rosemo

I had no problem with the controls either. Beat the game with 115 stars. It was my first DS game; my brother bought it for me for Christmas.

@SyFyTy: I agree. My brother-in-law bought this for me for Christmas and it is very well done. Getting an 'A' rank on every mission is a real challenge. This game works really well in the portable format. Missions are 10 minutes long so they can be played in spare time. Looking forward to finishing this one!

Guess that IGN review everyone complained about wasn't so far off base, huh?

This is probably the first Nintendo-published DSiWare release this year that I am not interested in. I just can't justify paying $5 for less than an hour of gameplay.

Question for the author: You said that some studios are struggling to reach their download targets. I did not know Nintendo had download targets. Have some studios mentioned they are having trouble turning a profit? If so, which ones?

@Birdman13: I agree. I am genuinely surprised by this. I have had no desire to buy Extreme Hangman at all, but the game is probably not target to me I guess. I just hope this doesn't encourage developers to bring out "Extreme Dots and Lines" instead of something more creative.

@joeshabadoo: I don't know if this is true, but the IGN review said that NST developed it. This may also explain why the game came out in NA first. Here is my source:

http://ds.ign.com/articles/105/1058316p1.html

I downloaded this last night because I was feeling depressed and wanted something bright and cheery to play. Having done the tutorial and the first two Score Attack levels, I have to agree with the review. It is a very well-designed, polished game for 200 points which is sizing up to have more gameplay than many 500 point games. It also seems like something my six-year-old son could play as well. Nintendo is on fire so far this year with their DSiWare releases. I hope they keep it up.

I was actually kind of disappointed by the DSiWare presence at the summit. X-Scape was supposed to be out in Feb and got pushed back; we all knew that Photo Dojo was coming eventually. Metal Torrent looks pretty good but I was expecting a little more.

IGN said NST was the developer.

I think it is called Link n' Launch and probably will be released here in the next few weeks.

Desiree,

Thanks for the well written review. I did have a couple questions though. The IGN review mentioned the control issues (also mentioned by you) as game-breaking. Is it really that bad? They also mentioned that, once you put a card on the suit pile in Klondike, you could not take it out again, thus ruining some of the strategy of the game. Again, did you find this to be an issue? I wouldn't ask except that the two reviews basically read totally different. Thanks!

To me, Chronos Twins looks like Reflections for 500 points. I'm going to wait for a positive review before I buy.

@110percentful: I have learned my lesson on that the hard way as well. Now, I wait for a review (or two) and user impressions before taking the leap. However, I have also been burned by games that received good reviews and I downloaded them, only to soon regret the choice. I guess you just win some and lose some!

I agree. A 24 block game with no features other than playing the card game itself should have been 200 points. I guess they are figuring that the multiplayer is what puts it in 500 point territory but still...if each player has to have the game, then it should still be 200 points. Now if there were local wireless play and wifi play, then that may be different.

I've got more than enough Art Style games to play without paying for these demos. Hardy83 gets on Nintendo about releasing paid demos, but Popcap and EA (with Littlest Pet Shop) are more guilty of this than Nintendo as far as I'm concerned. I agree with the review; I can play this and Bookworm in my browser for free, so I don't really need to spend money on these.

Castle of Magic = 8; enhanced mobile phone port; very easy and short, but pretty good.
Oscar in Toyland = 6; didn't look like something anyone should play
Foto Face = 7; pedestrian platformer with cool camera features
Rayman = 5; enhanced port of a full PS1 release; challenging but difficulty definitely lower than the original.

I've got to say, having downloaded this edition of Rayman, it did not deserve the score it got, especially in light of the other DSiWare platformers. One of the rare times I have disagreed with Nintendo Life (Pop+ Solo was the other time).

This is unfortunate. IGN told a different story; now I am conflicted.

@Blue_Cat: I agree with wii man 10. Pop+ Solo was a huge disappointment in my mind. I downloaded it last month, and really have found no redeeming qualities about it. By wave 4 in "Adventure" mode I was really bored. So it looks like you made a good choice.

Enjoy. I am just starting world 5 and have S ranks on all but 2 stages. It gets pretty challenging, but the pick up and play value is so great that you just keep going.

@KKnight

I agree with you. I have read people freaking out about this, and I don't understand it. I have a DSi and I don't feel ripped off. Think of it like the 2nd generation Kindle from Amazon. They released it to great fanfare, and then about 9 months later came out with a bigger-screened version, the Kindle DX. True, there were a few other very minor revisions, but on the whole it was just a bigger screened version to capture different demographic, those who want to read newspapers and magazines instead of just paperback books.

My prediction: the DSi XL is about $50 more expensive than the DSi. The DSi gets a price drop and the DS Lite is discontinued. Now you will have two options. That's not so bad, right?

I agree. I will get it for 200, but probably not 500.