Gaming on the Nintendo DS

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.

Rocket Power Zero Gravity Zone is a skateboarding game based on the old Rocket Power show from Nickelodeon.  The game has a good tutorial mode that teaches the different moves.  There are also free skate, career, and multiplayer modes.  The multiplayer one does not work when playing on the DS, though.

In the game you can play as either Otto Rocket, Twister Rodriguez, Sam Dullard, Reggie Rocket, or Lars Rodriguez.  You can also choose your board and upgrade your stats with money earned.

It is an okay skateboarding game. At least the graphics are almost as good as the actual show. I do not like that you cannot actually save, although I think you can get back to the same spot entering a password, however I never played enough to figure that out.  I quickly gave up on it because it just is no where near as good as the Tony Hawk GBA game I have.

Ultimate Brain Games has several different games to play.  The games can be played against a computer opponent or a real person by linking two Game Boy Avances with a link cord.  Unfortunately you cannot do multiplayer using the Nintendo DS, but rather you need to play using GBAs.  At least you can do it with only one game cartridge.

The games include Sink Ships (basically battleship), Mahjong, Backgammon, Chess, Checkers, Reversi, Dominoes, and Four in a Row.  The games all allow you to choose the computer’s difficulty level. Some games have more options such as type of tiles in Mahjong and the pieces in Chess.  The options are mostly very limited, though.

Overall I like this game, as it has several options to entertain and it allows me to play games I rarely have someone in real life to play against.  The graphics are average, but it is cool you can customize your character look.

I am starting a new series of posts for Fridays on this blog.  Every Friday I will try to post a review of a Game Boy Advance game.  I am calling it Flashback Friday since while you can still play the Game Boy Advance games on the Nintendo DS I think they did finally stop making them or at least the games I have and will be reviewing are mostly at least a few years old.  Today’s review is of a game I recently rediscovered in my brother’s game stash and have been enjoying this past week.

Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire is one of my favorite Pokemon games and yes I have tried pretty much all of them and up until the last few adventure style ones for the GBA I own all the different Pokemon games for every system.  This version is not quite as good as the original Game Boy Color version because that version had a rumble pack that really added to the enjoyability.  It almost makes up for that graphics wise, though.

In this game you play pinball on either the Ruby or Sapphire course (I find the Ruby one the easiest) trying to catch Pokemon, evolve them, and hatch them by making the ball go on the right paths.  The overall object of the game is to catch them all, of course, although it is much more difficult to do than in the other Pokemon games and honestly I do not even try to really accomplish this goal, although maybe some day a decade or so from now I will accidentally end up doing so.

My favorite part is after you catch three Pokemon or catch one and evolve one or evolve two you get to go to a bonus round.  The bonus rounds are different depending on which you course you are on and if you beat one the next time it is different.  There are only two types of bonus rounds per course and you go back to the first if you beat the second and get to the bonus round again.  Beating the bonus rounds are also one of the best ways to add to your score and get a high score (or later on beat your high score).

Overall this is an addictive pinball game and while it may seem to get repetitive and boring to some if you are into pinball games you probably will enjoy it as it is not always exactly the same.  The graphics are good for a Game Boy Advance game.  I am not sure about the sound, as I rarely. play portable games with sound.