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Atari's Greatest Hits Volume 1 (DS/DSi)
by SWSt
If you know your gaming history, you will realise that at one point, Atari pretty much WAS the games industry, churning out massive hits both in the arcades and at home through its popular 2600 home console. Celebrating the company's rich history, this collection pulls together 50 Atari titles and makes them available in their original ... format on the DS
Unfortunately, this collection is as notable for the titles it doesn't include as the ones it does. Notable omissions include some of the very titles that made Atari into such a trailblazer. Amongst the 2600 games, there is no Space Invaders (THE killer app for the machine) Pac-Man or Paperboy. Equally, the arcade games featured are drawn from Atari's early titles and it would have been nice to have had a mix of older and later titles (such as Road Blasters). In fairness, at least some of these omissions are due to licensing issues (Atari doesn't own Pac-Man or Space Invaders, whilst Road Blasters is from later in the company's history when it had changed hands).
Even allowing for this the game feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. At first, 50 games on one cartridge seems pretty good... until you stop and think about it. The capacity of the DS cartridge is 512 megabytes; most of these games take up just a few kilobytes - that's an awful lot of blank space on the cartridge which could have been filled with even more games. Look deeper still and it get worse. Yes, there are 50 games, but not 50 unique titles. Some of the games are replicated. Battle zone, for example, is provided in both its original arcade game format and the version that was released for the 2600 version. This duplication is true of other titles.
There's also rather too much filler: games that were not particularly good even on first release, have not aged well, or both. Probably about 60-70% of this compilation consists of games that you will play once, realise why history has forgotten them. Had developers Code Mystics included the cream of Atari games, this really would have been a collection to drool over; as it is, it's a little underwhelming.
Thankfully, there is some good news on the horizon. Although the quality of games included might be a little variable, it does include some bona fide Atari classics. Titles like Battle Zone, Centipede, Lunar Lander, and Missile Command. These were simple, yet massively influential games that are still fun to play today. Unlike many modern games (which give you an "Achievement" just for pressing the Start button), they are rock hard and provide a serious long term challenge.
Emulation has been handled well. The games play smoothly, graphics are flicker free (or where there is flickering this was a "feature" of the original game) and the limited effects sound like they are coming from an old Atari machine to help recreate that authentic atmosphere. Controls have been mapped across to the new platform without losing too much and whilst they can't replicate the innovative controls of so many classic Atari arcade games (Missile Command's trackball, for example), they do work well.
Unfortunately, whilst emulation is good, some pretty lazy programming lets the side down. Fire up Centipede, for example (one of my favourite Atari games) and developers Code Mystics couldn't even be bothered to change the screen layout. The game is displayed sideways on the DS's screen and, as far as I can work out, there is no way to fix this. So, if you want to play Centipede, you have to hold your DS lengthways instead of the usual way. This makes prolonged gaming extremely uncomfortable.
At least some attention has been given to other aspects of the package. The Extras section gives scans of the original box artwork and instruction manuals; a quiz tests your knowledge of Atari's history (although there are only a limited number of questions and the painfully cumbersome method of uploading your score to a league table was clearly devised by either a sadist or an idiot). There are even a couple of prototypes for games which were never released and which have never been seen before. Again, though it's a bit of a missed opportunity. Given that so many of these titles broke new ground, it would have been fascinating to read a potted history of their development or watch unlockable interviews with some of the key players. Guess I'll have to rely on my subscription to Retro Gamer magazine for that.
To the modern gamer, of course the games all look and sound really rubbish. However, if you remember that programmers were often trying to cram a whole game into miniscule amounts if memory, then what they achieved is nothing short of miraculous. And whilst they might look and sound basic, there are some genuinely addictive games on offer. There's no need to update them with snazzy HD graphics or surround sound; they work far better within the constraints that gave birth to them.
Although there are some bright spots, this is a real missed opportunity to celebrate one of the most important companies in gaming history. The whole package has a thrown together feel, like it's is nothing more than a cheap cash in on the Atari name. Yes, there are some great games that still play well today, but there are also some serious omissions and more than a few filler titles that lower the overall quality.
You can pick this up second hand for around £7. If you are a real retro gamer and a fan of the early Atari games then there is enough here to justify purchase. It's just a shame because with a bit more care in title selection and implementation this could have been so much better.
(c) copyright SWSt 2013
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Professor Layton and the Lost Future (DS)
by Hoggle-DR1749
Personally i'm a big fan of the Layton games mainly because they combine two of my favourite things, a good story and puzzles. So when i saw this for £10 in a Game station sale i just had to have it.
