Twenty years ago, the God genre was kick-started by the work of two men, Peter Molyneux and Will Wright.  While Wright introduced the world to Sim City and went on to produce arguably some of the most commercially successful games in the God genre and it’s Jesus offshoot, Molyneux created the original and purest form of God game in Populous.  Developed by Bullfrog in 1989, Populous  became an award winning classic, spawning  two sequels across various platforms, and firmly fixed Molyneux’s star in the gaming cosmos.  It seemed only logical, given how well the DS’s interface lends itself to games of this nature that Populous and it’s ilk would eventually arrive on the handheld.

Populous is a simple tale of good versus evil – the gods who created the world (Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and Harvest) pitted against demons of similar powers who sprung from the wicked hearts of men and dare to challenge the gods for control over the world.  Each faction draws it’s strength from it’s worshippers and paradoxically, even a god cannot function without the devotion of it’s people  to give it it’s powers.  Gods need Psyche Energy in order to perform miracles which is generated from the houses of your worshippers and is stored up to be used to either aid them or hinder your foe.  Your worshipers need space to build so you have to flatten the landscape and remove obstacles which allow houses to expand and generate more Psyche Energy.  Should you take too long, your worshippers will lose Spirit and eventually die and your rival will gain ground on you.

Wonderful graphics show what happens when you play with fire

Simple orders can be used to control your worshippers, but their most important function will be to build. Worshippers alone cannot win the game for you though which is where the disruptive element comes into play in the form of Miracles.  Depending on the god you play, Miracles will vary, however, access to the nastier ones is withheld until you have amassed a sufficient amount of Psyche energy, so unleashing a meteorite to devastate your enemy’s followers requires patience and much landscaping.  In fact, everything about Populous requires patience and much landscaping and this is unfortunately where the game loses it’s charm and becomes grating.

Thankfully, control is simple and landscaping can be done with simple stylus movements which admittedly can prove problematic if you are too hasty, resulting in creating  town levelling peaks with clumsy ease.  The top screen shows  the changing world and results of your actions in the isometric work map which is assigned to the touch screen, along with the bars, gauges and order buttons where you will exercise your powers, all of which are intuitively laid out.   Miracles are also located here while the animations are played out beautifully in the top screen, but the most important thing, aside from the Armageddon clock is the gauge representing tribal influence which compares rival worshippers  – if the bar is more red than blue, you need to swing the balance, or come Armageddon, your backside will be toast.

You made them angry...

As entertaining as the Miracles can be, the novelty wears off quickly as you will be so preoccupied with endless landscaping that you won’t have much time for anything else but listening to the suitably dramatic underscore.  Even the stunning and detailed world occupying the top screen is sadly wasted as your attention will be focussed on repetitive stylus sweeps on the work map while occasionally taking a moment to send an earthquake or tidal wave to blight the enemy.  The orders which you can give your worshippers are largely irrelevant, as is ordering them to battle – the occasional Miracle is a far easier way to put a crimp on a demon’s day while you keep your worshippers building…do enough to swing the gauge in your favour and victory come Armageddon is assured.  And that is it.

When you scrape away the novelty of the Miracles and the gimmicky landscapes such as fairytale, outer-space and 8bit (featuring  Nintendo consoles past and present…yes, you read that correctly), the game is simple and actually quite dull.  The repetitive grind of constant landscaping isn’t enough to justify the occasional fun piece of devastation and  it is too easy to fall into a pattern of scrabbling to nudge the gauge up and then triggering  Armageddon as soon as possible to save any further tedium.  Armageddon is perhaps  one of the most entertaining aspects of the game with legions of little worshippers in red and blue swimming trunks bitch slapping one another to the strains of Ode to Joy from Beethoven’s Ninth.  It is almost worth the wait.  Almost.
 
Sadly Populous however, was not.  As one of those games that launched a genre and is remembered as the classic  it was, now, however beautifully revamped, seems sadly dull when not viewed through time’s rose-tinted window.  Some will undoubtedly love it, and as a quick time filler it is entertaining enough…it just won’t nuke your world.

Summary
A beautifully revamped classic which is sadly better remembered than replayed. Easy controls and rich graphics can’t save it from repetitive, grinding gameplay, and while the Miracles are diverting, Armageddon can’t come soon enough.

For what at first glance seemed to be a ten-a-penny puzzle game, Jewel Master: Cradle of Rome strives to bring a little extra to the tile-swapping party and surprisingly, attains some success.  Cradle of Rome is a puzzle game of the ‘match 3 tiles’ variety with the added task of building Rome.  Yes, the player doesn’t just get to randomly dab the stylus around in an attempt to build a high score, but they’re expected to build the heart of the Roman Empire and ascend Mount Olympus while they’re at it and it is this addition that makes the game more interesting than a standard puzzler.

The player gathers building materials and resources by swapping the tiles to clear the blue marble ones before the time runs out.  So far, so samey.  However, these resources build up and after each level is completed, the player can spend what they have accrued on a vital building such as a sawmill, foundry, or even a village.  Purchasing each available building in turn unlocks a new resource to collect which goes towards a new building and so on.  Before anyone gets too excited though, it isn’t quite ‘The Settlers’.  The available buildings are strictly controlled and ordered and you can’t just pick what you like and bung it down, it is linear.  Part of the game’s mind may have wandered into another genre’s territory but it’s heart is still a puzzler so you are limited and real choice is a mere illusion, albeit a pretty one.

