TOUCH SELECTIONS Review - Screenshot 1 of 3

Hot off the heels of TAP TAP ARCADE 2, RCMADIAX has released TOUCH SELECTIONS; this title is a two-in-one game purchase, much like the existing ARCADE series. The games on offer this time are PEG SOLITAIRE and AVOIDER - which have been previously reviewed by other writers. The first offers a basic puzzle experience, while the second game is more in line with a traditional arcade cabinet game. Both make use of the Wii U GamePad's touchscreen and stylus.

PEG SOLITAIRE throws players straight into the action. It's actually a little reminiscent of a single puzzle challenge that could appear in a Brain Training game. The main aim is to remove all the green game pieces until only one is left; in order do this, the player must remove each game piece by jumping over each with an adjacent game piece. Only one piece can be jumped at a time and there must be an open spot on the other side before jumping.

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The stylus controls make this process easy enough, and each of the 14 puzzles are somewhat engaging despite how difficult each board can be to solve; often you'll find a puzzle must be reset if existing moves are not made in a certain order. Fortunately there's an undo button, but it's not always available to save you from having to reset completely. There's not much else to say here except that the visuals are rather bland, while the sound and music are generic at best.

AVOIDER is reminiscent of the classic arcade space shooter, Asteroids. The only downside is you can't shoot any of the floating objects around your ship - or in this particular case your triangle. Instead you must simply avoid flying triangles for as long as you possibly can. Survival can be achieved if you find a safe spot on the map. From here, minimal touches are required as there is no evolving pattern to the surrounding triangle movement. Visually, AVOIDER has an '80s vibe to it, with neon colours and a white grid on a black background; there's also a repetitive retro chip tune to further enhance the theme.

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The primary goal, ultimately, is to get a high score and then at the end you are encouraged to share this with other players on Miiverse. The touch controls are by no means responsive, unlike the solid implementation in PEG SOLITAIRE. While moving the stylus over the touch screen there seems to be an input delay - meaning the triangle on-screen lags behind the stylus movement. By accident, this at times increases the difficulty of what is admittedly a very bland concept.

Conclusion

TOUCH SELECTIONS is another bare-bones double-pack that will keep players engaged for very little time. Both of these games could be played while watching television, or when multi-tasking in general. Like past releases, what you see here is what you get; there is no depth to either PEG SOLITAIRE or AVOIDER, nor is there any sense of progression. They are a basic and very plain pair of games, and there are many superior options available on the Wii U eShop that provide better value at their asking price.