[Originally posted on 1Up.com]
Back in November I wrote about how I had fallen out of love with my DS, neither hardware update nor new software could rekindle the flame and we fell into a cold period where we needed time away from each other. I would fool around with a Sudoku-quickie in Brain Training every now and then, but never dedicated myself to our relationship to the same degree as I had earlier. But during the last few weeks I've played more session on my DS than any other system, beating out my "Oblivion-playing machine"* at almost 3 to 1.
It all started with the Sudoku-killer Slitherlink. Reading Eurogamer's raving review gave me hope that this just might be the game that could bring my DS and I back together again. I wasted no time in ordering it and anxiously awaited it's arrival.
Slitherlink is an excellent puzzle game, it's the definition of pickup and play and still engaging and hard to put down. The basic premise is to trace a complete loop along a grid, some of the squares of the grid contain a number from 0 to 3, signifying how many of it's sides that are to be touched by the slithering line. It starts out fairly simply with a 6x6 grid of just a few numbers and after completing the first selection of 20 of these puzzles I felt a mix of pride that I had done it so quickly and disappointment that it wasn't harder. However these feelings where short-lived as I discovered the next set of 100 puzzles, this time on a grid of 10x10. This set will keep you busy for many many hours, in fact I still have a handful of them left to finish. If you still find that you are getting top marks consistently *patting myself on the back* and you want to play with the big boys *shutter* (there's something very unsettling about talking tough in regards to puzzle games) you' re ready to advance to the even larger 18x10 grids. And if you should finish all of those off there's the colossal multi-screen stretching 24x14 grids to master. Chances are though, that by the time you're done with the 10x10's you will be spending less time on Slitehrlink, but it is still one of those games that doesn't offend and that you can have laying around as a backup. When you get stuck on some block-pushing or switch puzzle in Phantom Hourglass this winter and switch your DS off is disgust - you'll have your trusty old pal Slitherlink there to keep you company in the dark and cold as you wait for that bus that should have been there 20 minutes ago.
Second up is Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Tamashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2, after being disappointed with Elite Beat Agents, I was afraid that my love for Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan would never be matched again. It was hard to put my finger on what it was, but now with Ouendan 2 here it has become much clearer what the defining point for my love of Ouendan and my luke-warm relationship to EBA is due to. Technically and graphically EBA and Ouendan 2 are pretty much on par, both being slight improvements on the original when it comes to game play. The difference is in the music. What tainted the experience of EBA for me was that the well-known tracks just didn't seem to fit with the game, I had real problems associating the songs by Madonna, The Rolling Stones and Jamiroquai with the quirky anime\manga-style graphics of the game. While the tracks of Ouendan and Ouendan 2 are also mainstream hits, they are ones that I am totally oblivious to, so for me they are the musical representations of the stories in the game and have no other connotations. Ouendan 2 is simply what I was hoping EBA would be: More Ouendan with slight technical improvements! There's just one thing to say: Dai Seikou!
The final nail in the coffin (to use an only slightly fitting expression) was Puzzle Quest. Securing a copy of this sleeper\word-of-mouth hit was a quest in it's own. This was the first of the three that I ordered, and the last one I received. As my order at PlayAsia.com kept being postponed, before finally being canceled. At which point I had to re-order, this time from DVDBoxOffice.com which also took many weeks since they where also having problems getting it restocked. As you probably know, this game is the freak child of BeJeweled and a generic western RPG.
The game has a standard Fantasy RPG setting and premise, but battles are executed by playing a game of BeJeweled against your opponent, be it a rat, skeleton, or any of a number of other staple fantasy baddies. During the battles you match up three mana orbs (red, green, yellow or blue) to gain more magical power, three purple stars for extra XP, three piles of coins for gold or three skulls to do direct damage to your opponent. If you are able to match up 4 or 5 symbols in one move you will be given an extra turn so these are of course preferable. Along the way you find\buy\sell items and spells (for which you use the mana) and you can upgrade your castle with new buildings and facilities and expand your domain. I have yet to experience the time-warping of getting completely caught up in the game, for me it's much more "pickup and put down"-friendly, which suites me fine as I prefer to play the DS in short burst while commuting anyway.
So, three lovely games that every DS owner should, well... own. And if you don't own a DS, here's three reasons to get one!
* To satire the derogatory Wii-term "Zelda-playing machine" as coined by former 1Up:er Luke Smith.
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