[Arkanoid DS] Another Classic

This is another classic game brought back by Taito to the NDS platform. You really don't need an introduction for this game. There is a trial version here. Check it out and you will feel at home right away.

The game official site is here. The game is already released in Japan in December, 2007.

One more thing to add is that you can use an add-on controller to play the game using a knob. This is similar to the device I talked about in the "Space Invader Extreme" game previously. It plugs right in to the SLOT-2 of your NDS. The game box above shows the device as well.

[Space Invaders Extreme] Awesome Classic!!

You really need an introduction to this game?

This game is going to be awesome. Wi-Fi battle will be supported. The music and sound effect is cool. There are also special power-ups if you manage to kill specific enemies or clear specific rounds. What more can you add to that?

Apparently the publisher of this game, Taito, can. There is a special add-on to the NDS that allows you turn a knob to move your craft across the screens. (I think this is the same add-on controller Arkanoid DS as well)

The official game site is here. Please make sure you check this out. There are tons of game play movies you can watch here. This game will be released in Japan on 02/21/2008

[Hokuto no Ken] Special Edition Comes with Special Gift

The special edition of the game will come with a special gift. Check out the picture to the left. It is a key chain imprinted with the image of Raoh's legendary horse - the "Dark King" or "Kokuoh-Go". When you press a button on the key chain, you can hear the frightening roar of the "Kokuoh-Go". It is a pretty cool gift for the fan of the manga. I have not been able to find a store that sells the special edition. Both play-asia.com and yesasia.com do not say they sell the special edition of the game. The only online store that sells it is Amazon Japan. Here is the link.

[Professor Layton] A Masterpiece Coming to US?

The "Professor Layton" series is a very smart move by game publisher level5. Right now there are so many brain teaser games on NDS. Most of them make me feel bored. So it is really a breath of fresh air when level5 combines the mini-games and puzzles with a rich story, attractive animation and great voice-overs. Oh! FYI, Maki Horikita, a really cute and famous Japanese actress, did the voice-over for "Luke", who is a student of Professor Layton and a major character in the games. Below is her picture.

The first game in the series is "Professor Layton and the Curious Village". It is coming out to a US release on 02/10/2008. The game is already out in Japan in February, 2007. It received quite a number of outstanding awards there since its release.

The game official web site is here. There is a web trial version. You can try it out by clicking here here

The name of the second game can be translated as "Professor Layton and the Devil's Box". There is no official English name yet and no known US release date. It is out in Japan in November, 2007 and it does very well on the Japanese game sales chart for a while.

The game official web site is here. There is a web trial version. You can try it out by clicking here here

From these trial versions of the games, you can see the game play is very simple. You follow the story and at certain point, a puzzle will be presented to you. You solved the puzzle and the story will continue.

The final installment of the seris cane be translated as "Professor Layton and the Final Time Travel". It is not out yet in Japan. You guys can probably check out the official "Professor Layton" site (http://www.layton.jp/index.html) from time to time to get the latest news. Here is a teaser photo for now.



Let's hope the first "Professor Layton" sell well in US so that we can get all three of them ported here.

[Dorabase] Doraemon Playing Baseball?

This game is selling pretty well in Japan during Christmas. It is based on a baseball manga featuring robotic cat playing baseball. It is a spinoff of the popular "Doraemon" comic.

The game play is actually pretty simple with the touch screen. And as in the original "Doraemon" comic, each robotic cat character has his own futuristic items he can use to help hit, throw or catch the ball. You can check out some of the items here

The game official web site is here

DS Game Sales Data in Japan

According to Famitsu, the best selling game in Japan from 12/17/2007 to 12/23/2007 is "Final Fantasy IV" with over 300,000 copies sold during that period.

Mario Party DS came in second. It is going strong and had sold a million copies already in Japan.

The Dragon Quest IV DS game dropped to the 6th on the sales chart.

At the 9th place is a baseball game based on the "Dorabase" manga. It is a spinoff of the popular "Doraemon" manga. I think I will talk about this game in my next post.

18 of the top 30 game sales spots belong to DS games while 6 belong to Wii games. 9 of the top 10 games belong to Nintendo platforms. This is pretty big.

[Kekkaishi] Another Manga Game

"Kekkaishi" is a popular manga known for its awesome fight scenes and hilarious characters. The story is about some special people called "Kekkaishi" who has power to create magical barriers that can fight off demons. And there are two major families with descendants inheriting this power. The two families are the "Sumimura" and the "Yukimura". The current "Kekkaishi" from the "Sumimura" family is Yoshimori, a 14 years old boy. And the "Kekkaishi" from the "Yukimura" family is Tokine, a 16 years old girl. Together, they helped to protect a sacred land where the demons can become powerful if they reach it.

The game is coming out at the end of February. Here is the game box.

This is an action game in which the player can control the two main characters of the manga and use them to fight off the demons. Each character has their specialties and the player can call upon one or the other in different situation to handle the enemies.

Yoshimori is much stronger. You can draw a much larger barrier to kill demons and protect yourself. Tokine is faster but weaker. She draws smaller barriers but can draw them more and faster.

Check out the scenes below. The top left button on the lower screen is for switching characters while the top right button is to use the barriers you draw to kill demons.

Actually this is already a sequel. The first "Kekkaishi" game is obviously doing quite well. It was released in May, 2007.