Art Style™: DIGIDRIVE™
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: It's traffic control with a twist as you try to direct identical cars down the same road in Art Style: DIGIDRIVE. This constantly moving puzzle game combines an easily understood playing field (an intersection) and a simple goal (create fuel), challenging you to properly guide a never-ending stream of cars. Stack similar cars five deep to create some fuel, then use that fuel to continue your progress in the game. Play in ENDLESS mode to see how long you can last, or compete against the computer or a human opponent in VS mode. Use combos to your advantage and see if your reflexes can handle the intensity of Overdrive mode. When all is said and done, you may never look at gridlock quite the same way again.

Surely someone has downloaded this? (I would but am out of points at the moment, will probably get it Thursday.)

I have, yes, but haven't played it yet.

I just spent my last 1000 points on Bomberman and Dragon Quest. With no regrets, I might add! But this'll definitely be next.

The classy audiovisual presentation is impressive for $5, and the engaging gameplay mechanics don't get old despite the game's extremely simplistic nature. I poured a lot of time into this without even realizing it, which is always good for a DSiWare game. I haven't played competitively yet, but the single player experience by itself is good enough to merit the points.

One issue is that the game challenges you to beat high scores to unlock skins, music, difficulty levels, etc. but it doesn't recognize that you beat two high scores if you do, only the lowest one. It's also rather boring on normal and the default music gets old quick, but it doesn't take long to unlock more stuff. The touch screen controls were a bit iffy for me, but traditional controls are fine.

So yea, probably the best download of the month so far.

It's OK.

I downloaded it when it first came out in Australia, played it for a couple of days, and haven't touched it since.

I love the visual and audio presentation, it's slick and cool, without doubt. The problem is that it takes too damn long to play. I don't think I'm great at this game by any stretch of the imagination, so I shudder to think of the hours you'd sink into it for one game as you get good.

Usually long gameplay is a good thing, right? No - the other Art Style games, the ones I come back to, are so much better, because they can be played in short bursts. It's a real trial of patience to play a game THIS SIMPLE that just goes on, and on, and on, and on.

Some people might enjoy it - and, like I said, like the other art style games, the presentation is impecible, but I'll be coming back to Kubos, Aquite, PictoPict, and Boxlife far more than I will DigiDrive.

I noticed it was developed by a different company, not Skip, which was kinda weird...anyway I like the game, it's hard though, especially when you have 3 colors to deal with.

Good to hear! I will be getting it, then.

Loving it~ My review up soon!

It does have some nice smooth graphics, it does look pretty nice. I love all the Art style games.

Wow. Incredible game!

I'm new here, btw. Hello guys!

When I get into "trance mode" it really does put you in a trance of sorts... Great game, everything about it is wonderful, but I just about had a spasm trying to unlock a new theme! I would have to say its the best dsiware game I've downloaded so far!

just a heads up. here are some tips and suggestions based on the first bit generations gameboy "Digidrive" game...

http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbadvance/file/933343/44254

Single: Starts a game in single-player mode.
VS Com: Starts a VS game versus the AI.
VS 2P: Starts a VS game versus a human opponent.
Credits: If you've unlocked them. Starts up the staff credit roll.

If you select Single, you will have some options to choose from:

Ranking: This shows up after you complete your first game. It shows
your top distance (explained later).
Skin: This lets you select the color scheme. Under Standard, there
are 6 options you can choose right away. Unlockable schemes
are listed also. Some other options are listed under Etc.
Music: There are 2 options for songs, as well as Silence and Random.
More songs are unlockable.
Voice: If you've unlocked voice select. Pretty self-explanatory.
You have standard, male, female, and robot to choose from.
Level: The higher the level, the faster the piston moves.
Start: Start the game.

Playing the Game:

The first thing you'll notice is a large plus sign on the left side.
This is the main play area. I'll explain it later.

On the right side of the screen is your distance meter. The disc in
the center moves forward as you create fuel pods. The distance you
can cover determines your score.

