In retrospect, Sega’s decision to quit making consoles and instead focusing on making games for other consoles is a good one for gamers in general. Otherwise we wouldn’t be enjoying such an excellent tennis game for in the Nintendo DS in the form of Sega Superstars Tennis.

I admit that I approached this title with rather high hopes, as the previous tennis game I played, Prince of Tennis: Crystal Drive, although GBA-ish, delivered quite an enjoyable experience. I’m happy to say that Sega Superstars Tennis has exceeded even my expectations and probably is one of the better games I’ve played this year.

Almost every part of the game screams excellent production values and from the start you are greeted with a FMV sequence which would probably give the Crystal Chronicles or Revenant Wings developers a run for their money.

With its player roster being a showcase of Sega icons such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Nights, Amigo, Dr. Egghead and Ulala, the developers have set out to provide just that, and then some. Gameplay is realised in 3D, not unlike another Sega title, Virtua Tennis for the PSP.

While the DS is not much of a pixel pusher compared to the PSP, character models and the various courts that they play on are jaw droppingly pretty, and look Ma, no lag! As a nice touch, the tennis courts in the Sega Superstar Tennis are based on past Sega titles. Among those titles featured include Curien Mansion (House of the Dead), Space Channel 5, Samba de Amigo with more to be unlocked.

The usual suspects are here when it comes to gameplay options. There’s the Quick Play mode and the Single Player mode which allows players to have a match against the computer opponent in either singles or doubles matches. If you are up for it, there’s a tournament mode within the Single Player mode as well.

As mentioned earlier, the player roster reads like a who’s who list of Sega icons and while you have 8 characters to choose from the start, there are 8 more waiting to be unlocked! Each character has his/her/its own style of play, some are power players while some are spin or all-rounders. In addition to that, characters such as Nights handle differently then others as she floats instead of being grounded.

Each character has also a special ability which can be triggered during gameplay with the right-shoulder button. Abilities work like those featured in Crystal Drive and can only be triggered when the star on the character’s feet starts glowing. It is not a convulated as Crystal Drive and while the number of abilities are noticeably lesser, at least you don’t need to remember combos .

Multiplayer mode is confined to local WiFi, which is a little bit disappointing, as I planned to take my A-game online .

One of the more interesting aspects of Virtua Tennis for the PSP was its collection of mini games and likewise, Sega Superstars Tennis doesn’t disappoint. Accessible from the Single Player mode screen, these mission games are themed according to various Sega games such as ChuChu Rocket!, Super Monkey Ball, Virtua Squad and Curien Mansion (House of the Dead).

For example, the House of the Dead mission will have you hitting tennis balls at zombies crawling out from the ground amongst other things. The Virtua Squad mission will definitely give fans of the arcade game a pleasant surprise. I wouldn’t spoil it for you; get the game and find out for yourself!

Throughout my entire TV-watching life, Mr. Bean is probably the funniest character on TV who no one would dare associate with. Come on, being called or compared to Mr. Bean isn’t funny at all even though his silly/funny antics kept us tuning in week after week.

One spin-off from the live-action Mr. Bean TV series is the animated (duh) series by Tiger Aspect, which is currently being shown on Astro’s Disney Channel. Animation probably adds more effect to Mr. Bean’s already absurd behaviour. According to the Wikipedia article on the series, Mr. Bean’s animated actions are taken from Rowan Atkinson (the guy who plays Mr. Bean in the live series) himselft!

Anyways,Pinnacle has just released a video game based on Mr. Bean: The Animated Series, and it is actually quite a bit better than most tv-show/movie tie-ins. Remember The Golden Compass on the Nintendo DS? I don’t think so.

Mr Bean for the Nintendo DS surprises by being quite an adept platformer. Graphics-wise, it adopts a cell-shaded look while retaining the character designs from the animation series. One thing that makes the game stand out is unlike The Simpsons game which took a 2D approach, Mr. Bean is actually in 3D but the game restricts you to the X and Y planes on a linear path. Hence, a 3D 2D platformer…if such a thing existed in the first place.

