RayCarsilloWrites.com

Originally Published: December 21, 2008, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com)

It’s late Christmas morning and all the presents have been opened and little Billy and Susie Cunningham are enjoying their new toys. Then, suddenly, their mother’s voice pierces the frozen air, “Get ready! It’s time to go to Grandma’s house!” Billy and Susie are forced to leave many of their toys behind as they are herded into the family car for the 90 minute drive to their grandmother’s house, after which they will have to wait several hours until after Christmas dinner to open a second round of presents, and then endure another 90 minute drive back before they see their new toys again. And the entire time they will nag their parents, “Can we open presents now?” By the time everyone gets home, no one wants to see each other for at least another three days, the children playing with their new toys, and the parents happy to not hear the whining about unopened presents.

A tragic story, I know. I remember many of my childhood Christmases having a similar story. Twenty years later though, there are so many new and innovative things that children can fit in their pockets to keep them occupied for the normally tortuous drives and to keep them from chewing their parents’ ears off. One of these ingenious devices is, of course, Nintendo’s DS system. Standing for “Dual-Screen”, the DS fits in the palm of an adult’s hand and plays some great games that will keep the children occupied on any long drive. The DS is great for plane rides, car trips, sitting in the doctor’s office. It’s one of the reasons why I have one myself because even for adults it is a great, portable way to pass the time.

Now, most of you already probably have a DS since it is the most popular selling handheld of all time so I don’t have to sell you on it anymore. The real question now is what games you get for it. With the holiday quickly approaching and that DS needing a new game to keep the kiddies occupied, here are a few quick reviews on some of the newest games for Nintendo DS.

NINJATOWN

Recommended in my last article, I felt this was a good way to go more in-depth into a good kid’s game. Ninjatown is based on the popular Shawnimals plush toys that your children are already probably familiar with. It is a RTS (real-time strategy) game that is a great way to introduce them into strategy games and develop those critical thinking skills while actually being fun to play. The graphics are simple, but so are the toys so that is no surprise. It lacks replay value due to no unlockables or the like, but it does have a multi-player mode which is crucial to all RTS games.

With many different types of ridiculously cute ninjas to train for your war on the evil Mr. Demon and only one resource to maintain, this is a great introductory RTS game that will keep your children occupied for a solid 10-15 hours.

Ratings are based on a system of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest.

Graphics: 6.5: Nothing special in terms of graphics. This is a simple game that is more about the characters and the strategy than about looking good. Still though, for a DS game, it is about average.

Audio: 5.0: No voice acting to speak of and the music is pretty much the same for most of the game and can get very repetitive and annoying by the time you advance to the harder stages. It is the same for the SFX, you want to stab yourself in the ears with the stylus as you hear the same enemies with the same groans over the course of 36 stages.

Plot/Plot Development: 7.5: The characters are plush toys so the fact that they came up with a relatively coherent plot is impressive. Reminiscent of something out of a CareBears movie, the plot was enjoyable and got a few laughs out of a more hardcore gamer such as myself that your kids might really enjoy. Not bad.

Gameplay: 9.0: Crisp, smooth, classic RTS style gameplay. A little difficult to conduct everything with the DS’s stylus, but overall no hitches make this a solid gaming experience.

Replay Value: 5.0: With no unlockables to think of, once you beat the 36 game stages, there isn’t much to bring you back to it aside from the multi-player mode, which is a must have for all RTS games anyway. The fun gameplay, though, makes the multi-player very enjoyable at least.

Overall (not an average): 7.0: An average RTS game that was made well for the Nintendo DS. Its appeal to younger kids cannot go unnoticed and carries a lot of weight in my recommendation for those long car rides. It does have some appeal to older folks, but more as something to just laugh at. Overall, Ninjatown isn’t a bad way to kill 10-15 hours if you need something to help pass the time.

METAL SLUG 7

Nothing quite like the old school, button mashing, shoot everything in sight, arcade game. Yet another installment in the Metal Slug series, Metal Slug 7 is pretty much the same as every other Metal Slug game. You choose a character and you shoot everything in sight through several stages and a handful of continues. With the DS version, though, you can go back with a full batch of continues to the last level you reached and since there are only seven levels, to say this is a fast game is the understatement of the century.

Sure, there is some replay value if you want to go back and try to rescue all the prisoners or if you are an old school buff that loves trying to beat your own high score over and over, but aside from that there really isn’t that much to bring you back to this after you beat it the first time. If you need a game for one car ride, then this works. That’s it. After that, the case makes a great coaster. The graphics and music are around Super Nintendo level so don’t expect to be dazzled visually either.