After the game starts, arrows, which I call fuel pellets, will start
coming in from all 4 sides of the play area. If left unchecked, they
will move to the opposite side and rest there. You can make them move
onto either of the two perpendicular sides instead by pressing the
arrow on the D-pad that corresponds to that side. For example, if a
pellet comes in from the right side, and you would like it to rest
on the top side, you would press the up arrow. Doing so will make it
turn towards that side as it encounters the center of the play area.
(Throughout the rest of this FAQ I will call the individual sides
of the play area "fuel stacks.") A pellet MAY NOT be directed to
turn back into the side from whence it came Also note that any
pellet coming in from the left side would be directed into the top
fuel stack as well, as long as you have that line up.

When a pellet encounters another pellet of the same shape, it will
stack up. You will start out with only one shape, but as you continue
play you will encounter a total of three different shapes. The first
one looks like a simple chevron arrow. The second shape is much more
curved. The third shape looks blocky. They also differ in color if
you have trouble distinguishing their shapes. If you try to put a
pellet of a different shape onto a stack, that pellet will form a new
stack, and the old stack will be sent back onto the play area from the
fuel stack it was just on, one pellet at a time.

When five pellets are stacked up, that fuel stack is activated. You
can tell if a fuel stack is activated because it will be a different
color, and it will have a fuel pod shown next to it. Fuel pods are
either triangular (a small pod), square (a medium pod), pentagonal
(a large pod), or hexagonal (a giant pod). After that is a circle.
Once that appears to be full, the pod can still grow bigger, and you
can see when you launch it how big it is (2x, 4x, etc).

Active fuel stacks are tied to their pod, as well as to the shape that
started the stack. This is called its "affinity." You can tell a
stack's affinity by it's color (it will be the same color as the
pellets) or by the shape that appears towards the center of the play
area on that stack.

A fuel stack can only remain active for a short time unless it is fed.
You must feed it pellets of the same shape. The instance a pellet of a
different shape enters that stack, it is deactivated and any fuel
attached to it is lost, which is bad. This also happens if it is not
fed at all for a short period of time.

This is not always the case. If you have other active fuel stacks,
instead of being lost, the fuel will be added to all other stacks!
If you have two others, this will double your fuel attached to that
stack! This ONLY happens if you've put a pellet of the wrong type
onto the stack, though; if it starves to death, it's gone.

Sometimes a flashing pellet will appear. If you send the flashing
pellet into an active fuel stack, the fuel stack will be deactivated,
but all of the fuel will be sent to power your disc! This is one
of only two ways to move your disc. You can make a flashing pellet
appear by pressing the A button as well, but you can only do this
once. You get another one every 5000 meters if you have less than
three, though. You can see how many you have just to the right of
the main play area.

What happens if you activate all four stacks? Hehehe. This is
an event that I call trance. After you activate all four stacks, the
background will change into a spiral and you'll notice arrows start
to move much faster. It's very hard to keep up, but do it! While in
trance, your arrows no longer stack up - they go straight into the
fuel pod! And the first pod that is deactivated (for any reason) will
be sent straight to power your disc!

There is a large piston chasing your disc around. When it gets close
the scene on the right will zoom in, and once it touches your disc you
will lose. Make sure you constantly keep moving the disc!

Differences in VS Mode:

-You start off dealing with all 3 shapes.
-You are pushing the disc up, but your opponent wants to push it down.
-You can attack with the B button. Get new items by pushing the disc.
-You lose when the disc is pushed all the way down.

Other Tips (or "Things I Forgot"):

When you put an incorrectly shaped pellet into an active fuel stack,
as that stack is deactivating (and transferring fuel if you have
another active fuel stack), some pellets will disappear. As of yet,
I have not figured out what criteria the game uses to decide this.

If a circle gets full, it can still continue to grow. For example, if
you move a fuel pod (by mismatching the stack), it can go into the
circle. You can see the actual amount of fuel in the circle when it
launches; it will visibly "drain." You can also see 2x, 4x, etc. when
you launch the circle. Eventually it will grow to ?x!