Like any platformer worth its salt, there is a Story mode. Mr. Bean’s teddy has been kidnapped by that dratted cat. Mr. Bean must collect cat biscuits in order to free him. Mr. Bean encounters a lot of enemies along the way, including frogs, bees, guard dogs and moles! To assist Mr. Bean in his endeavours, there’re some items such as bug spray, cooking pans and a weird looking hat that renders him invulnerable for a few seconds.

The game will have the player jumping onto moving platforms (it’s a platformer alright), pulling and pushing crates, and avoiding environmental obstacles such as explosives(!), pits, garden hoes, water hazards and pointy stuff that come up from the ground. If it does sound daunting, rest assured that the gameplay caters for children and it is rather forgiving.

Finishing levels provides not many incentives except for unlocking mini games such as “whack-a-mole” and jigsaw puzzles. Replay value is limited in the Story mode as the only other thing you can do is to play as Mr. Bean’s girlfriend.

Despite that, this game would most certainly appeal to children and fans of the TV series.

“Toto, I’ve got a feeling that we are not in 1978 anymore, and this ain’t our daddy’s Space Invaders we’re playing here“. That is exactly what sums up the experience of playing Space Invaders Extreme on the Nintendo DS.

Space Invaders Extreme presents a 21st century update to one of modern video gaming’s pioneer titles and is released by Taito to mark the 30th anniversary of the classic title.

Don’t mind the rather staid/retro cover box as the game really is colourful and the gameplay is much faster compared to that of its 30 year-old predecessor. Taito has put in place a rather nice techno soundtrack to complement the psychedelic interface/gameplay and I feel it’s like someone converted Planet Puzzle League into Space Invaders!

There’s quite a bit of strategy involved when playing Space Invaders Extreme. You’ll need to shoot down enemies of the same type or colour in order to get temporary power-ups and also create chains to help boost your score.

Gameplay is divided into 3 types, whereby there’s the ubiquitous arcade mode, the ranking mode and as well as a stage mode. The game also supports single cart and multi cart local multiplayer for up to 2 players. Tired of playing face to face and losing? Try the Nintendo WFC multiplayer option which is also available in Space Invaders Extreme.

I’m currently playing the Japanese version of the game, and language is really not a barrier here as in-game instructions and menu items are entirely in English. There’s an incentive to purchase the Japanese version as the game double-ups as a collectible item (in my opinion), with the nice looking sticker on the shrink-wrap.

Anyways, Space Invaders is a pretty good time-killer and the variety of stages should keep you entertained for short periods. I wouldn’t recommend playing too long because the animated backgrounds (yup, you read that right), even though they are a nice touch, can give you a headache after extended periods of playing. So do take a break after playing the game.

I managed to try out Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer, a turn-based dungeon crawler for the Nintendo DS yesterday. Fans would know that this is a remake of the old Japanese SNES title, Fushigi no Dungeon 2: Fuurai no Shiren. In fact, both games practically look the same.

If you must know, the SNES ROM for Fushigi no Dungeon 2 runs excellently on the SNEmulDS, a SNES emulator that runs on the Nintendo DS.

So, another day, another dungeon crawler. Turn based gameplay aside (more on that later), Mystery Dungeon share some of the same gameplay elements as the perennial PC favourite, Diablo. Maps are randomly generated, and you’ll never play the same map over again, should you restart the game. There’s also an option in-game to regenerate a map in which you are currently playing on.

This flexibility results in quirkiness, such as the exit being right next to your starting point, being commonplace. Walking around a map, you’ll encounter monsters, items, spell scrolls, money and another RPG staple, traps.

Gameplay, as mentioned earlier, is turned-based. Each movement, or hit on an opponent, constitute a turn but thankfully you’ll never really feel the grind as the game takes a rather fast pace at almost anything, except conversations. Maybe it’s because of your talkative companion, a weasel (!).

2D-graphics are the order of the day for Shiren, and the game looks like it hasn’t aged a day since its SNES days. Fans of the old classic will find themselves at home while new gamers will have an opportunity to play a classic that was previously available only in Japanese.

Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer is available at Play-Asia for USD 34.90. Click here for purchase information.

Football games on the Nintendo DS were a lackadaisical affair prior to the recent release of FIFA Soccer 08. I can’t believe that I would be saying this but, EA seems to be carrying on the momentum with the new release of FIFA Street 3.

The game starts with you entering your name and selecting your “favourite team and player”. World Player of The Year, AC Milan’s Kaka is in the roster too amongst the likes of Ronaldinho, David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Christiano Ronaldo and Cesc Fabregas. This is something only EA can pull off, with their budget and all.

There are several game modes available, though they seem abit spartan. Game On is basically your normal single-match kickabout. Pick a home and away team, choose one of out seven locations, decide whether it is a Score or Time Game and whether there’s any handicap.

The Street Challenge mode however, is a different kettle of fish. Here, you build your team around the player you chosen earlier in the start of the game, bringing the team from “Pretender” to “Legendary” status by completing Street Challenge events and earning Reputation. LOL. I just ripped that off the menu screen.

Basically you get to choose 3 other players to partner your player (in my case, Kaka). The trio consists of a goalie (of course, if else?), and two other players in other positions (defender, midfield, striker). The disparity between the 3 players and your initial player of choice is pretty obvious. In my case, Kaka, with a skill level of 90, will have to put up with teammates with the average skill level of 67.666667.

Like any self-respecting team, you get to pick a logo, and thats about it. Street Challenges will have you participating in Score, Time and Trick Games (I haven’t gone through enough of the game to discover more). Score games are the more straightforward of the three, you win by scoring, but there are certain conditions to fulfill. Trick Games on the other hand will have you earn trick points as the win condition. Time games… win a match before a set amount of time.

Each win brings some reputation points and just maybe, some Team Chemistry points. Playing as a team earns you team chemistry points, and the more you have, the more reputation points you’ll earn. So remember, there’s no I in team, so get everyone involved. Apologies for the clichéd phrase.

A little bit on Tricks: Players perform tricks with the ball, by holding down the right shoulder button and pressing a combination of arrow keys. You’ll be lobbing the ball over opponents (and getting to the ball as well), switch footing and misdirecting opponents in no time.

Stat freaks will be delighted and disappointed at the same time as even though the game dishes out table after table of stats right after a match, there’s no way to access a summary of the data once you are back in the Street Challenge main screen. I love them numbers too EA BIG!

One concern for players in general is that match objectives, which can border on numerous, are not shown during a match itself. The touchscreen is basically blank slate devoid of stuff, except for some indicators to help you with performing tricks. You end up breaking up the flow of the game by accessing the Start menu screen to find out the match objectives. I’m definitely not BIG on that.

Bad stuff aside, this game looks pretty. The combination of the DS’ small screen, small arenas and 3D graphics makes the game something to behold. Player textures are a bit washed-out and the current player indicator maybe a little less obvious then what gamers are accustomed to, but hey, this is one pretty DS game.

Like any other EA title, the soundtrack doesn’t disappoint. There are not many songs due to the limited capacity of DS carts, but it does sound like a FIFA game alright.

Multiplayer options abound, with WFC connectivity topping up the list of options which also include local Multi-Card and Single-Card Play. Get into a kickabout with a friend (using Friend Codes) or have a quick match with a stranger through the Quick Match option.

I didn’t really had much expectations for FIFA Street 3, but EA BIG managed to deliver a positive mixed bag of stuff. Would I get this game? I would. And should you? Yeah!

Sega’s Virtua Tennis 3, in my opinion, delivered one of the nicest gaming experience I’d ever had on the Sony PSP. Looking for the same sort of tennis experience on the Nintendo DS however, was a little difficult.

For starters, games that even feature tennis as part of their repertoire number in less than a handful. A couple of them, Prince of Tennis: Driving Smash! Side King and Side Genius are basically team management simulations. This leaves me with just the 2005 title Prince of Tennis: Crystal Drive.

I’ve always been a fan of the manga (haven’t started with the anime yet) and like the manga, the game features a huge roster of players, with most of them waiting to be unlocked. The premise is really simple, win matches (duh!).

