Geometry Wars: Galaxies (DS)
Here's a quick introduction to the game for those who didn't read our first article on the Wii edition (naughty!):
You fly around in 2D space as a small spaceship and other ships come at you. Shoot them & collect the gems they drop. That's the simple beauty of Geometry Wars as a concept, like arcade games of old. Simple and addictive - all about the high score. The ships are all represented as small, geometric shapes such as diamonds, triangles and circles. The music is high energy and repetitive, not that we think you'll notice nor care. It suits the mood of the game perfectly and should only annoy the most fussy gamer. (cont...)
We've talked about the brilliance of Geometry Wars: Galaxies on the Wii in our review. Words like 'gripping' have been bantered around the office, and I'll use that word again now. Only in a different setting this time.
I've been gripping the DS itself, rather hard. When playing with the DS held in both hands, it's clear straight away that the arcade nature of the title makes you squeeze the unit. We recommend trying your best not to do this, as it can ache after a while! When the stylus is the aiming device and D-pad moves you (you can aim with the buttons, but we don't recommend it), we found it hard holding the DS in open air, as the hand you're supporting the DS with is also the one you are steering frantically with. Pressure on the ball of your left hand can be straining at times, so we recommend resting the DS on a table or surface of some kind to free up your left hand to use the D-pad. I know - it's a strange thing to mention in a review but it really made a difference when we played it. The left shoulder button fires your bombs.
The circle you use to aim your firepower can cause you to have to circle the stylus around the centre point, rather than simply drag it in the right direction. I found myself circling the stylus several times like an Ipod control to try and get the stylus to be in the right place. A certain comfort set in after ten minutes though, so I expect it's practice makes perfect. The aim recticle can be switched on or off, as can the laser. The aim recticle appears to be a hang-over from the Wii edition, as getting rid of it makes things no harder.
The graphics do not display the background rippling that you'll see in the Wii version (and indeed other incarnations of Geometry Wars on other machines). To be honest, I found it easier in some cases to play and last longer without this effect going on, as there's already so much on screen at any one time, leading your eyes away from your ship. Death can never be far away when this happens ...
Perhaps the most important aspect of the game is as with the Wii edition, it's very addictive! The arcade approach brings a sensation of 'just one more go', making me glad the DS doesn't take 10p pieces. I'd be broke, if that were the case. There's a lot for you to do here even though it's pretty samey, giving you fair value for money.
During your space-blasting quest, you'll notice the medal system at work. Score high enough on a planet and you'll gain a medal - genius and addictive, always bringing out a striving to do more. Your ship has a little pod that travels with it, enabling you to spend the in-game currency you gather on upgrades such as turret, collect or snipe mode. You also unlock new galaxies with currency and to collect more, you fly close to gems on the screen that dead enemies will scatter for you. One galaxy can only be unlocked linking up to the Wii version of the game and you can go online globally or locally to check your scores. The options are simple but varied, though we're not sure it's fair that you need the Wii version to unlock everything.
There's nothing ground-shatteringly original here, but more a case of repacking a concept very well for today's audience. Think 'the Asteroids of today's generation' and you're probably getting the general idea.
Every silver cloud has a black lining, however. Unfortunately we've got to tell you that on the DS, Geometry Wars: Galaxies has quite severe slow down & lag when there's a large spawn of enemies or a lot going on around the screen at one time. This takes away the sheer, manic thrill somewhat and also makes the game easier at these so-called difficult points, enabling large high scores compared to the Wii version. The lag allows you to operate at your usual speed in terms of thinking and aiming, whilst the game is working very slowly. This gives you a marked advantage just at stages where the game is supposed to be getting very tricky. Certainly it is harder to gain very high scores on the Wii version than it is on the DS, not an ideal situation considering the games are exactly the same.
Is this worth your time? We'd say it is, unless you already have it on the Wii. If you do, you have the superior version for certain. Depending on how bad your addiction is by this point, you may also want to invest in a DS version as well, but we'd think that the Wii is the way to go with this one. It's a great idea done quite well - just a shame about the lag.
3/5 --- Kim Kaze
We also tested this on the original DS model (non lite version) and it played as well if not better on the DS Lite's slightly fatter cousin.