From Brandon:
After you exit from trance, before the fuel pod launches, one flashing
pellet will be added to your stock.

From Curry Allergy:
If you hold A+B+L+R as the game starts up, your game saved data will
be erased. That could be helpful if you bought the game used from
a Digidrive master who had his high scores in the millions, but this
is more the sort of thing you'd want to avoid.

If you press B while the attack animation (with the disc flying up)
is playing, it will skip the animation. Very handy for people doing
speedruns, I guess...

Official terminology:
(Thanks goes to Curry Allergy for translating the terms in the manual!)

What I call it: |What the manual calls it:

----------------------+-----------------------

Disc | Dual Core
Fuel Pellet | Shape
Fuel Stacks | Roads
Fuel Pod | Stock shape
Flashing pellet | Attack shape
Trance | Auto Bahn
Piston | Danger Bar

Unlockables:

Music -

Vedo: Get past 500 M in Single mode
17:42: Get past 7000 M in Single mode
Monomosquo: Win a VS Com game on Hard mode

Skin packages -
All skins are based primarily on 3 colors.

Modern: Get past 1000 M in Single mode

The Modern package has 8 skins in it -
Kimono: Blue, cyan, and white
Sakura: Pink, pale pink, and white
Urushi: Yellow, red, and black
Ukiyoe1: Red, pale yellow, and dark blue
Ukiyoe2: Red, white, and lavander
Ukiyoe3: Blue, orange, and yellow
Pastel: Cyan, pink, and white
Psychedelic: Black, green, and yellow. There's a kinda rainbow
between green and yellow in the background.

Soccer: Get past 2000 M in Single mode

The Soccer package has 10 skins in it. Each skin is based on the
colors of the country's soccer team (World Cup spirit lives on!) -
Japan: Pale red, blueish purple, and white.
Brazil: Blue, green, and yellow
Germany: Red, white, and black. There's an orange blotch between
white and black in the background.
Italy: Blue, white, and cyan
Argentina: Teal, white, and pale blue
England: Red, black, and white
France: Skin color, blue, and white
Spain: Red, yellow, and teal
USA: Red, white, and blue (Shocker)
Cameroon: Orange, yellow, and green

Seasons: Get past 3000 M in Single mode

The Seasons package has 4 skins in it -
Spring: Pale green, lavander, and white
Summer: Blue, chartreuse, and white.
Fall: Red, orange, and a slightly greenish orange.
Summer: Brown, white, and silver.

Special: Get past 5000 M in Single mode

The Special package has 6 skins in it -
Famicom color: Red, black, and pale yellow
Famicom 20th: Red, yellow, and black
Classic NES: White, grey, and red
Lime green: Pale green, white, and grey
Gold: Yellow, olive green, and white
Orange: Orange, black, and teal (it looks disgusting)

Retro: Score a 10x attack (see below for a helpful strategy)

The Retro package has 5 skins in it -
Type A: Black and cyan
Type B: Red, cyan, and black
Type Q: White, yellow, and green
Game boy: Dark green, light green, and yellow
Game and watch: Dark blue and pale cyan

I always play on Game boy. It's nostalgic for me. And, my Game boy
still works, which is great considering my Mom bought it at a
garage sale as a Christmas present when I was 7.

Food: Win a VS Com match on Normal mode

The Food package has 6 skins in it -
Choco Banana: Brown, yellow, and white
Strawberry milk: Red, pink, and white
Peanut butter: Brown, tan, and yellow
Caesar salad: Yellow and green
Choco mint: White, brown, and cyan
BLT: Brown, tan, and baby puke green

Other stuff -

Voice select: Clear 10000 M in Single mode (it can be done!)
Staff Credits: Win a VS Com game on Expert mode

Strategies:

This is cool. When the games starts out, you will only have one
type of arrow. If you can manage to get into trance with all of the
stacks being the same shape, the fun will begin. Whenever a stack
gets "hungry," press that arrow and it will get fed. You can get
everything up to circles in seconds this way. In the end, stop
caring and a circle will get launched. Now you should have all 3
shapes. Deactivate one of the remaining stacks to double up into
the others. Now deactivate another one to move it into the last one.
Now continue play as normal (see below for other strategies here).
Get a couple more active stacks, now deactivate the big one with
a bad pellet to double-up into the other two stacks. Make a flashing
pellet with the A button and send it into one of the two stacks to
get a HUGE distance. Now make two more stacks, break up the big one
again, etc. You can repeat this indefinitely!

