We celebrate the one-year anniversary of Nintendo's DSiWare service with a week-long best-of feature.
Dr. Mario ExpressPublisher: Nintendo Developer: Arika Cost: 500 Points Players: 1 Release Date: April 20, 2009 Dr. Mario seems to be Nintendo's go-to franchise for their downloadable services as the game also appeared on WiiWare shortly after its launch. While there's not much here outside of the regular single-player affair, it's still as addictive as every other iteration of Dr. Mario, and it's portable. Commence the sweet memories of Dr. Mario on Game Boy. - Neal Ronaghan |
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Puzzle League ExpressPublisher: Nintendo Developer: Intelligent Systems Cost: 500 Points Players: 1 Release Date: August 31, 2009 Nintendo cut down Intelligent Systems' glorious retail release of Planet Puzzle League into Puzzle League Express, a moderately priced sampling of the game. With a tutorial for newcomers and a bevy of other single-player modes, Puzzle League Express has a lot of content for a small price. Sadly, there is no multiplayer, but it's still a perfect pick-up-and-play one-player time waster. - Neal Ronaghan |
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Spotto!Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Cost: 200 Points Players: 1 Release Date: February 15, 2010 Spotto! is a simple arcade-styled game in which you assume the role of a world famous "Bombirdier" known as Spotto as he makes his way through 50 stages, defeating ghosts and throwing plenty of bombs along the way. The main goal of each stage is to take out all the ghosts in the area with a mere five bombs, but more will be provided for every ghost you take out. The game has an added layer of strategy as there are book shelves and paintings floating above Spotto, making your goal even more difficult. Still, for people who stick with the game, they'll find a quality title that has a ton of replay value. - Matthew Blundon |
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Aura-Aura ClimberPublisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Cost: 200 Points Players: 1 Release Date: February 22, 2010 Aura-Aura has fallen out of the sky and landed on Earth, and now it's up to you to reunite him to the place where he belongs - the sky. By using his grapple arm, you'll be swinging him in all directions as he attempts to grab unto grapple points to make his way up into the sky. The core concept is simple enough, but the addiction of bombs, extensions to his grapple arm, and enemies result in a more challenging experience. Though the game's ten levels may not seem like much, each of them have a high level of replayability, making this one game that'll constantly be played on your DSi. - Matthew Blundon |
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Flight ControlPublisher: Firement Developer: Firemint Cost: 500 Points Players: 1-2 (Multi-copy) Release Date: February 22, 2010 Flight Control started out as an iPhone game, and due to its success, was brought over to Nintendo's handheld downloadable service. The DSiWare version proves to be a great adaptation of the iPhone title. Not only is it one of the most addicting DSiWare titles, but it's also one of the most strategic titles on the service. The task of managing a fleet of aircraft with the stylus may sound like a simple task, but is quickly made difficult as the number of aircrafts on the screen makes maneuvering them a hard task. - Matthew Blundon |
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Starship DefensePublisher: Nintendo Developer: Q-Games Cost: 500 Points Players: 1 Release Date: January 18, 2010 Starship Defense is a tower defense title from Q-Games that has a cool space aesthetic. You place different types of guns on your spaceship as waves of enemies fly at you. It starts slow after a lengthy tutorial, but the actions revs up quickly. Along your trek through all 20 stages, you'll come across new weapons to install, life-saving SOS cards, and more. While the tower defense genre has been overexposed in the past few years, Q-Games' title breathes a little bit of new life into the genre, and is definitely worth your $5. - Neal Ronaghan |
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Pinball Pulse: The Ancients BeckonPublisher: Nintendo Developer: Fuse Games Cost: 500 Points Players: 1 Release Date: October 12, 2009 Do you like pinball? Well, let's put it another way. Did you like Metroid Prime Pinball? If you did, you'll likely have a blast with this excellent game developed by the same people, Fuse Games. Rather than Talon IV as a backdrop, though, this is more of an actual pinball table with an ancient Greek theme. The physics are fantastic and the table's reactions are surprisingly accurate. Bips, boops, bells, and whistles are clear as your ball flies around the table. Light flicker and bumpers vibrate at every turn. The table even features an old orange LCD screen to keep track of your score, complete with entertaining animations. While it might be a bit short on features (Daily Play doesn't even keep track of your scores), it's tough to turn down such a fun, authentic $5 pinball game. Zeus commands that you download Pinball Pulse! - Zachary Miller |
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