So, quirky-fireworks-based-touch-screen-puzzle-shoot-em-ups then, not a genre that has overpopulated the DS to date, but Southpeak Games is set to change all that with their latest release; Big Bang Mini.

The aim of the game is, unsurprisingly, to do your best not to get blown into thousands of little pieces. Using your touch-screen you direct your ship around; a seemingly simple task, but there's a twist, you must also use the stylus to shoot fireworks up to the top screen to dispatch the enemies. The trick then, is finding a good balance between attack and defence, under a flurry of bullets it can be hard enough just avoiding being blown up.

What really makes Big Bang Mini stand out are the fantastic graphics and sense of humour; for those who've grown jaded from years of shooters with generic spaceships it's a real breath of fresh air. It's not unusual to defeat a crowd of floating clowns only to come up against a giant floating lizard (think the Pop and Twinbee series and you're somewhere on the way to knowing what to expect).

Big Bang Mini boasts over 90 levels, a high-score challenge mode with online leaderboards, multiplay with a single cartridge and a raft of other unlockables- so there's plenty to keep even the most hardcore shooter fans busy.



Stay tuned to DCEmu Games Reviews for a full review
Big Bang Mini will be released exclusively on the Nintendo DS in Spring 2008

Worms: Open Warfare 2
Platform: Nintendo DS
Publisher: THQ
Developers: Two Tribes/Team17 Software
Players: 1-4
Released:
US: September 4, 2007
Europe: August 2007

Buy from Amazon.co.uk
Buy from Play-Asia

What else can be said about Worms that hasn't been said before? It's one of those legendary games series that has been going as long as you can remember and has been ported to just about every console in the past 15 years. The basic idea behind the Worms games is two competing teams of worms take turns blowing each other up with bazookas, Uzis, dynamite, exploding sheep and other increasingly bizarre weaponry, until one of the teams is victorious; a seemingly simple concept that has really only been tweaked gently since its original conception. It's popularity came from the endless replayability of the game that came from the variety of weapons and landscapes that meant no one strategy would ever guarantee you a victory in a battle.

The first outing of Worms on the DS was a slightly disappointing affair; it suffered from low-resolution sprites that flickered badly due to a buggy game engine. Some unfortunate enemy AI also meant that enemy worms would often blow themselves to pieces or stand around doing nothing until their turn was over. This was all a shame since Worms seemed like the perfect game for Nintendo's new handheld particularly during the drought of good software the DS was suffering from at the time.

So it's with some caution we look at its sequel Worms: Open Warfare 2. The second installment of the series for the Nintendo DS and thankfully there's lots of reasons to feel positive about it's release, all of the criticism's aimed at the game engine seem to have been taken to heart and fixed. The game engine feels a lot more solid, the computer controlled enemies are a lot more intelligent (expect a thorough ass-kicking to start with) and overall everything seems a lot more polished than it's predecessor. The Worms games have never been a tour-de-force of graphical prowess but the chunky, colorful visuals are definitely likable enough- all of the usual dark humor is here and there's even a few slapstick cut scenes to raise a few smiles.

What Team 17 have put together is a Greatest Hits style package of all the best bits from the previous games in the series, all of the better weapons over the years are here, the mission modes of the later games are here and enough extras around to keep seasoned Worms fans satisfied. The online modes are particularly impressive, random games or games against your friends (using the standard friend codes system), plus online leader boards (think Tony Hawk).



With Worms games, as long as nothing upsets the game engine is solid and nothing is thrown into the mix to upset the balance then you're pretty much guaranteed good fun and Worms: Open Warfare 2 genuinely delivers. If you've never been a fan of the series previously, then it's unlikely you'll find anything to convince you otherwise here, it is what you expect, but perhaps the best version of what you expect.

It's an excellent addition to any DS game collection, for replay value and instant pick-up-and-play....ability. Top marks to Team 17/Two Tribes for making the game it's predecessor only hinted at.

Score: Very Good

Platform: Nintendo DS
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom

Ratings:

PEGI:











ESRB:


Megaman Star Force is the spiritual successor to the Megaman: Battle Network series. There are three versions of the game: Leo, Pegasus and Dragon. Each version is almost identical except for a few changes in dialogue and what elemental form Megaman can take later in the game.


Star Force follows the Battle Network formula of gameplay. There is a real world and a digital world which you can explore relatively freely. Combat is real time in a grid and you use cards to fight your foes. One of the immediately noticeable differences is that unlike Battle Networks side camera view of combat, Star Force uses a third person view instead.

The main character of Star Force is a boy named Geo Stelar, the son of an astronaut. The story takes place three years after Geo lost his father to an accident on his space station. Since then he has retreated from any and all relationships so to avoid the pain of losing people. He later meets a digital alien entity named Omega-Xis and they team up to save the world from alien invaders by merging into a single entity known as Megaman. The story and game progress is linear and uses the terms days and weeks instead of chapters. Each chapter of the story generally begins with Geo getting out of bed, some trouble happens, an alien claims responsibility, Megaman beats the alien, goes to bed and the world is safe until the next digital disaster occurs.



One note which separates Star Force from the Battle Network series is the lack of the goody two shoes heroes. All the main characters have their own pains, loneliness and troubled pasts. This is used heavily to enforce the story's theme of friendship and relying upon others for help. Despite being a cheesy plot point you can't help but empathise with some of the characters and the situations they are in. This is a welcome change from the normal fresh faced sword wielding farm boy willing to give his life to rescue a girl he only met five minutes ago.



The Battle system has undergone a simplification from the Battle Network series. Megaman has three tiles to move in and dodge attacks, he is also given an energy shield to block attacks which cover all three tiles. The card system is also much simpler, with the Program Advance, a mechanic whereby you fuse three cards into a single more powerful card, being absent from the game, replaced with the difficult to activate and mostly unnecessary Card-Combo. This leads the combat to being very cut and dry, with most fights ending in less than 10 seconds, combat becomes a repetitive mild annoyance. Even the boss fights tend to last less than a minute and are much easier compared to Battle Network's bosses.

The game makes use of the stylus and touch screen to play little mini-games, such as shooting snakes which attack from four directions, controlling an RC Copter or tapping buttons to stay grappled to a mad digital bull. It adds a bit of variety to each boss zone which breaks out from the tedium of the random encounters.

The games biggest mechanic is the Brotherband. This is where you and another person register each other as brothers and confer on one another abilities and your favourite cards. You can only register a few story characters as brothers, the rest are intended to be real friends using the Wi-fi. It is possible to use the Wi-fi to trade, establish brothers, send emails and dual your friends. However this is all useless if you don't know anyone with this game.

Sounds: More like GBA music and effects than DS. After playing the game you'll put your DS down and forget what the music sounded like.

Graphics: Little improvement over the GBA's Battle Network series. Good use of the dual screen however.

Gameplay: Endless running around with repetitive so-so combat every few seconds.

Concluson: Very similar to the Battle Network games despite being a different franchise. Repetitive game play but a much better story than its predecessors. Much easier than previous games also. Too much emphasis and options for multiplay, rendering the card directory impossible to complete without buying all three games. Get this if you loved the Battle Networked games.