Art Style: Aquia may look like another Tetris/Bejeweled clone at first, but dive under the surface of this DSiWare aquatic-themed game and you'll find a puzzler with its own unique take on the genre that can be as fun and addictive as its well-known progenitors. Unfortunately, it's not all smooth sailing, given that Aquia's punishing timer mechanic saps a lot of what makes puzzle games so enjoyable, resulting in a game that doesn't build on its strong foundations.
The Good:
* Good twist on block-matching puzzle mechanic
* Different block shapes add plenty of replay value
The Bad:
* Timer system makes it too tough to recover if you fall behind
* Lacklustre presentation
Four new games are available for Club Nintendo members to spend their points on. Highlighting the bunch is the SNES classic, Super Mario RPG.
Gaming Target examines Nintendo's Art Style series, the latest attempt at bringing experimental and avant-garde game design to the downloadable realm. From the article:
"Nintendo is a company not above resting on its laurels. As games continue to rise in cost, new and unproven intellectual properties are the first games to get dropped. So it should come as no surprise that the company making the most profit is content to use its established brands for all they are worth in the console space. The relatively new downloadable game realm, on the other hand, is slightly different. Familiar faces still do well but with lower consequences for failure, even a company as conservative as Nintendo can afford to take some chances. Enter their newest series: Art Style, cheap experimental puzzles games for your internet-enabled Nintendo systems."
AQUITE is reminiscent of the underwater music game Electroplankton and has some kind of surreal feeling about it. Underneath this is a solid, though not ground-breaking, puzzle game. It won't last for ages but it is aquite nice experience while it lasts.
