Gaming on the Nintendo DS

Word Jong for Nintendo DS is a combination puzzle and word games. The puzzles are set up like Mah Jong, but instead of removing tiles by matching tiles you remove them by spelling words.  The game has single player and mulitplater modes.  The multiplayer modes can be played over local wireless or WiFi connection.  You can even do multiplayer with one DS using the Hot Seat selection.

In Single Player mode you can play daily puzzle challenges, which are layouts that challenge you to get a specific score.  There is also Temple Challenge, which is the adventure mode in which you earn points as you complete puzzles and move up in rank.  Lastly there is battle mode in which you try to score more points than a computer opponent.

Overall I found this a fun game to play.  It can also be quite addicting just like Mahjong.  I actually found it even more enjoyable than plain Mahjong, as it offers more variation as you start to discover more and longer words as you get better at it.  It is also a good brain stimulating game.  It can also serve as a game to encourage kids to practice their spelling and vocabulary skills.   The graphics are not anything special, but then again this is not the kind of game that needs spectacular graphics.

Touchmaster for Nintendo DS has 23 games to play that utilize the touch screen capability of the Nintendo DS.  The games include cards, skill, and puzzle games.  The variety offers a good amount of depth of play, although some games get boring fast.  The variety, however, does keep it fun for a while and a good fall back when bored.

The card games include Target 21, 3 Peak Deluxe, Go Wild, Phoenix 13, Triple Elevens, Uplift, Solitaire Classic, Power Cells, and Double Take.  I am not much into the card games, but then again I rarely like playing single player card games.  It is a decent variety including some more unique games for those that like card games, though.

The skill games include Pond King Checkers, Artifact, Hot Hoops, 5 Star Generals, Pick Up 6, Trivia, and Word Search.  I like this category more than the card game category, as I love trivia games of all types.  I also like playing Word Search.

The puzzle games section is my favorite, as puzzle games are my favorite thing to play on the Nintendo DS.  The games include Crystal Balls, Mahki, Pairs, Times Square, Mah Jong Pairs, Gem Slide, and Wordz.  Wordz is one of the more fun ones in my opinion, as it is kind of like Wheel of Fortune.  I also really like playing the Mah Jong game.

This game can be multiplayer.  A few can be done with on DS, such as checkers.  It seems like you can play over WiFi connections, as well, but everytime I tried I gave up because it never found opponent.

Overall I enjoyed playing this game.  It has a lot to offer to entertain.  I did not buy it, but I have added it to my listed of potential games to buy to play during my road trip next summer.

Magnetica is a marble path puzzle type game.  In the game marbles move along a path towards the end hole.  You try to shoot marbles at the path to make three in a row to make the marbles disappear before they hit the end of the path.  It is a fun puzzle game, but I do not quite find it as addictive as other puzzle games.   It does have a variety of puzzle challenges and it does offer quite some challenge, as the levels quickly get pretty challenging.  The training challenge mode I found easy to beat, but the normal version of it I only got to around level 55.  Overall the game is fun for puzzle lovers.  It has depth, but at the same time I did not find myself as hooked as I usually am with puzzle games.

Over the weekend I had Neopets Puzzle Adventure out as my rental game.   As usual with a puzzle game I played it pretty constantly until I beat it, which took me about three days to do.  The puzzle part is kind of a cross between Go and Reversi.  The plot line connects the story mode part together quite well moving you through a few different areas of the Neopets world.

The gameplay is mostly pretty easy.  Playing the puzzle challenges can get hard and some opponents it took me a few tries to beat, but the mini games that show up every once and a while are really easy.

The graphics are great for a DS game and what I would expect from Neopets.  The graphics represent the online Neopets world pretty closely.  I am disappointed that there are so few Neopet selections to choose as your character, especially since my favorite the penguin looking Bruce is not included.

As you complete different goals you unlock codes that can be entered on the website and earn you virtual prizes.  I assume if you unlock all ten you complete the virtual prize puzzle and probably get something extra special.  I completed 9 challenges, but I could not get the 10th one because you have to do a multiplayer duel.  This would require you to know someone with the game and be near each other.  I really wish the multiplayer part was WiFi capable, as it would be so easy to find someone on Neopets that has the game and would want to do a duel to get the code or even just for fun.  Having to know someone in real life to play this game based on a virtual world is just very disappointing.

Overall I did enjoy this game and would have bought it if it was available as a Keep It.  Even though I did already play through it, the puzzles are fun and a nice challenge.  It is a fun on the go way to play puzzle games.

Travel Games for Dummies is a collection of games to entertain yourself on the go.  It has three main categories, which are sudoku, solitaire, and crossword.

Each section has tutorials that give you somewhat in depth instructions and tips for playing the games.  The sudoku and crossword parts have puzzles with three difficulty levels.  The solitaire section has a variety of solitaire type card games.

The game mostly uses the touch screen.  This includes writing the numbers in the boxes for sudoku and the letters for the crosswords.  The crossword letter part does not work that great, though, as it kept misidentifing the letters I wrote.  There is a drop down keyboard option, which works good.

Overall this is a decent game to pass the time playing.   The main thing I do not like is that it does not have some of my favorite solitaire games like clock solitaire, although it does have quite a variety still.

Cradle of Rome is a puzzle type game.  The game is a lot like 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, but much more addicting (at least it was for a puzzle game lover like me!).  The basic gameplay involves you moving tiles around to match up three in a row and clear the background blue tiles until you have cleared them all.  There is a time limit, but at least until around level 50 it never was an issue for me.  Plus even if you run out of time you can just try the level over.

The gameplay is more interesting because as part of the story mode you try to accumulate enough resources, gold, and food to build Rome.  You know the saying Rome was not built in a day.  Well, try as I did even in the game I did not build Rome in a day, although it did only take me three days to complete all 100 levels.  That may seem like the game lacks depth, but I played it almost non stop to beat it and even after beating it the game still holds appeal because the levels are very replayable.

Overall this game is awesome in my opinion.  If you do not like puzzle games, then you probably will not like this game, but if you do like puzzle games like me then you probably will enjoy this game.  The graphics are decent, although there is some poor graphics on the side with the bonus item meters being kind of messed up looking often.

7 Wonders of the Ancient World is a puzzle type game for the Nintendo DS.  In each level you try to clear matching tiles to clear all the squares in the background and make the capstone reach the bottom row.  You have to match up a minimum of three tiles to make them clear (much like the Pokemon Puzzle League games and Sutek’s Tomb on Neopets).  You get special combo blocks when you do combo moves and clear four or more tiles in a row.  Bonuses include clearing a whole row at once.  As you clear the levels you get closer to finishing building the 7 Wonders, such as the Pyramids at Giza, until you have built them all.

Overall this is the best puzzle game I have played on the Nintendo DS so far.  It can be addictive if you are into puzzle games, but if you are not into puzzle games then you will probably find it quickly repetitive and boring.