Gunpey (Nintendo DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

Ever since Tetris most developers/publishers have had a stab at producing a puzzler and in today's 'improve your brain' games market we seem to have yet another attempt every single week. There've been a few notable attempts but no one has come close to matching the sheer 'pick up and play' addictiveness which arguably sold the original Gameboy all those years ago. Gunpey was originally release for the Wonderswan in Japan but as far as the West is concerned this is a whole new game. So has the music themed puzzler got what it takes?

Gameplay

As with any good puzzler, Gumpey's main objective is simple. You are faced with a blank grid that slowly fills up with boxes, each of which contain lines that point in various directions. Connect the lines across the screen and they'll disappear (awarding you points) and so on. Create more complicated patterns and more points are given although you must also keep on top of things because, like Tetris, if you allow the grid to completely fill up, it's game over. One final point about those boxes: although they're not fixed, they can be moved up and down, you can't move them from side to side and this is where the challenge lies as you'll nearly always be scrambling for that elusive missing piece as your grid fills up.

Right then, that's the concept but as with all puzzlers there are a handful of ways you can attack the action in order to expand the gameplay possibilities. Most gamers are likely to head to Frontier Mode as this allows you to challenge a whole range of characters that become available once beaten. It's also the best way to unlock other tunes and samples for your Sound Box (which we'll come to later). Attack Mode challenges you to see how many lines you can explode in 30, 60 or 90 seconds whilst Endless Mode is pretty self explanatory. There's also a Multiplayer Mode which is always more fun and, surprisingly, it only requires a single copy of the game to enjoy. We should expect this with puzzlers now but there are still too many publishers/developers who seem happy for the general public to purchase two copies just to enjoy this feature. From our point of view, if Namco can do it with Ridge Racer, over two years ago, anyone can.

Controls

Gumpey is one of the growing number of games which is far more enjoyable with a touch screen interface so why not head down to the 'Dual Screen Use' section to see what's going on.

Graphics

Visually, you are either going to like Gumpey or hate it and the developers have gone for what can best be described as an 'excitable' design. This includes almost every color under the sun and a variety of characters of different sizes and dynamic poses. The characters themselves are a little on the imaginative side too with everything from Giant Penguins to DJ Bulldogs thrown into the mix. All this comes at a price though and while the majority of puzzlers keep things simple, for reasons of clarity, the opposite is true here so the 'game board' is sometimes difficult to see leading to obvious frustrations.

Sound

Although audio is at the core of Gunpey's gameplay it's not all good. Some of the tracks are far too loud and overbearing to be enjoyable. In addition to the games' soundtrack you'll also find the Sound Box, which allows you to manipulate a variety of sounds and pitches to create your own compositions. It's a little limited and the results can't be used in the game itself but it is a welcome addition to the package.

Dual screen

Amazingly this is also available on the PSP but without a touch screen you can imagine the problems with the gameplay. Stick to the stylus as the gameplay is far more intuitive and, ultimately, entertaining.

Final comments

Gumpey is without a doubt a refreshing change to the average puzzler. The musical angle and generous amount of unlockables give the gameplay great scope. Unfortunately it is all still based on the premise that you in some way find Gunpey addictive enough to put in the hours of gaming required to become proficient. The single cart multiplayer and downloadable demo will certainly get the more uncertain gamers on board but it's still all a question of how long they'll stay.

Pro: Stylized Visuals and Great Sound, Single Cart Multiplayer.
Con: Not To Everyone's Taste, Occasional Ambiguous Visuals.
Final score: 6.1

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