Ninjatown
Game-O-Meter: 8.0
Platform: DS
Date Beaten: May 2009
Time to Complete: ~16 hours

Ninjatown is a great example of what Crystal Defenders should have been.  This is a tower defense game that actually adds to the genre rather than just regurgitating tried-and-true gameplay mechanics.

The Goods:

• The overwhelming good point is that this is not just another run-of-the-mill tower defense game.  New features to the genre set this game aside as a pioneer among the multitude of unimaginative clones of one another that make up the rest of the genre’s library.
• Ol’ Master Ninja powers that break the 4th wall and involve the player by using the microphone (among other unique features of the DS).
• Charming writing that pokes fun at itself from start to finish.
• Great character designs.
• The ability to tell units where to wait, which gives a more tactical feel that few tower defense games get.

The Bads:

• The most difficult levels in the game are very near the beginning of the story.  Few levels later in the game compared to the rough beginnings in level 2, which sadly might turn some people off.
• The in-game music cannot be turned down while still having the sound effects on.  This is bothersome, because the in-game music isn’t that great.  Also, the levels can be quite long, and with a game like this where thinking and getting into a tactical frame of mind are so important, I’d have loved to have had the option to ether play in silence, or have my own music playing in the background while I listened to the sound effects.  Sometimes I would turn the game off for the night simply because I was sick of listening to the tunes.

If you enjoy tower defense games, but like me, are sick of seeing samey “me too” versions, give Ninjatown a try.

Boom Blox
Game-O-Meter: 6.0
Platform: Wii
Date Beaten: June 2009
Time to Complete: ~6 hours

One of my biggest pet peeves in video game design is when the game trains you throughout the whole experience to play the game in one way, and then forces you to beat the final boss/last level doing something completely different (and usually kinda lame) just to create more of a challenge.  Boom Blox basically lures you into a cute, pretty casual experience and then kicks you in the nuts over and over again if you’re one of those single-player types who wants to complete Adventure mode.

The Goods:

• About half of the gameplay styles are really fun and cool to play with.
• There are a lot of well-designed challenges to tackle if you’re looking for more gameplay once you’ve completed adventure mode.
• There’s a level editor for the patient gamers of the world.

The Bads:

• About half of the gameplay styles seem tacked on to add variety and aren’t really that cool.
• There weren’t enough challenges within each gameplay style.  I found that often, just when I was getting into a new style, finding its nuances and really getting the hang of it, I was moved on to the next style.  It’s as if during the prototype phase, the designers found a lot of cool things they could do with the controls and then didn’t cull the best out for use in-game.  They just used them all.  If they had focused on a smaller set of styles, but more challenges utilizing each of them, I think the game would have been much stronger.
• “I have an idea.  Let’s take away an ability in the final two levels of the game for no good reason!  That way, we’ll make people swear and throw their controllers!”  This was a horrible decision.  This just in: the rest of the game is VERY casual.  My mom could make her way through it.  Stringing the casual player along to the end and then presenting them with what in my opinion are broken final challenges, just so the dev team could prove their hardcoreness–or for any reson, is just plain wrong.  The carrot of completion–of reward–was dangled in front of our faces and then shat on, making the reward for actually beating the game a bitter experience.  I like to feel good when I beat a game, not like someone just punched me in the stomach.  I’m not normally a controller thrower, but let me take this moment to thank Nintendo for putting that wrist strap on their Wii Remote.

The only reason that this game scored higher than the average of 5.0 is because of the challenges and the multiplayer aspects, the majority of which are genuinely fun.  If you don’t mind a single-player experience that absolutely fails to live up to its potential and are just playing this to tinker around with an amusing new gameplay style, get this game.  You can certainly do worse.  But you can also certainly do better.

Peggle
Game-O-Meter: 7.5
Platform: Xbox 360
Date Beaten: June 2009
Time to Complete: ~4 hours

I’ve always said that if the gameplay is great, graphics don’t matter.  Boy did Peggle put that concept to the test.  A word of caution: the art in this game (except for that of the actual gameplay field) is HORRENDOUS!  I have put this game in front of a lot of people and they all agree.  It’s not just the rainbow and fantasy themes either.  It is simply horrible art.  I cannot review this game without mentioning this as the absolute biggest problem.  I did not like looking at my television while playing.  Had there been an option to play with static as a backdrop, I would have chosen to do so.

Getting past that, the gameplay surprised the hell out of me.  How fun could bouncing a little pachinko ball down to the bottom of the screen be?  The answer: insanely fun.

The Goods:

• This is a very rewarding puzzle game that on the surface looks like it’s just a random sequence of events once you let go of the ball.  But with practice and keen observation, you can start to predict the movement of the ball quite well.  And if you’re good enough, you can earn extra balls with relative consistency.  They took a gameplay idea that’s honestly pretty dull, and spiced it up so well that I keep going back for more.  And more.  And more.
• Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.  If you haven’t played the game yet, it’s practically worth buying for this feature alone.
• The levels are very well designed.  It’s evident that a lot of thought went into almost all of them.
• The different Peggle Masters’ abilities change stuff up pretty well, although the first couple masters are pretty lame once you have the others to choose from.

