It's track and field! I've always enjoyed this game - but after completing two "campaigns" (each is four events, but all different from each other!), getting some medals, and so on...I've realized I can't really play this game on my DS XL because I'm pretty sure the frantic "rubbing" (sliding the stylus left-right as quickly as possible, or doing circles as quickly as possible) will result in my damaging the console. I really don't want that to happen.
But, is this game the "full package"? Yes! Running, skeet shooting, hammer, javelin, diving, there's all kinds of events here (I didn't even get to unlock many of them...according to the back of the box there are 24...which makes sense because each "campaign" has 4 events and there are 6 of these...) You can also play/practice these individually which is nice - and it's nice to see that they follow similar gameplay - mostly doing something on the touch screen and then (or during) pressing buttons, holding buttons, or letting go of buttons at the right time.
There's quite a few characters to pick from - online play including with the local sharing option - and outfits and nonsense to unlock.
Also, what's not to love when you're reading the instructions to event while listening to a cute sounding rendition of Vangelis' Chariots of Fire?
This was both better and worse than I had imagined - I mean that in the sense of the overall play experience. To be fair, I think I need to play some more just to make sure...
Worse in the sense that it's harder than I expected - it's a game about feeling like a badass fighter, and you do indeed have that experience often enough, but it's also a challenge where, in some levels, you feel like you're just trial-and-error trying to find the "correct" sequence of actions that won't result in your dying. It does have a quick reload/restart, which is greatly appreciated.
Better in the sense that when everything clicks and works - wow, you feel SO GOOD. This is coming from someone who isn't that good at FPS games, never really was, but has always had fun playing them since the very early days. So, a turn-based thinky kind of FPS is appreciated and the game does look quite interesting. I like how they use color to indicate danger/sources of danger.
The meta story stuff is also interesting - it's like you're sort of hacking into some software system and the interface is very old school DOS-like...there's even some fun ascii nonsense to play around with in the menus.
Another "random" purchase for me... I tend to do this a fair amount for the DS. If the price is low and I haven't heard of the game, why not?
So, there's a certain amount of fun to be had when playing Sim City by letting lose on the natural disasters and so on. This game gives you a city and then you have to let loose with the natural disasters: tornados, electric storms, earthquakes, etc. The goal is to cause a certain amount of destruction. The challenge comes from having to "optimize" the route of your storms and tornados (or epicenters for the earthquakes - there are other kinds of natural disasters, but these are the three I got to play with) to make the most damage. Every level is on a timer and you slowly get points to spend on a storm/etc. but you get lots of points when you wreck a location. And some special city tiles explode damaging their neighbors, and so on. So doing everything quickly is hard. It's even harder because some city tiles have buildings designed to dissipate the storms or suck in your tornados, and so on.
There's a bit more to it than that- but that's the game in a nutshell. And it was, ok? I love the concept - and it's once again proof that the DS really was a platform full of all kinds of crazy games. Ha!
I can see now why people were so excited and positive about this game. It really does flow fast and well, and the levels are short and engaging, and it's also fun to get back to them to try to beat your times, find the present, and so on.
I've finished chapter 2 and played a few missions in chapter 3 - I'm not sure I'll get back to the game mostly because other games are drawing my attention away. But here's some things I've appreciated:
a. The game's a speedrunning game at heart - as designed and intended - but it's quite welcoming of non-speedrunning players in how it allows you to make progress in the game and also in how it incentivizes you to come back and try again. In order to unlock the next chapter you need to have earned a certain number of (I think) gold (or better) medals - and each chapters has a fair number of levels for you to try - so, you can finish a chapter with mediocre times and it's ok. Assuming they're all mediocre, you'll have to go back and replay some. However, you can also "level up" within each level - and the first few unlocks let you see a hint for a faster time, see your ghost of your best time, and eventually a global leaderboard. The hint and ghost are great - because they point you (probably, if your time was mediocre) to a clear thing you can improve on! It also unlocks a present - which is often tricky to get to, does not require speedrunning and encourages you to see more of the level, this exploration can help you identify some new route or possibility to improve your time as well!
b. The story is complete nonsense to me with hammy writing that feels very 90s japanese anime and makes me thing it's either all toungue-in-cheeck over the top, or I'm just not the right audience. I haven't heard too many people praise the story/writing though...
c. I liked how finding gifts unlocks new conversations with the other characters and even new side missions - special levels with a unique twist or flavor!
