Sweeter Lemon

Another game that Mr. Martini got me for Christmas was Unsolved Crimes for the DS. This one was definitely a winner.

Basically, you’re a cop in 1970’s New York City (therefore, you don’t have any fancy high-tech CSI-type tests at your disposal). You’re solving murders with your partner, along with an over-arcing storyline of a kidnapping.

With the touchscreen and stylus, you have to go to crime scenes, examine evidence, study suspect statements and review case files. Along the way there are game points where you need to answer questions about what you’ve learned. Answer incorrectly, and the game ends. Answer correctly, and the story keeps moving.

The cases are varied enough that you don’t feel like you’re solving the same crime over and over. Any frequent cop-show watcher will be able to figure out certain clues quickly, while others require a keen eye for details.

Besides the basic question and answer quests, the game play is broken up at times with more action-oriented moments (a car chase, for example).

If you like the puzzle solving of Professor Layton and are looking for a game that’s a little less whimsical and a little more gritty, this is a winner.

For Christmas, Mr. Martini bought me a bunch of games for the DS. I had an extra week off from work, so I had time to play through a couple of them. The first one was Elite Beat Agents.

The gameplay is simple – as a song plays, you must tap and drag the stylus on the marked areas of the touchscreen in time to the music. Points are accumulated by touching the marked areas in time with the beat.  The higher the levels, the harder the gameplay.

I breezed through the game at a steady clip on the lower level, then had to cave in at the higher level. While it didn’t have much re-play-ability for me, personally, I can see how some people would strive for higher and higher scores, or even perfect levels. The songs weren’t bad (with the exception of “You’re the Inspiration,” which got stuck in my head for days, argh), and the “stories” accompanying each level were cute.  All in all, it was a fun diversion during vacation.

I have a new DS addiction. Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2. I had played the Trauma Center game on the Wii, and enjoyed it, but never finished the game because I didn’t like how disconnected I felt to what I was doing.

But with the DS, you use the stylus to draw on the screen, rather than just wave your Wiimote in the air. To me, this makes the game play seem easier, and somehow more realistic (ew). I’ve already played the DS version more and gotten further than I had with the Wii. I think eventually it will get harder, because there was more of an ease of changing instruments with the Wii (via thumb movements on the nunchuck).

But that’s a minor quibble. This is just a really, really fun game.

…in Nintendo DS format! This is my new obsession. I had Mr. Martini return Cake Mania when I discovered that you can play it online for free (I know!). I took this opportunity to dig out this game that he had bought me months ago, and had forgotten about completely.

I LOVE IT. As long as I can stick to puzzles from the beginning of the week, I can finish them without too much trouble. I also find that this game is way better at recognizing my handwriting than even Brain Age, which is a plus.

I’m talking a lot about games recently, I know. What can I say, I like my grownup toys.

I am the first to admit that I have a 10-year old girl’s taste in games. While Mr. Martini plays his grown up games on the PS3, I’m spending my time on the DS with games I know are probably made for the design sensibilities and tastes of tweeners.

I am not proud. But I do enjoy them.

Taking up my time this weekend was Animal Crossing, a game I’ve had for awhile but neer really played. There was this whole beginning portion where I had to have a job and pay off a mortgage, and it felt a little less than fun – I mean, that’s what I do everyday. And, even worse, I rent. But at a friend’s suggestion, I gave it a shot, and it really is a cute little game. Now I’ve learned how to sell things, and hae a little cash, so I can buy things, which (like real life) makes it a lot more interesting.

The other game I got on a whim, and really like it: Cake Mania 2. Basically, it’s less about baking and more a long logic puzzle where you have to bake, frost and decorate cakes for customers at a bakery. It’s not super exciting, but it’s got a logic puzzle style that the time-management freak in me really enjoys. Whose cake should I bake first? Which will take longer? How do I keep customers happy while they wait? It’s also super addictive, and I keep trying to earn more money for faster ovens to pump out my product quicker. Which makes it less of a “relaxing” game and more of a “I can’t believe how frenzied I feel playing this” but it is enjoyable.

I’m not sure what will be next in this series of games. Pokemon? Who knows.

I’m not a huge gamer, I am still interested in new games as they’re released.  But I know me, and I know that I very, very rarely see a game through to the end. So when I discovered that our cable company offers G4 content on our On Demand, and that content included a section called “First 15 Minutes,” I was very excited.

The content is exactly what the title says – recorded “films” of the first 15 minutes of play of various video games. For instance, after all of the hype about “Portal,” I sat down and watched the first 15 minutes of game play. It was just as funny and inventive as everyone said. Would I run out and buy it? Probably not. Was it weird to sit there and watch a video game that someone else had played? Not really, since I normally watch whatever game Mr. Martini plays like TV shows anyway.

But still, I do think I’d get a better sense of a game, and be able to better decide if I want to plunk down $50 for something I know I’d like, as opposed to something that just sounds cool. Very, very cool content, G4. Nicely played.

I’m not one of those people who can sit down and play a videogame hours at a time. I don’t have the attention span or the patience for that. I like games that I can pick up and put down easily, that don’t require a large learning curve, but are still fun to play.

How excited am I that we picked up a copy of Rayman Raving Rabbids for our Wii? Very, very happy.

Apparently, the Rayman series of games goes back to 1992 (thank you Wikipedia) but I had never heard of it before. When Mr. Martini picked up a used copy of this game, I figured it would be something he’d like to play.

It turns out, this is exactly the kind of game I was looking for. The Story mode is a series of minigames, and if you complete at least 3 at a time, you get to play the “boss” game to complete the level.

The minigames have a little variety, some are harder than others, but knowing that I only need to complete 3 of the 4 on each level gives me a little leeway with the harder games. Plus, the Score mode lets me go back and play some of my favorites.

A die-hard, “I just spent the last 15 hours trying to get through Level 18″ gamer might find this a little boring and silly. But for the new gamer with a new Wii, I have to recommend Rayman Raving Rabbids. The learning curve is quick, it uses the Wii remotes to great effect (I got a little winded at times, which simultaneously amused and humiliated me). Plus, the evil bunnies are cute.

This is going to sound insane, but at this moment, we have six, yes, SIX, gaming systems in our house. Granted, 2 of those are handhelds, and 1 of those is defunct. But still! SIX!

I really only use 2 of them, and only one of them is really and truly “mine.” The Nintendo DS.

Like most kids growing up in the 80s, I had an Atari, and I went to the video arcades and for the most part was “OK” at videogames. But I never had a Nintendo, so when my nephew had one, he tried to get me play Mario. I was very, very bad at it.

I still am. I can’t do the running/jumping/fighting games. Which is why the Nintendo DS is perfect for me – there’s a stylus so I can basically write or draw to play the games, rather than relying on the crazy buttons that always confuse me.

Plus, it has games that I actually like to play, like this one:

It’s a basic trial game, with investigation, collecting evidence, and interviewing witnesses. It’s really more of an interactive novel than a true game, because there’s only one outcome to each case – you just have to figure out how to get there.

Is this game at all “realistic” in terms of the US justice system? Not in the slightest. It takes the bare bones of a typical US trial system, and tweaks it to fit the game. (Which makes sense, as this game is a Japanese import). I absoloutely wouldn’t use this as a teaching tool in a civics class. But to teach observation and attention to detail, this really works.

I. Love. This. Game. I’m almost done with this first one, but there are 3 more versions out there just waiting for me. I can’t wait to get at them!