GBAtemp book game club would appear to be at edition 67 today. Part of what we do on GBAtemp as well as discuss new games and news is look back at some of the older ones with this series in particular being aimed more at what the members thought of a title than what a given member or staff member thinks.
Between leaked code, commercial releases, homebrew games and ROM hacks in the libraries the the GBA, DS and Wii sport we have a lot to get through although we are not adverse to having a look at something should be capable of being emulated on the DS. Likewise if there are notable entries in a franchise or versions on another platform those will hopefully be noted as well.
The selection process is best described as shrouded in mystery but we do state that top ? games lists have more or less run their course elsewhere and those top ? games lists will usually omit some of the more interesting games on the basis that they are often somewhat flawed. This said if there is a special reason or underlying theme (a while back there was a run of game that were in English by never made it to North America) then we will note it. Being a weekly series we will try to restrict the number of suggestions to a single game or a couple of related ones but there will be the occasional compare and contrast or challenge/run posed.
#67 - Ninjatown (NDS)
Developers Venan Entertainment are probably best known for their versions of big franchises for mobile phones and such like but they took some out from making those to make one of the surprisingly under-represented tower defence style of game for the DS. Anybody that spent time in the flash games world will have surely come across tower defence and previously we did feature a kind of offshoot of the gameplay style in Lock's quest. This game is at once closer to the original mechanics of the style and further away in that it covers a larger area with a few themed missions as well and there is a far larger focus on the commander gameplay; unlike many examples you can not afford to press go and then upgrade between rounds. The aesthetic of the game and writing makes for a somewhat offbeat game and probably best described as "What if Bomberman was made by a western developer?" or "What if Bomberman met Zool" all with a pinch of dungeon keeper. On top of that multiplayer is there and pretty good. We do wish to note the tutorial is well done (it comes as the first few missions) but can take a while to get through to the meat of the game/unlock everything. A couple of spinoffs exist for IOS and android although they are a climbing game and, for want of a better term, an avatar/mii maker with a ninja twist.
Damage dealing towers come in various types including ranged and close combat with multiple types of each which when properly combined can take on enemies and you have a limited ability to guide your towers/choose their tactics.
Following on from the board game theme last week they also did a half decent version of monopoly for the DS. Anyway this is how tower defence should be done or a cute art style does not a fun game make? As with all tower defence games we feel it necessary to link up the superb warcraft tower defense homebrew.
gbagotw should get you other links in this series
