USA Today writes: "Players eager to make a purchase using their free Nintendo points should try Art Style: AQUIA (500 points), a clever puzzle game with a bright underwater aesthetic.
The goal is to help a scuba diver descend to the ocean floor before running out of air. To do this, players must match three or more blocks horizontally or vertically. The faster blocks are cleared, the quicker the diver scurries to the bottom. When the diver's air supply runs low, the top screen begins fading to black."
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.
