DSiWare Roundup Review

Warioware, Art Style, Paper Plane.

Version tested: DS

The latest iteration of Nintendo's popular handheld arrives with a bunch of downloadable software designed to show off its capabilities. Here's a look at some of the first titles to be offered via the DSiWare service, from the latest instalment in the Warioware series to the much simpler and self-explanatory Paper Plane. Read on to find out which ones are worth snapping up.

Warioware Snapped

This is lightweight compared to what it could have been - it's more like a tech demo than a full game. However, Warioware Snapped does show off what the DSi was designed to do. The familiar Warioware mini-games are played by flailing about in front of your DSi as the camera tracks your movements. (It's strongly reminiscent of the Wii experience, in fact.) Once you've lined up your hands and face to be "recognised" by the camera, you proceed to wave, blow, shake, and wobble your way through a series of action-based puzzles.

Initially I found the game excruciating because of its contextual demands. I was sitting in a car with the DSi and was unable to hold it still. Warioware requires the DSi to be motionless on a table in front of you, so it's not ideal for the casual messing around on the move that the DS encourages.

Worse, the facial recognition system struggles if you're not starkly contrasted against whatever's around you. Anything less than a very brightly lit room renders the game unplayable, which makes things tricky when you're trying to show off the game to a sceptical girlfriend in a gloomy cottage. But if you can get past these hurdles it becomes moderately entertaining.

'DSiWare Roundup' Screenshot 1

As you play a silhouette of your head and hands is displayed behind the puzzle graphic, providing orientation for your reactions to the "BLOW!" "WAVE!" "POUR" "PEEKABOO!" commands that appear on the tiny screen. After you finish one of the four puzzle sequences your actions are replayed on the menu screen - perhaps telling a story, or perhaps just making you look like a slapstick chump from a silent movie. It's a beautiful little reward, demonstrating that the Warioware designers have lost none of their inventive humour or sense of silliness.

Given the limitations of how and when the game will work, along with the lack of content, it's hard to bang the rubber stamp of approval on Warioware Snapped - but it's fun for as long as it lasts.

5/10

Art Style: Aquite

The tasteful, minimalist aquatic theme of Art Style: Aquite appears designed to offset what is actually a rather tedious sorting game. The setup is this: a column of coloured blocks runs down the centre of both screens. You control similarly coloured blocks which can be pushed into this pipe. Match up three or more blocks the same colour and they will disappear, while another block is pushed out of the other side. This block becomes your next target for colour matching.

What aggrieves me is how little sense it makes even to a Tetris-trained brain such as my own. Perhaps it's down to everything being a similar colour, but the pace of matching is so slow it's almost unbearable.

It's possible to unlock various videos of sealife as you progress, but this isn't an enormous reward for a puzzler that feels contrived rather than inspired. It's interesting to see what happens when a block matching game doesn't make the grade, and instead delivers a sober, even lifeless experience. But that doesn't make it worth paying for.

3/10

Art Style: Code

To play Art Style: Code you hold the DSi like a book. The two screens show five rows of numbers and the rows fill up with numbers from left to right. The stylus is used to swap any two numbers horizontally or vertically.

The twist is the calculator-style display means that if they're swapped, they're also flipped. The number 8 might stay the same but 5 can become 2, 7 and 4 become non-numbers and so on. The idea is to create lines that add up to ten.

At first levels only feature the numbers 1 and 2 (and therefore 5), so you start out simply and are able to handle the mind-hammering complexity of later levels with relative ease. At this stage you also encounter red numbers, which, if included in a line, take out all red numbers of the same value on the entire grid.

All this sounds complex, and it is - not least because your surprising inability to add up to ten can leave you red-faced. Nevertheless it's one of those mathematical games, like Brain Training, or Sudoku, that becomes engaging because it's stimulating.

The game is beautifully minimal and has the kind of difficulty curve that makes the best of such games so compelling. The fact it's number-based will put off many people but it shouldn't, as this is a brilliantly crafted game. It's all underlined by the barely-noticeable audio; listen closely and you'll realise that the rhythm is working without, becoming more threatening as the screen fills up.

'DSiWare Roundup' Screenshot 2

Of all the DSiWare titles currently available, Code is definitely a highlight.

7/10

Paper Plane

In this game you use the d-pad to steer a paper plane past a series of obstacles. The more vertical the direction, the faster the plane falls. You can attempt an endless fall to see how far you get, try to beat your times over a certain distance or race against another plane.