The Bads:

• The clipart-looking character designs and backdrops to the gameplay.  Good god.  It actually offends me.
• The main single-player game is relatively short.  But then again, it did leave me wanting more, which is never truly bad.
• Some of the achievements are too insane to even consider trying for (for me, that is).  They’re more like lifelong goals.

In summary, if you are a gamer and you haven’t bought Peggle yet, I really think you should.  Just have a pail next to you once you fire it up and witness the art for the first time.

Plants Vs. Zombies
Game-O-Meter: 8.0
Platform: PC
Date Beaten: July 2009
Time to Complete: ~12 hours

This has been a great couple months for my tower defense cravings.  Ninjatown was great, and now Plants Vs. Zombies surprises me as well!  This is another tower defnese game that manages to avoid feeling too samey.  Also, this game did a wonderful job of maintaining a very casual vibe throughout.  Pop Cap likes to cater to the casual audience, and they managed to take a genre that can easily become very hardcore and deliver a casual experience, all the while rewarding the player heavily as they go.

One of the most interesting things that they did was they put the zombies on the right, and the plants on the left.  Also, the zombies pretty much walk in a straight line.  There are no forks in the road.  The hardcore gamer in me wondered how this was going to remain engaging as the game progressed, but rest assured, they throw enough unique challenges at you to keep you entertained from start to finish.

The Goods:

• The art is amazing.  Mind you, it’s not amazing if hyper-realism is what you enjoy, but thematically it all fits together.  It is a great package as a whole, and it’s easy on the eyes.
• The gameplay is easy to understand.
• Managing resources is more fun than it is in a lot of tower defense games where money comes in automatically for defeating enemies.  Here, it’s an active process.
• The credits song.  What did Portal start?  I hope it continues!  Because this song rocks.
• The mini-games and challenges are very nice.

The Bads:

• The game is a little too easy.  I think that even for the casual crowd, this game could have been more challenging.  I think I got a game over once.
• The economy seems a little broken, placing really cool items out of reach by thousands of dollars.  By the end of the game, I’d have liked to have bought some of the stuff that was offered, but I didn’t really have enough money to explore the upgrades very much.  I believe that this could be a byproduct of the game being too easy.  If I had had to replay levels more often, the money earned from doing so would have helped me to afford some of the more expensive items.  And then, those would have helped me to do better in my battles.  As it was, I beat the game without seeing the coolest upgrades.  Without even being close to affording them.

Plants Vs. Zombies is one of those games that whether you do well at or fail at, you’ll remember with a smile.  I can’t think of anyone I wouldn’t recommend it to.  Ok, maybe Richard Schritter, but he’s practically the only one.

Carneyvale: Showtime
Game-O-Meter: 7.0
Platform: Xbox 360
Date Beaten: July 25, 2009
Time to Complete: ~4 hours

Why this game isn’t a proper Xbox Live Arcade Game is beyond me.  It even has 12 Achievements, err–  Awards in it.  Carneyvale is one of the rare gems you’ll find among mountains of total crap in the “Indie Games” (formerly “Community Games”) section of the Xbox Live Marketplace.  For five measly bucks–roughly what you might pay for two bags of potato chips–you can have a gameplay experience like none you’ve ever had before.  Literally.  I don’t think there’s anything I can compare Carneyvale to.  It’s a rag-doll physics-based action/puzzle game where you “control” slinky the clown as he hurtles upward through the levels towards his goal, a flaming ring.  I put control in quotes because you really control various elements in the environment with which slinky interacts.

The production values are higher than some retail games, the gameplay is consistent in its quality, and the art style is cohesive and beautiful.  The only things that bum me out about this game are the following:

1. This game is not an actual Xbox Live Arcade game.  That service could use some more Carneyvales.  This is not a fault of the game.  This is a fault of the XBLA service.
2. It seems like there was meant to be a story, and more characters in the game (as you play through, you’ll see hints at them), and they are unfortunately missing.
3. Upon beating the game (for which you get an Award), there is absolutely zero fanfare or sense of completion.
4. There just simply aren’t enough levels.  Mind you, those that are there are very well designed, fun, and challenging.

This game brings so much more to the table than one would expect it to.  There’s even a level editor, for crying out loud.

With so much going for this game, I’m amazed that it’s not a “real” game, if you know what I mean.  I can’t help but think that instead of discovering this game, there are people playing some of the crap that actually makes it to the XBLA service.  Do yourself a favor, give Carneyvale a try.  Who knows, maybe the dev team are working on something more awesome that your $5 could help fund.  These guys deserve to succeed.

Rhythm Heaven
Game-O-Meter: 8.0
Platform: DS
Date Beaten: July 26, 2009
Time to Complete: ~4 hours