nds wire 2.0

The Legend of the River King, which first appeared on GameBoy in 1998, was an endearing story of a young boy who set out to catch a fish to cure his sick sister. Among other RPG elements, the game featured numerous side quests, an innovative battle system, a pet-raising sim, and a complex upgrade system for fishing gear. Yeah, it was unique.

Unfortunately, the huge variety of gameplay in River King was a curse in of itself. Players found the control scheme too complex, the battle system too difficult, and the English translation uninspired. And in all honesty, the concept of a fishing RPG didn't exactly draw pre-teen gamers in the first place. Maybe that's why they didn't attempt a true sequel until now.

Luckily for Natsume, Nintendo has created a handheld that can adapt its touch-based controls to any situation, is beloved by both kids and adults, and is already a home to a growing library of non-game titles. If the fabled RPG developer from Japan can use the Nintendo DS' unique hardware to correct its flawed control scheme of the past then we could be looking at the sleeper hit of the fall. A hilarious raccoon sidekick wouldn't hurt either.

New Screens:




Pictures are Copyright Marvelous Interactive Inc.

One of the best features of the Nintendo DS has to be its backwards compatibility with GameBoy Advance titles. You couldn't ask for a better library of ready-made games; a collection which isn't only huge, but keeps on growing. Which is why you should be interested in Rhythm Tengoku (a.k.a. Rhythm Heaven), a unique new adventure that stands alone among both today's GBA and DS games.


Picture Copyright Nintendo of Japan

At first look, Rhythm looks like nothing more than a WarioWare rip-off, which is almost O.K. considering it's developed by the same team at Nintendo. After a simple exercise that rates your rythem, players are dropped into a series of simple music exercises where they may only progress challenge by challenge. The worlds and musical stylings vary from level to level, made interesting by their visual backdrops. After all, what other game can you play as a witch in one level, and a robot in the next?

Unfortunately, the WarioWare-Esq stage system doesn't always translate well. The desire of the developers to make each level its own full song, along with its own mandatory training section, makes stages much too long. Which can be more than annoying if you have to play through them more than once. Luckily, the absence of any guise of randomness makes it easy to progress solely by memorization. And also takes out the fun.

More bizarre than the game's characters is the fact that its 'Boss Battles' are the most entertaining part! Instead of pinning you against an ugly brute or force players into a dance-off, world challenges are constructed by remixing previous exercises into an all new song. And because each level plays differently, you'll have to think quick to stay in tune with the beat. And its these mash-ups that will keep me playing Rhythm until I go deaf with love, or have a seizure.

Official Site (Japanese)