There's a challenge here - getting that plane through the course in one piece is no mean feat - but the overall experience is drab and uninspired. It's reminiscent of a browser game you'd click away from ten seconds after loading, or the kind of half-arsed demo that appeared on magazine coverdiscs in the early nineties. The visuals are dull and the execution of the idea misses out on what makes paper planes such wonderful, irreverent distractions. Cough up for this and you will be disappointed.

2/10

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Comments (29) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • keep #1 3 years ago

    All crap, then.

    I can't believe Nintendo has the cheek to charge money for the Paper Plane game which was an EXTRA in the Wario Ware GBA game. What's next, a download of the Star Road maps from Super Mario World for 600 points?
  • JohnnyWashnGo #2 3 years ago

    I am sure that in the future this service will prove itself to be valuable but right now the software isn't compelling enough to warranty purchasing a DSi for let alone actually playing.

    Maybe Nintendo need to produce an SDK for DSiWare games so that us homebrew fans can have a crack at making something great for the system. The chances of that happening are slim though :(
  • sailesh #3 3 years ago

    it seems to be common in these review round-ups. never get a pic of the highest rated game. lamez!
  • Tonka #4 3 years ago

    How in the blooming fuck is 7/10 a crap game?
  • arcnas #5 3 years ago

    Paper plane is ace for 200 pts, and so is aquite for 500 which is only £3.50 reviews are well off the mark, the only DSI ware game i dont like is wario, the rest are worth the points.
  • Cid #6 3 years ago

    "I am sure that in the future this service will prove itself to be valuable but right now the software isn't compelling enough to warranty purchasing a DSi"

    Yeah, this is why I haven't bought one. DSiWare seems to be the main attraction, but until something essential shows up I just don't think it's worth it. If they started offering GBC games for download then I'd be there.
  • onyxbox #7 3 years ago

    Thos games look sh!te... sorry Nintendo but you won't beat the Apple App Store with rubish like that.
  • Toothball #8 3 years ago

    I really enjoyed Paper Plane on the original Wario Ware. Spent ages seeing how far I could get. Think my best was around 280, which took a lot more than ten seconds to get to. I'll be getting it when I get round to getting a DSi.
  • mingster #9 3 years ago

    i can't believe they have the cheek to even charge for any of those.
  • chrisjm #10 3 years ago

    environmentaly friendly with all the recycling of old games they do now...
    or just lazy...
  • Cappy #11 3 years ago

    People imagine they have a choice.

    When the newest big title Zelda, Mario etc. is only delivered digitally you'll either come running or get jettisoned from the user base just like all those they left behind in other platform transitions.

    For the centre piece of a launch lineup Warioware is a bit weak though.
  • Genji #12 3 years ago

    Jeez, some people will look for any excuse to rag on Nintendo. I don't know why some of the commenters here even bother, since Ninty can never make a right move in their minds.

    This is pretty disappointing, though, and not exactly convincing me of the DSi benefits. I think the idea of downloadable stuff like this is sound. I'll just have to wait until something really worthwhile comes out.
  • schoozzzmmii #13 3 years ago

    Jeez, some people will look for any excuse to rag on Nintendo. I don't know why some of the commenters here even bother, since Ninty can never make a right move in their minds.

    This is pretty disappointing, though, and not exactly convincing me of the DSi benefits. I think the idea of downloadable stuff like this is sound. I'll just have to wait until something really worthwhile comes out.

    fail
    Edited by 2 at 22/04/09 @ 09:54
  • Genji #14 3 years ago

    I'm not exactly sure how those two statements are in contradiction. I am disappointed in these initial releases, yes, but not coming in here looking for an excuse to call them "a joke of a company" that releases nothing but "casual gamer crap", to use some of the words of one poster.

    EDIT: Looking at his posting history, though, it's pretty obvious that he's just some sort of troll.

    So, disregard the original comment. :-)
    Edited by 1 at 22/04/09 @ 10:06
  • Weezer #15 3 years ago

    So games on DSi Store: 6
    Games on Apple App Store: 6,135 (as of March 10th) and climbing

    I really want the DSi store to be good, but this is, frankly, a piss-poor start.
    Edited by 2 at 22/04/09 @ 10:21
  • dadrester #16 3 years ago

    hang on... wasn't paper plane one of the minigames in the original wario ware on GBA?!
  • speedjack #17 3 years ago

    Harsh but fair.

