Igor is an upcoming kids movie, and South Peak has the DS game out for show on the E3 floor. I was turned loose to play with this a bit, and I took a real liking to it after only a few minutes game play! I hope to convey what I saw in the game in the short preview below, so DS owners can consider this title when the movie comes out and the game makes its appearance as the expected tie-in.
The basic premise is thus: pieces falling from the sky consist of two gems in various colors, one of which may be a glowing gem-breaker (a "popper"). Should you line up like-colored gems in rectangular patterns, they will merge and form larger gems of proportionately more power. Popper gems will break like-colored patterns (IE - green poppers will shatter green patterns of gems), and doing so will result in a certain amount of energy in the appropriate color. These colored energy bars tie in to a specific monster attack, and unleashing said attack will whallop your current monster opponent. Monster opponent?
Yes, Igor is fighting a series of monster bouts, which he must win to advance our plotline. Breaking huge gems and unleashing major attacks on your opponent leads to quick wins, and that in turn helps advance your cause. With this in mind, you'll want to stack colors as much as possible, waiting on poppers of the appropriate color, and where you can, chaining further "pops" off of the first destruction. Doing so will load up your various attacks, allowing you to trounce your monster opponent with mega-punches and kicks, and away you go to the next bout. Very clean, very simple, and very addictive. I like it!
I'm sure the plot will be more clear when we know more about the movie, but at the moment the simple mechanics and clear connection to the meta-game make this quickie DS game a big winner in my book. Well done!
I'm a volleyball playing nomad who's been blowing up aliens, scoring touchdowns/goals, dogfighting, slaying dragons, mowing down hordes of enemy tanks, headshotting, and saving damsels in distress since my dad brought home the very first Atari system. My game-tastes are very diverse, as I enjoy street racers, sports games (especially "hyper" sports games like, say, NFL Street), shooters, RPGs, a good MMO here and there, and pretty much anything else that doesn't involve a Pokemon!