It was given a T-rating, but it could easily have been an E-10+ because there just is not enough in this game to warrant the T-rating. I’ve seen a lot more cartoon violence with a lot more questionable language be given a E-10+, but since previous Metal Slugs have been given that rating, the ESRB decided probably to just mail this one in. I guess when you have a horse and it runs, you just keep beating it until its corpse turns to a fine powder.

Ratings are based on a system of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest.

Graphics: 6.0: Reminiscent of the Super Nintendo days, this doesn’t even push the DS at all. It’s colorful, but nothing that really screams out at you as impressive.

Audio: 5.5: Another game with no voice acting. Another game with repetitive sound effects. At least this game had different music in different levels to give it the extra half point. Super Nintendo quality music though.

Plot/Plot Development: 4.0: It is as simple as it gets. Evil tyrant escapes. You and your army cohorts have to stop him. Again. For the seventh time. No twists or turns or anything special. Pitiful.

Gameplay: 7.0: The game handles well. Although it is a little bit difficult to flick switches or judge all your jumps. But, then again, how hard is it to just keep pressing the shoot button and aim your gun?

Replay Value: 3.0: Unless you are obsessed with increasing your high score, this is not a game that you can replay much, especially when it you can beat the whole thing in only 2-3 hours the first time through.

Overall (not an average): 4.5: If you like Centipede, Space Invaders, and other arcade-style games that are more about score than the game actually being difficult, then this is the game for you. For the rest of us who have evolved past the coin-fueled twitch stage, Metal Slug 7 is a waste of $30.

CHRONO TRIGGER DS

With games like Final Fantasy IV and VI, Earthbound, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, the SNES was a haven for RPG fans. Another classic game was a little known hit called Chrono Trigger. The first game with multiple endings depending on what you accomplished over the course of the story, it would set the table for what many RPGs, and games overall, are today.

Now, over a decade and a port to the PS1 later, it is back in the hands of Nintendo and has been given a facelift for the Nintendo DS. With some new, awesome anime cut scenes to help develop the characters and a new look to the battle sequences; Chrono Trigger DS is even better than the original.

The story is the same. You are the young, rambunctious Crono and you bump into a beautiful girl at the fair named Marle. She asks you to show her around and being young and rambunctious, you go along. You happen upon your friend Lucca and you all have a wonderful time until Lucca’s latest invention malfunctions and Marle gets sent back in time! One of the most developed plots in the history of RPGs then begins to unfold as you begin on a quest to not only save Marle, but all of time itself.

This is still one of my favorite games of all time. The characters are timeless. The plot is well written with twists and turns in every major chapter. The graphics are still only Super Nintendo level, but considering that was the original system it was made for, it is forgivable. The music is timeless. I was playing this a few days ago when a friend called and I had to pause the game. The music kept playing in the background and my friend who had not played the game since it first came out, recognized it instantly. It doesn’t get more timeless than that. It was a sleeper hit when it first came out, it was a hit when it was ported to PS1, I say it should be a smash hit now that it is back home on a Nintendo system. A must have for RPG fans and a great way to help pass some video game history onto the kids. Add in that it will kill at least 20 hours and you know you’re set with the kiddies on that car ride.

Ratings are based on a system of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest.

Graphics: 7.0: Still with the same old Super Nintendo graphics, it has at least been upgraded with some awesome anime cut scenes during major moments of the game to update the look and feel of the game a bit.

Audio: 8.0: Again, only Super Nintendo level sound: there are no voiceovers and the SFX do leave a little to be desired. But considering that the music is the kind that passes the test of time (fitting, it being a time travel game), I can’t take off too much for it.

Plot/Plot Development: 9.0: A quest to save time and the girl. A classic plot, classily done, and it still holds up even now. Just as fun playing through now as it was a decade ago.

Gameplay: 9.0: The new battle system takes a little time to get used to and it can be a pain fighting multiple enemies to select who you want to hit, but other than that, this is a crisp playing game.

Replay Value: 6.0: There is a no co-op or true multi-player mode, however this does include a new arena mode where you can buy monsters that you find in the game and raise them to do battle. Sounds a little too much like Pokémon to me to really appeal to die-hard Chrono Trigger fans, but the multiple endings are something that might bring you back to play it through a few times.

Overall (not an average): 8.5: The game could use a facelift in terms if graphics and music, but aside from the aesthetics, it is still a classic RPG that stands this test of time. This game is definitely worth it, both as a way to introduce to new gamers to great RPGs and for the older gamers looking for a little bit of nostalgia. This is a must have.

So there it is, folks. Some ways to pass the time on those holiday drives. Peace on earth is a nice thought, but we got to have peace in the household first, right?

Have a happy holiday season.

-Ray Carsillo