Gaming DS Games of the Month: February 2010

[Guild McCommunist]

The return of my Peabody-winning monthly column, Wii/DS Games of the Month! Yes, I'm posting early, but it's better to post before February begins and I have midterms for most of next week. I was also board and I get endless enjoyment from writing longs editorials.

You can read the Wii version of this thread right here

Some rules and stuff.

Spoiler

- No flaming. If I list a game you don't like, too bad. If I don't, too bad.
- This is mainly North American releases, sorry. I'll, on occasion, do a European or Japanese release if it's big enough and not already out in America.
- If a game is already released in English and is being released again for another region, I won't bother adding it. Like say if Super Mario Galaxy 2 was out in America in April (it won't) and it came out in May in Europe, I won't list it for May. I'll also do the same if a game was released in English (aka Europe or America) and is being released in Japan.
- I get my dates from GameFaqs, Wikipedia, and IGN, so if a date is wrong don't blame me. You can, of course, point it out and ask me to fix it if you have the right date.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

Developed by: Capcom
Published by: Capcom, THQ (Australia)
Release date: February 16th (America), February 19th (Europe)
Genre: Adventure
My Hype Level: I guess
GBAtemp Hype Level: Pretty high

I've never been one for the point and click adventures, but Ace Attorney isn't that bad. Miles Edgeworth is the next installment in the series and promises the same point and click fun as previous Ace Attorney titles with a crop of new features. I still haven't even gotten through the first Ace Attorney, so I may pass on this one for a while, but I know a lot of you guys and girls are looking forward to this puppy.

Ragnarok DS

Developed by: GungHo Works
Published by: GungHo Works, XSeed (America)
Release date: February 16th
Genre: Action RPG
My Hype Level: Tried the Japanese version, wasn't all too fun
GBAtemp Hype Level: They lack Ragnarok

I still have no fucking clue what Ragnarok is. I've never heard of it until now. Anyway, this is another Ragnarok game, but it isn't really taking after its MMORPG aspects (I mean, no DS game can be a MMORPG). Still, it is an ARPG and does feature online multiplayer, so maybe it'll get a relatively popular following like PS0. I myself gave a run of the Japanese version with a translation patch and I found it kinda boring. I'll probably try it again when it's released, though.

Puzzle Chronicles

Developed by: Infinite Interactive
Published by: Konami
Release date: February 2nd
Genre: Puzzle
My Hype Level: May just bring me to death's door with starvation and malnutrition
GBAtemp Hype Level: Never heard of this...

I never really heard about this game, so I kinda thought it was just shitty shovelware again. Until I noticed it was made by the same guys who did the incredibly addicting Puzzle Quest series (most notably Challenge of the Warlords) and I instantly became giddy. Puzzle Quest was possibly the most addicting game I've played in years. I played it for days, eating little to nothing. I lost pounds playing that game, people. If you're like me, odds are you'll be just as excited I am about this game, since they've got an awesome team behind it.

Dementium II

Developed by: Renegade Kid
Published by: SouthPeak Interactive
Release date: February 16th delayed
Genre: FPS
My Hype Level: Too pussy to play the first, too chickenshit to try the second
GBAtemp Hype Level: It's got a news thread at least

Sorry, it got delayed. I'll comment on it in April.

Scene It! Twilight

Developed by: Screenlife
Published by: Konami
Release date: February 9th
Genre: Trivia
My Hype Level: I want to suuuuck...
GBAtemp Hype Level: HOLY FUCK TWILIGHT IS THE DUMBEST SHIT EVER

Could they not keep Scene It games to your DVD player? Anyway, this is the first Scene It game for a handheld, but unfortunately it has to be Twilight. Puke, barf, etc. While the game itself is pretty much USDA-certified shitty, I am interested to see the amount of video they have. Well, it's not like I'll actually play the game to see. Odds are they'll have an incredibly small amount of questions and video.

KORG DS-10 Plus

Developed by: Cavia/AQ Interactive
Published by: XSeed Games
Release date: February 16th
Genre: Music
My Hype Level: I'm white, aka I have no rhythm, and I also can't play music
GBAtemp Hype Level: Probably the same as me

The original KORG DS-10 got some good reviews, and this is supposed to be all that and a bag of chips. It's essentially a music creator, so any of our music experts here may get a kick out of it. For people like me, though, who have absolutely no musical talent, they'll probably pass. If you're interested though, you can pick up the original KORG DS-10 and give it a try, since I have no idea what it's like.

Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing

Developed by: Sumo Digital
Published by: SEGA
Release date: February 23rd
Genre: Racing
My Hype Level: Another Sonic license butchering?
GBAtemp Hype Level: Fuck, another Sonic game?

This seems to be SEGA's take on Mario Kart, although they do bring in other SEGA characters, like Billy Hatcher and Beat from Jet Set Radio. The confirmed list right now is still kinda small, but given SEGA's extensive library of characters, who knows? If they give me Jack from MadWorld on his bike in the Wii version, I'll love this game forever. Still, it really does come off as another butchering of Sonic's license. And this poor hedgehog has been through the ringer too many times.

On another note, WHY THE FUCK DOES SONIC NEED A CAR??? His name is "Sonic" after all! He's supposed to be super fast, faster than any of the little karts in this game can go! Sheesh.