Those stylus stabbings are finally building a better world, one resource at a time

The graphics are vibrant and glossy in the puzzle screens and the in between sprawl of a growing Rome while you spend your resources is detailed and pleasing to the eye.  All of this may be a trifle to some, for whom the puzzle is king but having colourful and well presented graphics aren’t going to harm it’s charm for the more casual puzzler, and indeed, can act as a pull beside drabber, crusty-nosed cousins on the shelf.

Vibrant graphics and well presented puzzle sceens don't hurt its cause one bit

The discovery that the resource tiles vary on some levels was a welcome one: some feature wood, others stone or hammers in addition to the standard coins and what appear to be leaves.  This touch of variety adds to the rest that the game offers and as such, offers a less tiresome playing experience, ensuring that it isn’t simply a five minute bus journey filler, but something someone may genuinely want to finish.  Indeed, seeing the city start to grow with the addition of each hard earned building is actually quite chuffing and this goal gives the player something more worthwhile to aim for than some vaguely impressive numbers to their name.  Traditional puzzle fans may detest these arguably unnecessary additions but for a genre that is the home of games that for most, are a mild diversion to be enjoyed in short bursts, this should be a  good addition.

Summary
A vibrant puzzler that offers something more than simply chasing a high score. Die-hard puzzlers and purist traditionalists will perhaps resent the intrusion of the resource gathering and goals but it is a solid, nicely presented addition to the puzzler catalogue.

When I first saw the name of this game, I’ll admit to getting rather excited.  The thought of dungeons, creatures and management put me in mind of one of my all time favourite games – Dungeon Keeper. I leapt at the chance to review it, even though the  couple of screenshots I had seen were cutesy and colourful.  No matter, I thought…it’s about time the DS had a game like this!  Let’s get it straight from the start though – Dungeon Keeper, this is not.  I was gleefully rubbing my hands as I imagined evil finally spreading onto the DS, perhaps laden with sarcasm and dark humour, oozing with the promise of nasty deeds, but the moment I picked up the manual and read the words ‘magic talking shovel’, I knew it was not to be.  Not a farting Bile Demon or svelte whip-cracking Dark Mistress in sight, this is the diet coke of evil, or rather, the Soda Stream version with added sugar.  So I reconciled myself instead to what I imagined would be a fun, intensive jaunt into dungeon making and monster bashing with side helpings of twee and much stat monitoring along the way.  I wasn’t entirely right there either.

You play as the hero, a twelve year old (boy, natch) with the requisite jaunty hair, dwelling in a little town painted with a lush Willy Wonka palette.  Very cute and warm; easy on the eye and far from dungeon-making material, surely.  Not so, it would seem.  Monsters have been seen around your village of South Arc and local surrounds and are troubling the entire kingdom of Krolan…so much so that the town’s plea for help to the local castle has, of course, been ignored. So the villagers take matters into their own hands in true RPG style – by sending a child to do the job while they sit around and moan about it.

Your trusty but annoying shovel and a typical battle screen. Prepare to become sick of both

Your task is to rid the surrounding lands of monsters and to make the town worthy of lucrative tourism for the grabbing Mayor into the bargain.  With the aid of your magical shovel, you start to dig out your dungeon, limited only by the number of magic points your shovel has per day.  Yes, you read that correctly – your shovel has magic points.  And a mouth.  And very irritating accompanying music.

Excavating earth and installing furniture (which can be purchased in the tiny hub town) attracts creatures into your new place which you can then happily slaughter.  A little more sinister than one would first think then.  No pandering to ungrateful or lazy minions here, oh no.  They’re lured in and slain and the best bit?  Their meat can be used in conjunction with gathered recipes to make a tasty meal every night which has the added bonus of levelling you up.  Different meals can level up different skills, such as speed, or strength.  It is a seemingly bizarre combination of ideas and it took a while to get my head round whether or not it worked.  Along the way you’ll be given little quests by townsfolk, namely errands of the ‘find me this’ variety which seem to be fulfilled at random by the only thing there is really to do i.e killing monsters repeatedly until the items turn up in loot.

Your home town acts as a hub for purchasing dungeon furniture and magic

On one hand, we have purchasing furniture, running errands for lazy townsfolk and making odd meals out of crow legs and dry slime, and on the other we have the staple checklist of monsters, MP, HP, attack and defence stats and annoying turn-based combat.  I’m not quite sure whether it’s a sim, RTS, RPG, or a lite-cooking game and to be honest, I don’t think the game quite knows.  It doesn’t seem to do any one thing with any real depth or conviction and even after hours of play, you’re struggling to cope with the realisation that this really is it.  It doesn’t get any more interesting and there are no hidden depths waiting to ambush you.

There are some interesting ideas here, (though nothing uncommon), but in mixing the elements together and not doing any of them particularly well, it has produced a shallow and sadly, rather dull game.  The graphics in the hub town are colourful and the menus and stats are clearly laid out, but the premise, though refreshing and unique in comparison to many games, is poorly executed, proving rushed and thin, making for a game as flimsy as a Blake’s Seven set.

Undoubtedly the DS is perfect for titles such as this, and cries out for a management game with a difference or even a RPG that straddles the line into another genre with aplomb but this one falls somewhat short.

Summary
Sadly, Dungeon Maker fails to be what it could, or even should have been and is ultimately shallow, repetitive, and disappointing. Though it will while away a few hours, I was left unsatisfied with the loose, mixed bag, wishing the DS had been given a punchy little gem of a game that oozed character, rather than just a colourful but strangely bland time filler.