This is easier said than done as fans would attest that tennis is not what it seems in the manga, with characters having a whole lot of special moves. Some of these moves translate intact to the game, and players can pull them off under certain conditions (like filling up the bars and meters ala Street Fighter) with certain button combinations.

Each time this happens, the game will pause for a moment with a picture of the character appearing in full pose and yelling a catch phrase. This gets rather annoying as it interrupts the flow of a match, but it fortunately has an option to be disabled.

Graphics-wise, Crystal Drive is no Virtua Tennis 3, and has more in-common with GBA games, which is perfectly understandable as it was one of the earliest Nintendo DS titles. Audio-wise, it’s pretty much expect of this sort of game, with characters quoting quotable quotes from the manga/anime.

While Virtua Tennis was a little intense and technical, Crystal Drive plays more of like a 2D brawler on a tennis court, which makes it rather fun. I’m currently waiting for this particular title to be available on my favourite online retailer, as it’s back-ordered. Click here for purchase details.

Stay tuned for first looks on K-1 World GP for the Nintendo DS. It’s not what you expect, and then some.

Acid Drop, Varial Kickflip, 540 Melon, Tail Grab, Spine Transfer. For the uninitiated, Nine Over Ten 9/10 hasn’t gone gibberish, and instead, it welcomes you to Tony Hawk’s American Sk8land!

This Nintendo DS title is actually quite old, by virtue of being released back in 2005. Being the first Tony Hawk title, and perhaps the first skateboarding game on the DS, Sk8land can still hold its own against other, newer games on the DS. You would be better off purchasing this off the bargain bin then getting, say, Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles.

The premise of the game’s Story Mode is pretty simple, as you might expect from any other skate (or snow boarding) game. Start of by customizing and naming your character and in no time the game will drop you in the first of 7 maps/levels.

The thing I like about Sk8land is that you get down to business quickly. What business am I talking about? It’s the business of SKATING and doing tricks all around the rather big map. And not forgetting the great cell-shaded graphics, reminiscent of Jet Set Radio (Sega Dreamcast), compliment the gameplay really well.

The level of freedom is not unprecedented, given the fact that Animal Crossing allows the same thing too, but Sk8land has more in common with Grand Theft Auto. You skate around, performing tricks and you can approach any of the NPCs populating a level, and they will pay cash if you complete their challenges.

What’s the cash used for? Well, to build your very own skate park of course. Known as the Warehouse, you’ll be spending your hard-earned cash buying elaborate ramps, jumps and the like to transform it into some sort of skating wonderland.

In Classic mode, you are given two minutes to complete 10 goals in each of the map. Nothing better than to let lose and see what you can get within 120 seconds. You can then upload your replays online!

Rounding up the skate modes is the Free Skate mode. The name just says it all.

Sk8land was one of the first non-Nintendo titles to offer a WFC connectivity. As mentioned earlier, you can upload your replays online but do you know that Sk8land has several more tricks up its sleeve? You can get onto an online match with a friend or have a random opponent. You can also download custom art, view pro and rookie scoreboards for players connected to the WFC service!

I got this game purely for the skating action, but it turns out that I got more game than what my money’s worth! So if you are looking at a bargain bin in a game store near you, be sure to look out for this game.

I spent 2 days in Sitiawan, cleaning up the holiday home but I wasn’t lacking in entertainment. In fact, I spent most of my free time eating, sleeping, driving around my old hometown, or playing with either one of the two handheld consoles that I brought with me.

The first one, the Game Boy, had Bura Bura Donkey loaded up and the second console, my trusty old DS had the R4 and Digidrive. I’ve already gave a review of Bura Bura Donkey, so lets talk about Digidrive.

If you were to ask me how to describe Digidrive right after my first few attempts of playing it, I would be in a total loss for words. Despite the relative ease of getting into grips with the gameplay, I still find it hard to describe the game in words.

