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Worms Open Warfare 2
Score 9.2/10

If you played the original Worms Open Warfare on the Nintendo DS then you probably think this game isn’t worth looking at. Lets face it, the first attempt, if you can call it that was poor at best. However I am delighted to say that Worms Open Warfare 2 is a magnificent game, in fact I would go so far as to say its one of the best games I have played on.

For those of you that have been living in a cave for the last decade, the Worms franchise is a large one with countless variations of the game on multiple systems. The plot is simple, you have 4 worms each and you take it in turn trying to kill each other. Think Lemmings with guns.

This game has been completely rebuilt from the ground up and it shows. Beautiful, smooth running graphics with fantastic game play is a winning combination. There are a large assortment of weapons from your usual bazookas and mines to the more unusual, and much more dangerous super-sheep, donkeys and holy hand grenades. What really makes this game so great is the sheer amount of variation: there are loads of weapons and levels, but more importantly there’s a large assortment of game modes. Believe it or not, the 1 player mode is actually very good, something I have yet to see on another version of the game. As well as various change modes there are also some game modes that are unique to the Nintendo DS. In particular, I really enjoyed the “Laboratory” mode where you have to get your worm to the target point using hand drawn lines and explosives.

The game described above is an amazing one, but add the amazing wireless modes and we are laughing. This must be the first online game that comes anywhere close to the experience on home consoles such as the Xbox 360. As well as your friends list there is also a rivals list which you can add to immediately after a match with some random person, there’s no bits of paper with 10 digit codes, just the press of a button – now why don’t more games work like this?

As mentioned above what makes this game great is the sheer amount of variation and customisability. You earn points from completing tasks which you can exchange for rewards. For example you can by new voices and weapons. Talking of voices, there’s a load of them including classic, brummie, scouser, redneck, Irish and cyberworms to name just a few.

This level of charm and dedicated attention to detail is rare in a game, and part of me thinks this is an apology from Team 17, the makers of the first Worms Open Warefare game. I have a copy of Worms on my Xbox 360, and sure its only the Xbox Live Arcade version, but its nowhere near as good as the one on my DS. Worms Open Warfare 2 is an amazing game. If you don’t own a copy already, you are missing out big time!

One of the things I love about my Nintendo DS is the great build quality. Apart from 1 dead pixel that I have had from the start (and doesn’t bother me anyway) my DS is the same as when I received it one Christmas. I wish I could say the same for my Xbox 360. Not only has it previously suffered the fabled “red rings of death” but I have had a total of 4 Xbox live headsets due to the fact that they all break. Of the 3 headsets that I have had previously, the longest lasting one was a non-official one brought off ebay, the official ones broke within a couple of months each. The last one I brought cost my a mere £4.00 ($8.00) and it made me laugh when I read the extremely bad translation from Chinese to English on the packaging.

Here are some of my favorite examples:

• “You can make server to record for friend or family and stay the speech message through the free X-box Live letter, can also replace telephone and good friend contact.”
• “Open loudly or adjust the small voice, make experience personally the most vigorous game career to make possible.” (Sounds exciting hey? I want a game career!)

and my favorite:

• “The ear Michael with put X-360 hand handles or the X-box lead-in hand handles of X-box very easy and directly”

Such gibberish is known as the slang term Chinglish. I reckon in this example the producers of the packaging used some sort of online translator.


Click to enlarge

We were lucky enough to be granted an interview with Shaun Taylor, the creator of the popular DS homebrew application DSOrganize. For those those few of you that haven’t heard of DSOrganize, it is as the name suggests an organiser application, but it has much more than that including a web browser, an IRC application and an audio player. Another cool little feature is the ability to download from the homebrew database directly onto your DS

We asked Shaun a series of questions, here are his responses. We hope you find this interview as informative and interesting as we did.

