Holy crap does it get too fast in Standard Marathon halfway through.

Did anyone pick this up?  So far, I've played mainly the single-player Standard and Puzzle modes (on like puzzle 95).  I'm happy with it and, if I can get the Wi-Fi adapter, might just need to play a 10 player match.

You know, if it's didn't cost a fricken $35, I might have picked it up...

-Joshua

I said the same about Pokemon Trozei and Super Princess Peach.  I'm not sure what is up with Nintendo's new flat $35 pricing structure (Brain games excluded), but it is stopping me from splurging on games---seems bad for them, but good for me, I guess.

Super Princess Peach is worth more than most $50 games I've bought in recent memory.  From what I've seen of it, though, Pokemon Trozei = not so much.

What the f--- are you whining about? We up in Canada have to pay double that for a good DS title. Chalk that up to the exchange rate! Score one for the Canadian Peso!

I would have thought the game was well worth $35, but releasing it at the same time as Hunters would mean that many people (like me) were only going to buy one or other. And, for me, it had to be Hunters.

Ooh, do give us your take on Hunters once you've had some time with it.  I'm still dubious about how the control is going to work with that one (then again, I've not been good with controls in any typical FPS since Perfect Dark...)

Well I got it yesterday morning and I've been playing it quite a bit. I'm having no problem with the control. In fact, I love the control. I've settled into using the stylus and it seems to suit me really well - there are plenty of custom options too, which is great. It took me maybe half an hour to be truly comfortable with it (and realise I was hitting the bottom right of the touchscreen with my hand) but, when you find your way, it works. The weapons, morphball and anything else you need are very streamlined so there really isn't much to keep track of.

At first the graphics were a little overwhelming in that the textures are quite complex and sort of meld together in the first area of the game. However, a little way in the true beauty of the graphics reveal themselves. It's a lovely looking game. But that's just the graphics.

Sound is superb. Metroid Prime style all the way and really works well.

Single player adventure mode sees you searching for things called Octoliths in different areas. It is far more linear than a tradtional Metroid game, especially early on where you just encounter fairly boring enemies in fairly boring environments. However, as things go on, the more Prime style elements start to return with some great morphball sections and some tricky 'how do I get there?' bits. However the emphasis is on combat - Hunters find you and attack and things get very frantic indeed. Think Quake 3 and you'll know what it's like. A few boss battles (not great) and platforming sections break things up. Overall so far the single player isn't fantastic in the way (I felt) Prime was but is certainly enjoyable and gets much better as you go along.

Multiplayer is what this game is about though. It really is like a handheld Quake 3. Playing online is so easy and I've not had any lag yet. It's streamlined, the environments are great and there is huge potential for differing playing styles. It couldn't be more fun for me in multiplayer. Really great stuff, and I've only tried the basic Battle mode - there are loads of other multiplayer modes to try. I'd say this will keep me going for a long time.

So far, overall, this was worth the wait. It's a handheld Metroid-styled Quake 3 with a decent single player mode thrown in for good measure. There is a layer of polish that really shows where the effort went. Yeah, I'd love a more Prime type single player but this was always designed to be a multiplayer game and it works. Great stuff.

I actually managed to find Peach used for $20.....I'm hoping sometime I can get Tetris for that too at some point...

-Joshua

Ryu, learn the infinite block spin.  By level 17, the pieces start to "teleport" to the bottom.

I played both of them; Trozei is fun for what it is... I'd consider it at maybe $20 or less.  Super Princess Peach just didn't have anything that interested me.  Some complaint I read about pipes and random order also turned me off.  If I find myself in much of a lull later in the year I'll end up snatching it up.

Now that Phoenix Wright is available I should get that while I can.

Well, at least you don't have to pay for health care!

Thanks, I'll give it a shot next time.  Is this something mentioned in the manual?  I really should start flipping through those things more often.

Hmmm...the infinite block spin broke Tetris Worlds in my opinion. It's a shame it was left in this version.

Everywhere around here Tetris is $30, not $35.  Anyway, Tetris was worth it... I'll post my friend code up later...  also Peach is definitely worth the $35.. the first two worlds suck 'cause they're too easy, but the game gets seriously good after that.  Jay... glad you're enjoying Metroid, but the control just isn't for me (I hate PC-style FPS games).  Can you tell I'm in a rush?

It feels like cheating.  I haven't really played any other version but the GB Tetris and the online PC version (outside of Tetrisphere, which I hope will be on the Revolution Virtual Console).

Even so, yay for the Level 20 song!  Now, if only there are some dancing Russians hidden somewhere in there...  A Punch-Out theme would've been nice too.

Actually, more unlockables would be great.

I just have to know... is the Gameboy Tetris music hidden in this game somewhere?  If it is, I'll be soooooooooooooooooo happy.  Also, I need to figure out if you can local area play this game with Japanese and American copies, since I'd like to get the j-version and get the club Nintendo points.  I don't want to be prevented from playing with my friends back home when I go back, though...

Joe, that's an interesting question---it's not a safe assumption, but if Wi-Fi works globally, and the system has no regional lock-outs, I don't see why it would give you problems with a LAN.

I believe only two of the GB Tetris music is in the game.  A-Type music appears on the last of Standard Mode - Marathon.  The Records music is also from Tetris and played a similar role in that game.  The songs are remixes though; A-Type (called Ancient Tetris in-game) is also really fast, which is fitting to the stage.

Infinite spin only exists in single-player mode, and the consensus on gamefaqs is that it's impossible to get to level 20 and beyond in standard mode without using it.

This version gave us infinite block spin, but they took away the ability to allow you to position the block before it enters the board that some Tetris versions had.  I think you need one technique or the other to have a viable game for high levels since there are instant block drops in this version.

Dang!  I prefer single player...
Maybe I'll wait on Hunters.  Oh well, I think it'll eventually trickle down to $20 or less (might be a while though, but if the single player isn't so great I have no problem waiting).

cheers,

-avatar!

Yeah, if you're only looking for the single player experience or you hate PC style deathmatch games then I'd definitely advise staying away from Hunters as it would only disappoint. Having said that, if there are some people who haven't had much experience with those type of games, the Metroid-themed design, handiness of the handheld system and level of polish of the game make it a great place to start.

Stephen I see what you're saying about the instant block drops needing the infinite spin but it's a chicken and egg thing - they created one game feature and needed the other to counter it (being unfair, you could say they broke it with one and atempted to fix it with the other). From the old NES version and GB version, it's easy to see that it wasn't needed. I'm actually not against them trying new things with Tetris as long as the original play mechanics are included as an option too (are they in this one?) but, even then, this feature was blasted when Tetris Worlds came out and, in my opinion, with good reason so I was just surprised it stayed in. It is a game I'll probably end up getting in the not too distant future and I love the idea of the classic game themes.

btw, "Type-A" or "Ancient Tetris" music is actually a Russian folk song:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korobeyniki

Jay,
The old play mechanics do not appear to be available in Tetris DS.  I have to agree with some players that this version does have a lack of rules and game customization options.  You can't turn off the hold box, for example.

It appears, as you say, that they kept infinite spin and countered with something else.   As I said, you can't infinite spin in WiFi or multiplayer mode, so it won't be "unfair" when playing others.

The game is pretty solid otherwise.