Reviews by Saponaria

Madagascar (DS) review

Bearing in mind that this game has a 3plus rating, some of the levels are quite tricky with enemies placed carefully where they can do most damage and a fair amount of speed and dexterity needed to swap to another character quickly enough to use special combat talents. It is basically a platform game with a few variations in mini-games. The characters are true to their film images with similar levels of humour: Gloria the hippo's, pirouette is something to behold! It is possible to complete the game without having collected all the coins, but the player can choose to go back to earlier levels at any time to use newly opened skills to access previously unattainabel areas. The automatic save function is handy as is the fact that you are not sent further back than the current level when you fail. You can, therefore, spend a great deal of time on this if determined to achieve 100% score on finding items. It's good fun, but I don't think it's one to keep.

Zoo Tycoon 2 DS (DS) review

A wide range of varied animals are on offer, including such as the sabre-toothed tiger and yeti, for the player to cater for and learn about. It is fascinating to watch their behaviour and quite satisfying when they breed, which happens in no time at all if you have chosen the correct conditions and habitat. You can play as zoo designer, building enclosures, cafes, etc; zoo director, organising the finances and promotion; zookeeper in direct contact with individual animals in a few minigames, which involve feeding, grooming and so on. This small, touch-screen version is challenging, but not so varied as the PC version as there are limits on the size of the zoo the player can build and not so much feedback is given on aspects like guest responses. Also, the challenges are frustrating in that no reason is given for sudden failure even when you have provided all the elements requested. Quite addictive, nevertheless.

Yoshi Touch & Go (DS) review

I love the cute Yoshi character anyway and he appears in all the various colours in this game, according to how many points you earn in the first stage. The stylus and touch-screen come into their own as you guide Yoshi through a variety of challenges, making cloud paths and wrapping enemies and fruit in bubbles. All versions of the game have the sole purpose of saving Baby Mario or Baby Luigi from the evil Toadies and Kamek. The basic gameplay is simple, but trying to beat the best scores can be quite addictive - yet another of those "just one more go" games. The tunes and sound effects are the old, nostalgically familiar ones; my particular favourite is Yoshi's burp when you feed him too much fruit! I intend to keep this one as you can return to it time and time again for either a quick play or a prolonged session of determined score-beating.

Mario Kart DS (DS) review

There are plenty of options with this game to keep any player happy for hours. There are Grand Prix races on a variety of tracks with any number of different characters who can also be used on Time Trial games, where you can race against your own "ghost" from your best previous attempt. Added to that are some Challenges and options for multi-player games, all with the characteristic Mario Kart tunes from earlier gameplay versions to add some nostalgia. Not one to tire of easily, because you can always try to go that one better!

Shrek's Carnival Craze (DS) review

This is definitely aimed at younger players with the usual Shrek characters to choose from as your character for the fairground style games that are to be played. Most of these are very easy, so will satisfy child players, although I did struggle with "Food Fling" where delicate timing is of the essence. There are video clips of the Shrek Carnival story to watch and earn as you progress through the games, which have all the usual characters and humour to entertain you. One to rent, but not to keep as its possibilities are soon exhausted.

The Sims 2: Castaway (DS) review

This is one of my all time favourites; I found it hard to put it down, wanting to find yet another item to build up my percentage. As always with The Sims, much time is spent attending to creature comforts of eating, washing, sleeping and nipping into the bushes for toilet breaks, which can be frustrating when you are on a mission to find, make or grow some new gadget, fruit, fish, item of clothing, friend to trade with, but that all adds to the sense of achievement when you actually do achieve your goals. I must confess that I had to resort to "cheats" to help me out with finding some of the items and only managed 96% before abandoning hope, but what fun I had in getting there... and I can always try again with a different character! This is one to keep as it has endless possibilities and playing hours and, unlike many Sims games I have played before, there is a definite ending: when you find the way to escape the desert island!

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney (DS) review

This was not my cup of tea at all. I like games in which you interact all the time and not just wade through long stretches of comic-strip type narrative. I rarely abandon a game without giving it at least half-an-hour's chance, but this was an exception. I soon tired of the story, the repetitive scenes and not having tasks to perform, not to mention the gruesomely stressed faces of the characters, which gave me the creeps! Very disappointing as I had read glowing reviews from others.

Picross DS (DS) review

This one offers hours of fun, challenging the player's skills of logic and deduction; if you like puzzles such as Sudoku, you'll enjoy this. The basic rules are easy to learn, there are many different levels to play and these can be repeated in an attempt to beat the best time score. The tutorial is excellent and there is much satisfaction in improving your skills. This one is a "keeper" as its possibilities cannot be exhausted.

Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir (DS) review

The basic game is to seek items hidden on a variety of screens covered in complex detail and, sometimes, creepy images. This type of task occupies most of the game and becomes quite tedious and repetitive, although your seeking skill does improve with practice and there are tips to help you when stuck - in fact, these tend to make it too easy, but you could use will-power to resist them (I didn't!) The characters/suspects are very odd and it's not especially easy to work out who is the culprit, although the solution at the end seems to come too easily.There are some mini-games to give a bit of variation and a range of cringeworthy puns, as the game title would suggest.

Mahjongg DS (DS) review

One of those games which is simple to understand, but tricky to master at the higher levels. The player matches pairs of tiles or lines up three tiles in a Tetris-style gameto achieve a number of goals. The graphics of the little warrior are basic, to say the least, and the narrative of the campaign is decidedly contrived - just an excuse for stringing together the single player games. Nevertheless, there are hours of playing and it's one to keep returning to in an attempt to beat your best scores. The Chinese type of musical accompaniment becomes more than a little tiresome, but then you can always turn it off!