Layton and his inquisitive apprentice Like return in yet another mysterious adventure. Having received a letter from the ... acclaimed 'Future Luke' the puzzle solving duo embark in a journey through time in order to prevent a dreadful future from coming to pass- one where Layton becomes a dreadful crime lord!
Starting at the university in which Layton teaches and moving on to the classic red double decker bus to travel to places like the Clock shop which has a time machine and China town where evil Layton had his top secret lair, the artwork and graphics of this Layton game doesn't disappoint, along with the various mini films that make the storyline of this game much more prominent- not unlike it's predecessors.
What stands out most to me about this game's story lines is that we gain a lot of character insight, particularly regarding Layton and Don Paolo's shared past. The intricate plot and various settings make this simple point and tap game so much more.
But along with the story we have the amazing puzzles. With a lot more variation in it's 165 puzzle types than it's predecessors this Layton game is a lot more involving to the player than it's previous counterparts, to the point where you can actually believe you are helping the plot move forward by solving these puzzles, something that wasn't quite as dominant in the previous games.
Of course like all the Layton games the puzzles vary in difficulty- which is the appeal of them i guess. Personally i'm not a big fan of the sliding block puzzles and was very pleased to see that there weren't as many of these in this game than the previous ones. Along with the main story games you also have three mini challenges that can be found in Professor Layton's brief case, of which i find the Toy Car and Parrot games incredibly challenging but still fun. The sticker book game was surprisingly easy, though finding where to collect the stickers wasn't. For each of these mini games you unlock either levels, challenges or stickers during the main gameplay- something that can probe quite taxing as some of these levels were hidden in places that weren't part of the main puzzle games and took me ages to find- i'm a bit of a completionist you see.
Along with this the music behind the game is as such you realise when you're in the past you have a certain type of music, the future another, and in Evil Layton's lair another. These are just a few examples of the nysic being used to show a change in setting and a change in tension to the game, and it's beautifully done in my opinion, though i wouldn't casually listen to the soundtrack while i was on the bus.
All in all this is another Layton success that i would highly recommend to anyone with a DS. You will lose all track of time and get lost in the plot along with enjoying all these lovely puzzles. The main story line will take on average 30 hours to play, then approximately another 20 hours to find and solve all the other puzzles and mini games, this is one that's well worth your time and money.
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Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker (DS)
by Chaoler
OK, so recently my supply of games dried up and felt the need to get a new one to fill the gap while waiting for something big, and instantly fell in love with this. While I have got other games to write about, I feel the need to write about this one now. With its fairly straightforward game-play yet challenging levels and the sense of ... freedom that you have, this game is definitely one to play.
First, you have the all time classic style of monster capturing and battling. I like the Pokemon series and when first started playing, my original thought was that this was going to be a complete copy, that's less fun to play (having not played the other dragon quest series games). I was wrong. The way to find monsters is different, the way to capture them, even the way to command and fight with them. You can give orders to specific targets and abilities or you can just let your monsters 'Fight' which allows them to attack them head on depending on what 'Tactics' you've assigned to them. I think that this is pretty cool because it gives you the freedom to choose what you want to happen or you just see how strong your monsters are when attacking of their own volition.
Second, you've got the islands. Each island is basically like a different section of the game. Of course every game has different areas but you can choose your favorite depending on your skill level, what monsters you want and how stupid you are. I like this idea because it gives different players the chance to test their skills.
Next is something I really like the idea of. Fusing monsters with a function called 'Synthesis'. Now it may not appeal to all, but synthesis is when you fuse two level 10 or higher monsters together to get a brand new monster. The monster may be available for capture later in the game but some can only be obtained via synthesis so extending the time of play. I do love it when games do things like this to make games longer.
And then there's the story. Now, it's an unusual story. Normally in these types of games your out to stop some maniac from controlling some legendary monster. That isn't the case in this game. On that little note is all I'm going to say about it in case I ruin it for people who haven't played, but it really is a nice spin on the story hen you know. I do love it when the stories are good because who wants to play a game but a dull, short or dull and short story. NOBODY.
The graphics, for the purpose of the game are pretty cool actually, with a sort of artistic-cartoony look to them. Their purpose is good but I don't like how some of the objects are 2D. That's a little annoying.
There's not much to say about the sound. There's pretty much the same set of soundtracks throughout the entire game. They aren't particularly catchy either so begin to bug you pretty quickly.
All in all though, the game itself is pretty good. Its simple game-play, the monster battling, the not bad storyline. Out of 10 I'd give this game about a 7. People who like these kind of games, its worth a try. People who don't, maybe give it a miss, but it's still worth it.
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