Other titles

- Dragonball Origins 2 (Japan): 2/11
- Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D game (too lazy to copy/paste the long title) (America): 2/6

Overall Summary

Not a big month, but the DS is generally having an off year outside of some big titles. Still, we do get quite a few fun games to play around with, and the best game ever: Scene It! Twilight. That was sarcasm, I'm not a Twilight fan who wears Tim Burton's hand-me-downs. Puzzle Chronicles is probably my choice of the month, though. I could lose a few pounds anyway.

Next month is HUUUUUUGE. Tons of English releases. Infinite Space, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, and Pokemon. Not to mention a bunch of other big titles, including the Sonic Collection, Monster Rancher DS, and Again. Prepare for the server crash, people.

Have a fun February everyone!

 

[MegaAce™]

Heh, nice. Looking forward to Ace Attorney, Ragnarok and All-Stars Racing.

Maybe I'll try that synthesizer out.

 

[Law]

"Ace Attorney Investigations"?

I thought it was going to be "Miles Edgeworth: Perfect Prosecutor"

.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

"Ace Attorney Investigations"?

I thought it was going to be "Miles Edgeworth: Perfect Prosecutor"

.

They changed the name a while ago to Ace Attorney, probably just to keep the name popularity (since people will go "OMG ACE ATTORNEY!")

 

[ProtoKun7]

Dementium II has some odd boxart...

Never played the first, don't want to play this one either.

Also...Twilight: scene it?...we need a facepalm emote for this forum ASAP.

 

[Deleted_171835]

Ugh...Twilight sucks walnuts. Why would they release such a game?

I'm looking forward to Ace Attorney: Investigations. Not enough to purchase it, though. I don't purchase DS games nowadays. Meh, this month looks boring. Maybe, March will be different.

Edit: The link to the Wii thread is messed up.

 

[BORTZ]

"On another note, WHY THE FUCK DOES SONIC NEED A CAR??? His name is "Sonic" after all! He's supposed to be super fast, faster than any of the little karts in this game can go! Sheesh"

My thoughts exactly.

 

[updowners]

.

 

[Dwight]

Might give Ragnarok a try, but aside from that it looks like another awful month.
Next month will be great with Sonic Collection and Shin Megami Tensai.

 

[Lusankya]

"Ace Attorney Investigations"?

I thought it was going to be "Miles Edgeworth: Perfect Prosecutor"

.

They changed the name a while ago to Ace Attorney, probably just to keep the name popularity (since people will go "OMG ACE ATTORNEY!")

Well, they didn't "change" it, as the name never was Miles Edgeworth: Perfect Prosecutor to begin with. It's just a fan creation.

AAI is my most wanted game of the year, I am so hyped now.

 

[ericling]

I played Ragnarok Japanese version with translation patch and feel somehow boring. But still will give it a try when it release in English.
All Star Racing should be my second choice.I am not interested in Ace. Maybe I will give it a try because I never try it .

 

[steirina]

Oohh. Ragnarok Online DS is finally coming out. I played the MMORPG back in high school quite a bit. I wonder how much they incorporated into the game, though. RO had a fair amount of cities and classes last time I checked and that was several years ago.

 

[kennypu]

to give a quick intro about the KORG DS-10 series:
its MEANT for people like you with no musical experience. Its a huge hit in Japan and American fans a like because of its perfect emulation of a real synthesizer, and the ease to get into it; you can literally just play with it however you want, and a song will be made x]. Whether the song will sound nice, thats a different story.

 

[Raika]

Looking forward to Ace Attorney and Sonic Racing... Although instead of karts SEGA could've made the game something like this... I enjoyed that PC game.

 

[ENDscape]

Looking forward to Ace Attorney and Dementium

 

[Tekkin88]

I feel like trying Ragnarok and Miles Edgeworth. I also think it hasn't been a big month. :/

 

[jgu1994]

Will try out Miles Edgeworth and Ragnoarok at one point, and I'll definitely play dementium 2.

 

[Dark Blade]

Heh, nice. Looking forward to Ace Attorney, Ragnarok and All-Stars Racing.

Maybe I'll try that synthesizer out.

Same for me except I'll try Dementium II as well.

 

[Bently]

Awesome 3 of the games im waiting for are coming out on the same day

.
(Ace Attorney: Investagations, Ragnarok DS, and KORG-DS Plus)
And ive never seen the Scene It? Twilight thing before its all new to me :S.

 

[FISHY_au]

Ugh...Twilight sucks walnuts. Why would they release such a game?

I'm looking forward to Ace Attorney: Investigations. Not enough to purchase it, though. I don't purchase DS games nowadays. Meh, this month looks boring. Maybe, March will be different.

Edit: The link to the Wii thread is messed up.

because it costs them 5 dollars per game to make. and the hardware is worth 4 dollars. and they know that while 98% of the population will facepalm as they see it, the remaining 2% of fanboysgirls will pay 50 bucks for it. therefore no matter how many copies they sell, whether its 2 or 200,000 they will still make plenty of profit. and thats what its all about.

on topic: been hyped about Dementium II ever since i finished the first a week after it came out (although i didnt know if they were actually going to make a sequel until renegadekid announsed it later that year). never played AA before, so i might try it. the point and click style really isnt my thing, but i heard that they are really good, so i'll probably pick this one up. another sonic game *facepalm*. and cant wait for Scene It: Twilight. looks like the best game ever to hit the DS. [/sarcasm]

way hyped over march. cant wait.