The Best of DSiWare - Part 11: Games beginning with 'L'

A certain very well known and well loved franchise features among the five games I've selected under 'L' but, more importantly, this week sees a trio of hidden gems unearthed.

Quick recap: To facilitate this exercise I played every game made available on the DSiWare service and, once I weeded out the shovelware, I have divided the remainder into four categories:

Hidden Gems: Games you've probably never heard of that are utterly brilliant
Well Known & Wonderful: Still gems, still potentially brilliant, but perhaps not quite so 'hidden'
Honourable Mentions: Those games that are good, but lack the real spark required to fit into one of the top two categories
Also Rans: Not bad enough to be completely ignored, but probably not quite good enough to warrant higher status

Two caveats: Firstly, I don't enjoy RPGs. Like, at all. So you won't see any of those at any point. And secondly it's very hard to define 'Hidden Gem' on DSiWare, as the service itself was never hugely popular, so please excuse a potential few miss-categorisations along the way!

Hidden Gems

Libera Wing

It's very noticeable, playing through all these games, that the era in which the DSiWare service launched was also the apex of the Tower Defence trend. Fortunately, most of those I've come across so far have attempted to bring some little twist to proceedings, none more so than Libera Wing.

Each level in this nicely presented, if occasionally scrappy, game starts with a tower offence section where you must use your abilities to guide your ship and a small group of drones to the goal. The little nano-ships proceed to the goal automatically, so it's up you to ensure they arrive safely by using various weapons; a virus that will freeze all turrets for a short period, for example, is the first to come to mind.

Once you've successfully guided your small squadron to their target, the second, more traditional tower defence, part of the game begins. In this part, the ships you previously escorted are used to power-up turrets as the enemy surges to re-take the base you just invaded. Truthfully, this feels less special than the inverted approach of the opening, which is to be expected really, but the whole cycle taken together is pretty creative and, more importantly, a lot of fun to play.

The scrappyness I mentioned earlier comes from the comic style story sections that take place between levels. These are not of particularly high quality and feature regular grammatical errors. Artwork, too, is repeated and reused a little too often.

But, for me, this kind of thing is expected in a true hidden gem. The imperfections add to the charm and the original, entertaining gameplay takes care of the rest.

Looksley's Line Up

Good Feel are a company with a real flair for the visual. Developers of Kirby's Epic Yarn and Yoshi's Woolly World, along with the exceptional and oft forgotten 'Wario Land: Shake It!', they always bring a strong, consistent aesthetic to their work. 

With Looksley's Line Up (AKA the much less snappy: "Tales in a Box: Hidden shapes in perspective!") they not only bring their usual visual flair, but additionally make it a genuine part of the experience.

Guided by the titular Looksley, a white rabbit of the usual Alice in Wonderland temperament, with the use of some rudimentary (and lets be honest: Sometimes a little janky) face tracking technology, the object of the game is to move the DSi around and change the angle through which the paper-craft-esque dioramas are viewed.
In doing so, you reveal hidden words and letters. Each level has several to find and you can't progress until they have been discovered.

It sounds incredibly simple and in concept it is, but thanks to some wonderfully devious placement and the later introduction of moving elements, I have no doubt that this game will keep you entertained far beyond what you would expect after completing the first level.

Between the surprising level of challenge, the attractive design, and the brilliant concept, this is a simple game that is nevertheless very easy to recommend. Make sure you get that camera calibration right before you start though, because on a technical front the game's ambition very nearly outstrips the hardware's abilities.

Link n Launch

There's a couple of games from way back in the glory days when physical distribution was the norm, that mocked the player for getting stuck-in before reading the manual. Unirally on the SNES springs to mind as one that said something along the lines of 'So you tried to play the game, failed, and now your back here' on the first page of the booklet.

To be clear, Link n Launch doesn't do this. For starters there's no manual, obviously, but I was reminded of these jibes when I fired up the game, completely ignored the tutorial levels, and immediately regretted it.

Link n Launch isn't really that complicated, it's just that it's slightly more complex than you'd expect from something that initially appears to be a Pipemania clone.

It's an easy assumption to jump to. There are pipes and you do need to manipulate tiles to complete a route. If you're not familiar with Pipemania you may know this kind of thing as the hacking mini-game from Bioshock. However, in this game, the similaritys pretty much end with the pipes.

In Link n Launch you have to link fuel lines to a rocket in order to launch it up the screen. Most of the pipework is in place for you and can't be manipulated but there are gaps that need to be bridged/connected before the craft can take off.

All the tiles required to achieve this are on the play area to begin with. They are coloured green and must be 'rolled' or flipped into position to direct fuel to at least one of the three boosters on the ship.
This rolling and flipping action adds a devious level of challenge to the game, but it doesn't end there. Feeding just the right or left booster will launch you diagonally to one side, allowing you direct yourself to special areas and steer away from the edges of the play field.

There's upgrades and other gameplay enhancements too, and everything combines with the lo-fi design aesthetic to make this ostensibly very simple puzzler incredibly charming and addictive.

Also Rans

The Legend of Zelda Four Swords Anniversary Edition

So here's a confession that might surprise/annoy you: I've never enjoyed a Zelda game. I've tried almost all of them over the years but, I think primarily because my love of games is born from the arcade experience, I've not got very far in any of them.

The tone of the Zelda series is also something that I don't enjoy. There feels like a constant undercurrent of twee-ness in all of those I've played. I don't think it's any coincidence that the Zelda title I enjoyed the most was Minish Cap, a game developed outside the usual influences by Capcom.

Now, when it comes to the consumption of media, objectivity is, obviously, a complete myth. But with that said, it would be ridiculous of me to ignore the enormously high regard in which the series is held. It doesn't change my opinion but, on the off chance that the reader didn't already know about this enhanced port of the GBA game, I wanted to at least draw it to their attention.

Let's Create Pottery

An attempt to make a 'Zen Bound' or 'Bonsai Barber' style relaxing puzzle game that falls foul of some buy/sell mechanics that don't really work and inconsistent register of stylus activity.

There's a lot of snobbery about this kind of game that I refuse to buy into, but there's no getting away from the distinct lack of entertainment or quality on offer here.

We'll be hitting the alphabetical halfway-mark next time as 'M' is next up. I feel like 'L' is a tough act to follow, so I look forward to seeing what it has to offer.

Until then, thanks for reading, I'd love your thoughts and feedback in the comments.

See you next time.