“First, a little about me: I am 21 and currently pursuing a degree in Computer Science, and have recently transferred to UCLA. I am currently working at ViaSat part time while I go to school, and before that I worked at Best Buy in Mira Mesa on the Geek Squad. DSOrganize is my first major project on a console, but I have had other somewhat large projects on the PC such as YoungMX, a media player I wrote for myself and a few friends.”

What were your motivations behind creating DSOrganize?

“When I started getting into DS homebrew, I really liked the idea of having touch-based inputs on the device itself. It meant that I could design a whole array of applications that used inputs similar to a PC but tuned specifically to a small device. However, I didn’t start with DSOrganize right away. I was rusty on my C and had never developed for a console before, so I started off with libfb, HappyCat Demo, and DrugWars (my only successfully homebrew game). Rolling around to a new semester at school, I thought it would be really neat if I could throw together a really quick organizer-style application that allowed you to take notes down, much like the pocket schedulers they used to give out at middle/high school. I got to work writing a small calendar display app, and then released a small demo that allowed you to save reminders on the GBAMP and SuperCard CF based on a specific day. Most of the application was based around my already-written libfb code that could display word wrapped text and manage a cursor. After that got out, a few people in the scene suggested a day viewer with time slots to schedule your day, and DSOrganize kind-of grew out from there. I never really meant it to get as big as it did, but I keep getting good suggestions and ideas and I am not bored with it yet.”

What are your favourite features?

“My favorite features are probably the Audio Player and the Web Browser. Both of them were very hard to get working, and represent an awful lot of work to get to the finished product. Also, being a geek meant that I felt way cooler walking around school listening to a device that I programmed myself. The web browser is another favorite due to the fact that I can show off what the DS can do with a very limited amount of ram. Other than that, any feature that specifically uses DS hardware, such as the audio recording function, is one of my better-liked features simply due to the novelty.”

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Castlevania - Portrait of Ruin
Score: 8.2/10
This is Konami’s second offering from the highly successful and blood thirsty series, and without a doubt retaining all the quality and 2d charm of its fore bearers.

Portrait of ruin offers the choice of two playable characters, vampire hunter Jonathan Morris and Magician Charlotte Aulin. The story is that our two friends are united in battle to prevent a pair of evil vampiric sisters - Loretta and Stella - from resurrecting Draculas castle in a heinous plot to unleash a world of pain unto an unsuspecting world, already ravaged by the events of the second world war.

Much of the stylus requirements from Castlevania: Dawn of sorrow has been done away with in place for other varied concepts, the buddy up system being the most noticeable addition to the formula. Whether this is a positive move could purely boil down to personal preference, although it is fair to suggest that the experience does not suffer as a result overall.

Our two protagonists can be played individually or together to combine their special skills, as freely as the player may wish. Although some sections of the game are impassible without such collaboration you will find that up to 95% of the game can be played single handedly, which does suggest a missed opportunity rather than a bolt on feature.

Technically, despite the portrait format, these paintings are actually landscapes depicting the various locales available for exploration and besides, landscape of ruin anyone? But the inclusion of portraits as portals has allowed for some of the more unusual and exotic settings seen in the serious, from a mad circus inspired environment to one based on Egyptian mythology. Access to these environments is not restricted and there are various map portal dotted around each level to maintain the pace of the game.

New to the series are a selection of specifically structured quests, courtesy of a trapped ghost character defeated by Dracula known as Wind. Quite possibly the strongest addition to the series, our players are invited to complete certain objectives in reward for special skills and abilities unavailable elsewhere, although other attributes such as strength power,weapons and special items are all found as you progress through the multitude of dungeons. Although not strictly an RPG, The user does have access to a RPG orientated menu where by you can customise the weapons, spells and other such attributes to either suit your style of play or to defeat a given section of the game.

The wireless inclusion of this title enables the player to have a friend help out in a co-op version, which in turn is probably better suited to utilising the combined attributes of the players in the single player mode although this sadly seems only to apply to the boss rush mode. Again,a definite missed opportunity.