    Bought both the art style games and have only had a chance to play code which I thought was great... But the rest just seem to be an exercise in taking the piss/cash from new DSi users.

    For DSi ware to work they have to :-

    1. Get some decent DSi exclusive software up there, not just bite sized chucks of older games at a grossly inflated price.

    2. Get some GBA games up there and do a proper virtual console service.

    3. Offer some apps - e.g. personal organiser software ?

    4. Allow users to download/launch games from the SD card (okay it took them 2 years to get this sorted with the Wii, but with and 2GB SD card currently retailing at around £3.50 this gives you an awful lot of storage for a platform of this type), and plenty of space for games).

    I honestly wonder if there is anyone in Nintendo who has a single business minded braincell in their head - they're a cracking example of how making too much money makes a company lazy/ complacent.




    /just sayin'
    Edited by 1 at 22/04/09 @ 10:38
  • arcnas #18 3 years ago

    the DSI isnt all about dsiware i think it was worth changing from the lite for the better screens and sound in my opinion.
    Edited by 1 at 22/04/09 @ 10:41
  • gamingdave #19 3 years ago

    Its a shame warioware needs such controlled lighting to work properly. But everyone whos seen it on mine hasnt failed to be impressed and amused at the end.

    Paperplane, IMO, is definately worth it. A 2 is rediculous. Its perfectly balanced, simple, fun, and perfect for on the move quick gaming. Any game thats cheaper than a pint shouldnt have a score, if its fun for 15 minutes then its worth it, but this will last a lot longer.
  • jonsaan #20 3 years ago

    Bird and Beans (Pyoro) is the best game on there. Both that and Paper plane were unlockables in the original Wario GBA game.

    So how do Nintendo follow up this stunning launch lineup in week 2? A magic trick and a pictochat game. Nice one. I am so glad I didn't fall for it this time. I don't fancy a year or so of being slowly drip fed shit like the Wii store.
  • kinky_mong #21 3 years ago

    This is lightweight compared to what it could have been - it's more like a tech demo than a full game

    Since Wario Ware Touched on the DS all Wario Ware games have just been tech demos dressed up as a proper game.

    Can't believe they're charging for the Paper Plane game from GBA Wario Ware either.
  • ManicDrunkMonk #22 3 years ago

    All recent console launches have been like this. The DS is still one of the strongest current gen platforms in terms of games. Give it time and it'll probably deliver some good stuff.
  • Burkey123 #23 3 years ago

    "I am sure that in the future this service will prove itself to be valuable but right now the software isn't compelling enough to warranty purchasing a DSi"

    +1
  • smelly #24 3 years ago

    >Games on Apple App Store: 6,135 (as of March 10th) and climbing


    And 99.99999% of them wouldnt even get a 1/10 score.
  • secombe #25 3 years ago

    So games on DSi Store: 6
    Games on Apple App Store: 6,135 (as of March 10th) and climbing


    PAL Games on the Mega Drive: Roughly 700
    PAL Games on the PS3: 250ish

    PS3 must be rubbish then. See what I did there?! Can't believe the stupidity of some people, especially considering 95% of the games on Apple Apps are utter, utter shite.
  • UncleLou #26 3 years ago

    People are still dismissing the AppStore as having no good games?

    How silly.
  • tardo #27 3 years ago

    I did cough up for Paper Plane, and I was disappointed :( Someone on the forum had said it was good, bah. Why did it take Eurogamer so long to review these? Plus you've missed a game out (and the shoddy sounding new one). Can't wait til good stuff comes along.
  • Jez360 #28 3 years ago

    Everyone's talking about how the DSi could have a virtual console service for old handheld games but why not just bring the Wii's virtual console games to the DSi? I'm sure it's perfectly capable of running N64 games.
  • Les #29 3 years ago

    Recently got myself a DSi from the US. Wanted to be able to play DSi US exclusives (as any future DSi baseball games will likely not be released in Europe).

    Works fine in, though I did need to get a replacement A/C adapter, the US one won't work in Europe as it only accepts 110V input unlike the one for the DS/DS Lite. I ordered a replacement from a Hong Kong website for $3.50 which does the job.

    Buying points using my European credit card hasn't been a problem. You do have to input a US ZIP code for the billing address but this isn't used for credit card validation purposes. 1000 points cost $10.84 incl. VAT which is a better deal than the €20 for 2000 points.

    Did get 1000 points for free, have so far only downloaded Aquite and I like it.