Gaming on the Nintendo DS

Below is the list of Nintendo DS releases scheduled to be in stores by tomorrow.

Jake Power: Fireman - This is an action game in which you play as a fireman.  Seems like a game geared towards younger kids, especially boys.

Jake Power: Policeman - Seems this is just like the above game, except you play as a policeman in this version.

My Do It All - This is a personal organizer type game.  It has things like a journal, voice changer, and calendar, as well as mini games.  It seems kind of limited for a $29.99 game, though.

Retro Game Challenge - This game is about playing Retro games from the 1980s.  It is partly based off a Japanese game show of the same name.

A few weeks ago I tried Guitar Rock Tour for the Nintendo DS.  It was not horrible, but it really got me wanting to try a real guitar peripheral game for the DS.  The peripheral games cannot be rented through Gamefly (or if they can they do not come with the peripheral), so I had to buy it to try it.  I had a gift card for Toys R Us and even though it was only enough for half the price of the game I decided to get it there since at least that way it was new and out of pocket it would not have been much cheaper or about the same if I bought it used.

I have only had it for a few days now, but I have played enough to be glad that I did buy the game.  I really do not own many DS games and none are ones that I really like.  Now I have at least one good game for road trips and such.  I still find the controls a little uncomfortable and I think that is because I have small hands, but it is still tolerable and a much funner experience than the game without the peripheral.

The best thing about this game is that I actually know some of the songs and like them.  Most music games I dislike the songs (such as all DDR games I have played) or they are only okay (such as the Rock Band ones that come with it).  This one, though, I actually like a good portion of the songs and play with the sound on, which is extremely rare for me to do with a portable game.

Overall this is a really fun game, although I do not recommend it for kids because I think they may have even more trouble than I do with the controls due to small hands.  Those older than 12 or 13 should not have much trouble, though.  Also, the songs seem to be good clean ones as far as I can tell, so it is pretty kid friendly in this way.  The graphics are not anything special, but then again with this type of game you really are too busy pushing buttons and strumming to notice anyways.  I do really like that it comes with a little pick shaped stylus for strumming and it fits in a slot in the peripheral buttom thing.  Now if only that also had a slot for the game cartridge, as that would be totally awesome.

Hannah Montana Music Jam for Nintendo DS is an action adventure game based on the Hannah Montana Disney Channel show.  The game is a pretty good reflection of the general stuff that goes on in the show.  The gameplay is mostly running around between places and switching between being Miley and Hannah.  There are different mini games you play along the way doing things like posing for pictures, playing guitar, and figure skating.  Overall these mini games are pretty easy and fun.

This game, however, has very limited game depth.  It will probably take most only a few hours to beat and the mini games may offer some more entertainment beyond that, but I doubt it is worth purchasing for anyone.  The worst part is that the graphics make the plot part pathetic, especially since the characters look nothing like themselves for the most part.  In particular, Miley’s dad looks quite odd.

Franklin’s Great Adventures is an okay game for kids, however, I found by level 3 the adventure levels got pretty challenging.  In fact I had to give up on level 3 because I could not figure out what you are supposed to do to get further.  The mini games nicely use the DS controls, such as blowing a sailboat through a level and touching the screen to sort stuff in Franklin’s room.  The other controls and graphics, though, are pretty much GBA quality and I think that is because this was released as a GBA and DS game at the same time in almost identical format.

Overall this game may entertain fans of the turtle, but it can also get frustrating.  Also, there is a lot of on screen words and no talking of the text, so younger kids may need help to really enjoy the game or they may just find it confusing because they skip the text.  I recommend this as a rent and not a buy if not just a game to be entirely skipped.

Dora’s World Adventure is one of the later released Dora games for Game Boy Advance.  I have been impressed by the DS Dora games and thought at least this one would be an okay Game Boy Advance game, but I was quite disappointed.  Of course, I did not expect to really enjoy it as it is supposed to be easy and for kids, but I thought I could at least see its value for young kids.  The game play is pretty good and it follows the episode of the same name quite well.

The game annoys me, though, because it does not give in game instructions.  Also, the plot is just pictures, so I really think you need to have seen this episode to really understand this game.  I did not have much trouble figuring out the game, but I imagine some young kids may get frustrated with the lack of instructions or this is a game you might have to help them with.  It does not make it an entirely horrible game, but there are definitley bettter Dora portable games out there (all DS ones I have tried are great).

Overall it might be worth it for big Dora fans who just want a different game to play because they have played the DS ones too many times.  The graphics are good at points (at least for a GBA game), however, it is inconsistent and some points have bad graphics.   The sound is pretty good throughout with it changing based on the different places you travel to with Dora.

Below is the list of Nintendo DS releases scheduled to be in stores by tomorrow.

My World, My Way - This game is a RPG style game geared towards females.  It sounds like you play as a spoiled princess who is selfish causing her to be a successful adventurer to impress the handsome adventurer she falls in love with.  She uses pouting as a power and Pout Points unlock options to make the world behave.  You can alter the landscape by choosing different terrain option.  It sure sounds like an unique RPG, although it also sounds like it could be a big flop of a game.

Puffins: Island Adventure is a somewhat educational game featuring Puffins, which are penguin looking seabirds, but they can fly and they exist in the North Hemisphere and not the Southern Hemisphere where penguins reside.  Puffins: Island Adventure has over 100 mini games.  As you play the various mini games the game is supposed to teach you about the puffins.  You earn points to unlock more mini games, puffin facts, and puffin videos.   It sounds like an interesting game to me, although I certainly would prefer an actual penguin game rather than just a game about the penguin looking Puffins.  Puffins: Island Adventure is expected to be released sometime in Spring 2009.

I am a big fan of the Cooking Mama game despite the many so-called serious gamers that think it is a stupid game.  I personally do think of myself as a gamer, but I am not into many of the games that supposedly you have to like to be a true gamer.  Anyways, I just read about their being a new game in the Mama series called Gardening Mama.  It is a lot like Cooking Mama, but instead of following recipes to make food you follow her directions to grow plants.  You can grow vegetables, fruits, and flowers.  The game also has multiplayer capability allowing for you to compete with up to three others, however, it is only going to be local multiplayer and not Nintendo WiFi multiplayer, which is pretty much the only way I ever get to play the DS multiplayer.  Gardening Mama is expected to be released in March 2009.