There is also a shop mode which allows for the trade of various other items, although some items are actually beyond any use with regards to progression of the game.

The graphics are worthy of a mention, with an almost seamless addition of 3d elements and stunningly realised boss characters add to a visual treat. The music is passable, and although there are speech elements, none seem to amount to any more than phrases harking back to the days of the SNES. Given the machines blatant technical superiority, a little more spoken dialogue between the pivotal characters would of been more than welcome.

Although the game doesn’t quite carry the initial gravity the first title offered, it is in no way an inferior product. There are no noticeable problems with the game but in a similar vein to the earlier version, there are some sadly missed opportunities. Whether or not Konami choose to up the bar or continue to offer a different and unproven experience in a further title remains to be seen. But as far as the Castlevania series is concerned this a worthy addition and should keep fans and new comers more than entertained.

Bleach 2 DS 2nd (Japanese version)
Score 8.6/10

This game isn’t out anywhere except in Japan, which is a real shame as technically its one of the best looking games I have seen on the Nintendo DS. I remember years ago queuing inside chip shops waiting to play on the ahead of its times Neo Geo arcade machine. With my 10 pence ready I knew I would only have one shot at getting to level 2, otherwise I would be forced to join the que once again.

This game certainly reminds me of your classic Japanese sword wielding fighter. It has smooth and fast paced graphics with no visual glitches that I can see. There are loads of completely over the top special moves from rocks, lightning to a giant a wild boar that runs down your opponent. My favorite special move is when one of the characters turns into a super sized giant and you are able to smash your ant size foe with either of your building sized arms.

Although I don’t speak or read Japanese, I can tell there is much depth in this game. As well as all of the different mode types (including wireless) there seems to be an assortment of power ups and upgrades, and I am pretty sure there is some sort of shop too.

This is a sequel, but so far I haven’t played the original. I do hear this one is an improvement, but if the original is anything like this one, then it must be good.

All in all this is a great game, and I would recommend you import this game right now if you are a fan of fighter games. I haven’t seen another fighter on the DS that can match it.

In this post I pointed out a site that lists Nds rom downloads. Well they went off-line for a little while they got their dedicated server back on-line. Anyway, they are supplying downloads again

You can visit them here

Have a look at the the big sqaure at the bottom right of the page. Its an advert provided by Google Adsense. When people click on it, I get a couple of pennies. Anyway, we all know this. What I really wanted to point out is that on this review (I wont put the review name in because I dont want the same advert appearing on this page) I get a very silly advert of a brick. Thats just daft!

If you don’t have either machine then you should think carefully before choosing one or the other. I think to know which is right for you you need to think about what sort of gamer you are.

The PSP is a more powerful and I would say a more serious hand-held console. The DS on the other hand doesn’t pack as much punch in terms of raw processing power and graphics, but it is a unique and fun little thing. I would say the DS is more of an original and inspired device, the PSP is basically just a small PS2. The DS has a microphone, 2 screens and a stylus that are all used as input devices.

If you prefer first person shooters and decent racing games the the PSP is probably more your thing. If however, you like the retro feel of Mrio games, the DS is probably what your looking for.

Nervous Brickdown

Score: 8/10

Nervous Brickdown is a great little game. Simply put it an old style Pong type game that has been completely revamped. You use the stylus to control the bat which comes in various forms and your aim is to hit all the blocks with a balland get the the end of the level. Sounds simple but its a very challenging game. There are loads of game modes, some of them very visually appealing. There is a distinct retro feel to this title, so if your into that sort of thing this game is for you.

The sound is pretty amazing, so turn your little speakers up or use headphones. During play you are able to upgrade your bat with several different attributes. One of them is the ability to blow into the mic to adjust the direction of the ball. This has one minor drawback: if you are on a car or train the ball will get stuck at the top of the screen!

All in all a great little game that is highly addictive and should last you a long time.

GeoWars

A great little shootemup with fanistic graphics for a homebrew game
Download it here