Lost in Space

So folks, I am now the proud owner of Puzzlequest: Galactrix and in many ways, it's a lot like the original Puzzlequest offering.

However, there is one humongous glitch that had me wondering if my DS was broken. It played a lot like this.

When choosing your destination on the galactic map, the interface frequently assumes that you chose coordinates far, far away from where your stylus is pointing and promptly sends your spaceship wandering off to points unknown. This is compounded by the fact that there's a good chance that your choice on a pop-up menu will not register and your ship starts wandering again. What makes this doubly annoying is that you cannot open up that same menu again until your ship is once again on the planet, something that could take a while depending on the speed of your ship and how far off course it is.

I have no idea how this managed to get past testing and approved for distribution by Nintendo. If it were up to me, I would have not allowed the ship to budge until a destination is confirmed. If you click on a planet, then the menu should open and stay open until you make a choice (or choose cancel). Assuming you've chosen something to do on that planet, then and only then does your ship fly over there and nothing would interfere with the journey. But that's just me.

Fortunately, the glitch does not extend to the actual gameplay itself. That is not to say that solving puzzles are not without problems, but they are minor compared to the buggy interface.

So if you are a die-hard Puzzlequest fan, you've probably already picked up Galactrix. For everybody else, you might want to give this one a pass.

Fancy Feet

Hey there. Another week, another cartoon. Feel free to share your thoughts.

This week brings the long-awaited companion to the break-out game, Puzzle Quest. The new game in the series is called Galactrix.

The latest game should be no surprise to Puzzle Quest fans. What's diffrent is there's now an added axis added to the game. But heck, why listen to me? Click here and try it for yourself.

More dangerous than a cell phone!

I want to just go on record as saying that I have never played Puzzlequest while driving. Though I've been tempted once or twice. While I was in the middle of the quest, it was unbelievable the pull that game had as I kept trying to finish the various quests in order to make my character strong enough to defeat the big villain. But now that I've finished the game, it doesn't seem to have the same pull for me. Sure, there are still a few side quests left to do, but the reward for completing the quests is no longer necessary. Who knows, maybe I'll start a new game just to see what happens when I do things differently.

But in the meantime, I've got another game to keep me occupied, Custom Robo Arena. It's a game where you have bipedal robots fight each other with a wide array of customizable attachments. True, these robots are only a few inches high and they fight in holographic arenas, but hey, it's still fighting robots - in 3D. Leaping and blasting are this game's main draw. It's got a story, but really, it's all about the fighting robots. Check it out.

Suggested Move

This week I want to tell you about a new game I've started playing called Puzzle Quest. What that has to do with this week's cartoon will be revealed in time.

On the surface, Puzzle Quest might not get a second look from many gamers. The initial impression is that of an ordinary puzzle game wrapped in a fantasy setting. But that's just where things begin to get interesting. First of all, the puzzle game in itself is fun, but by itself it wouldn't keep player's interest for very long. That's where the "quest" part of the title comes in. Because Puzzle Quest is actually an RPG (role-playing game) where all actions from combat to research are accomplished with variations on the puzzle.

You fight monsters by lining up symbols in the puzzle grid that do damage to them. You forge magical items by trying to eliminate special symbols in your grid. Each variation of the puzzle offers slightly different gameplay and requires you to approach it a little differently.

The more that you accomplish, the better your character becomes and the more you can accomplish in your puzzles. But why read my review when you can try it for yourself? You can download a PC demo of the game (the game is currently available only on the Nintendo DS and PSP) here.

Now on to my gripes about the game. If you're stumped for a move, the game will suggest one for you. The only problem with this is that the computer's suggestions have an uncanny habit of setting up great moves for your opponent. It's kind of like when you play chess with your brother (see, I told you there was a reason behind the cartoon). Another problem is that some of the menus are poorly designed (especially in the citadel) and do not respond well to user input. And there have been a couple of times when I've tried to access the forge only to have my game go to an unresponsive black screen. This glitchiness is below the level of quality I'd expect from a game on my Nintendo DS. Fortunately, the game automatically saves your progress, so nothing is lost during these failures.

There you have it. If you have a portable device, I encourage you to try this game out. And if next week's post is late, you'll know the reason why.