Once you get two shapes out, it's best to keep two stacks of each,
opposite of each other. This is the easiest way to keep them happy,
and it will be much easier to get a trance going.

Once you get three shapes out, the best way is to have one active
stack of each going at a time, and use your fourth stack for "spare
parts," when a pellet comes out of its appropriate stack. And don't
forget - if you have a stack that's starving and won't get the help
it needs in time, scrap it for the double-up.

Don't forget your ultimate goal of powering your disc. Having good
stacks is worthless unless you can power your disc. If you hear a
warning, try and launch the disc with a flashing pellet. Or if you
think you can, get a trance - the piston stops moving while you're
in a trance, and it's a great way to get things moving again!

Holy moly. That last post was probably longer than the code that makes up the game. I'm sure people who downloaded the game will appreciate it, tho.

I know... I didn't see alot of help for the game on the Internet or here, just this help guide to the old Bit Generations title, so I thought it would be helpful. For instance, I didn't know there were so many unlockable skins for the game itself! It took me forever to realize how to get the "Deep Sea" 10000m one! Can't wait to get the others... it actually makes the game tougher to play.

this was fantastic. i'm addicted to this game, and it's great to have a detailed guide from the perspective of someone who personally knows all the ins and outs - in terms of strategy, idiosyncrasies, etc., it's much more helpful for gameplay than just the help menu.
plus, i appreciate what it feels like to find yourself writing what turns into this rather epic account of a game or an aspect of game play, even though it seems like the rest of the universe might not be interested or find it excessive... but sometimes you just get going, and it's fun, and the internet is such a big place that, probability-wise, there will be at least one other person who finds your information useful.

Exactly!

I just can't put this game down. Just unlocked two more songs and they are wonderful, too. I am loving the "Deep Sea" theme and I can't wait to unlock others. I know there is a Retro, and even a "Food" one. Has anyone else unlocked themes? I think this is the best dsiware game released so far. I would easily pay $30 for a full fledged retail game for DigiDrive, it's THAT good (to me anyway.)

[quote=grumble...grumble]I would easily pay $30 for a full fledged retail game for DigiDrive, it's THAT good (to me anyway.)

[/quote]

That's the exact way I felt about Mario vs DK MMA! I got so into that game's level editor, I'd have payed full price just for that. I don't play it as often recently, but that game lasted an entire summer, and I still play it occasionally.

Your passion for this game has intrigued me into it. There's some other things I want on from DSiWare, but I'll at least look more into this (I've kinda overlooked it until now). I guess I'll start by reading your post/essay.

EDIT: Read it. The game seems very interesting, but I got the impression that you need to play it to understand (which makes me even more interested in playing it!). You wrote about the GBA version, but do you know if the DSiWare version is exactly the same? Is it scaled back in any way?

Actually, I did some research on that (well, a little) and the new DigiDrive (in US)/Intersect (in EU) is the same game as the former "DigiDrive" but with added and updated features, so this version we have is much better than the older Bit Generations title. I still want to pick it up somewhere for cheap though and play it to make sure cuz i'm a geek like that.

Oh yeah, I did get into MvDK, too, but I keep getting trapped on the last stages and it gets really hard that I just get frustrated lol... I played around with the level editor a little bit but didn't get obsessed anywhere near the level I am at with DigiDrive (but I do understand your love for great puzzle gaming!)

Also, I didn't write that essay/review/faq of the game, someone else did and I posted the link, just pasted the contents here to make it easier to get to.

Hope you pick up this title and play it! Let me know what u think... Give it a week or two to set in lol...