Part of the bit Generations series of games, Digidrive can be best described as a multi-faceted puzzle game, which is part Tetris and part racing game, by which if you are caught up, it’s game over. The game is part Tetris stems from the fact that you’ll spend most of your time shuffling and arranging different tiles (of 3 different designs) along a horizontal and vertical axis (like a cross). These tiles come in along the axis from the edge of the screen.

Arranging 5 tiles of the same design at one of 4 points along the cross will cause some sort of gauge to appear, and pilling in the same tiles (or pegs) into that particular point will cause the gauge to increase, and even change shape. Every now and then, a special tile will appear. I call it the “ambulance” tile, due to the sound effect of sirens being played whenever it appears. Driving this tile into a point in the cross will cause the gauge (if there’s one at that point) to be used up.

This is were the “racing” or “driving” part of the game comes into play. The type of gauge expended (used up) will determine how far the puck (on the right hand side of the screen) will move along a straightway. The distance travelled in meters is measure and it forms your score. Now we come to the main objective of the game, which is to use drive the puck away from some sort of barrier that is constantly approaching the puck. Once the barrier hits the puck, it’s game over.

So it’s pretty simple: arrange the same tiles, build up the gauges, use the ambulance tile to utilise the gauges to provide fuel for the puck to move away from the barrier.

One interesting aspect of gameplay is when all four points of the cross have gauges. This will trigger a mini game to be played, whereby you’ll have to guide incoming pegs into the respective points where the same type of pegs are residing. This will quickly fill up the gauges (and cause them to change shape). One mistake will end the mini game and the last gauge will be utilised to move the puck.

If it does sound a little confusing, have a look a the gameplay videos. The first one is a little sped up, since after all it’s an expert level attempt at some crazy high score:

The second video is a more, normal look at how Digidrive is played, although I would probably play it a little differently:

It does look a little baffling, but once you have tried the game, you’ll find it hard to put down. So do check it out!

Have you ever encountered any game that uses the shoulder buttons of a portable console, such as the Nintendo DS or PSP, almost exclusively? Well, I have, with Bura Bura Donkey, otherwise known as Donkey Kong: King of Swing for the GBA.

This game arrived yesterday along with my copy of Digidrive (more on that later), and I must say, Japanese GBA games sure have things going for them when it comes to packaging. The boxes are way nicer compared to their US counterparts. And the price was cheap too, just USD 7.90 (click here for purchase details)

Gameplay wise, it’s really different from any other 2D platformer I’ve seen. While the Mario games most often involve running and jumping left or right on a horizontal plane, Donkey Kong takes things vertical. You start by pressing both shoulder buttons to make the simian jump, and while in the air, press the left or right shoulder buttons to latch on to handholds (floating pegs) that are arranged vertically.

Alternating between handholds (by pressing and releasing the shoulder buttons), you guide the simian to the top of the level while grabbing bananas. Holding down the two shoulder buttons for a while, and then releasing them will cause a “boost jump”, handy to jump from one far handhold to another. And as far as I know, the “boost jump” is also the only way to destroy enemies.

On the matter of the collected bananas, they can be used to a. power up your jump (and thus attack) for even longer distances for a short period of time and b. restore the simian’s health. So don’t forget to grab ‘em bananas.

Bura Bura Donkey brings a very unique control scheme that I’ve never seen before, in a very pretty 2D platforming package. The graphics are crisp and clean, playing it on the GameBoy Micro. My only concern is that the GBM’s shoulder buttons do not have a satisfactory amount of “travel” to them.

It feels like I’m touch typing when I play that game and the small size of the console has led to cramps. But I guess this is what anyone will encounter playing anything on the GBM.

All in all, Bura Bura Donkey grabs a tonne of bananas for really unique gameplay, and truly deserves a spot in the handholds of your GBA games library. I’ve got the Japanese version, and language isn’t a problem here while playing the game. Here’s a video of the English version, just in case you need a reference:

To put it simply, Nodame Cantabile is classical music’s answer to Ouendan and its ilk. From what I can garner from the game, most of the action takes part in different portions of a school. The game is abit text heavy when it comes to talking to characters, but gamers are only face with choices whether to accept, or decline a challenge.