The Nintendo DS’s library is a recipient of a huge amount of shovelware. As an unfortunate side effect, many good games get lost in the shuffle because their publishers and developers had inadequate funding behind them. Such is the case of THQ’s Desktop Tower Defense. Basically a DS version of the online flash game of the same name, DTD is your basic tower defense game with a few twists. Like in other games of its kind, DTD has you building and upgrading towers to prevent waves of creeps from crossing the screen. You can even control how fast the waves approach for an increased challenge. You can customize the look and animations of each of the creeps and towers, and share your creations with other friends. There are several different modes you can play, adding variety. While the interface isn’t always as intuitive as one would like it to be, it gets the job done, and for a stylus driven interface, you could do worse. While the pixel-based editing tools aren’t exactly LittleBigPlanet, they help you put your own personal touch on the game.

If you’re into casual games, this is a good addition to your DS lineup. Although it would have been better suited as a DSIware title, it’s still a fun game at a good price. You can also play the flash-based game online for free here.

Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

It’s happened to all of us. You’re playing your favorite game, and you’ve thought of ways you could make it better. Maybe you were playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance and you were wondering what the game would be like if you could bring DC or Capcom characters to battle alongside the X-men and Avengers. Maybe you had an idea for a kick-ass new track for Forza or Gran Turismo. Maybe you wondered what would happen if you put Starcraft’s Zerg against Warcraft’s Scourge. Or maybe you wondered what your favorite WWII shooter would be like with Zombie Nazis (oh wait a sec, Treyarch already thought of that one). Ever since the beginnings of PC gaming, it’s been increasingly easier to turn games on their heads. Thanks to the success of games such as LittleBigPlanet, the console gaming market is able to get in too (well, without the need for warranty-voiding console hacking at least). These past several years have seen an increase in games which utilize user-created content, almost to the point where the entire game is driven by it.
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Normally I wouldn’t feature a game this mainstream in Lost Classics, but during my 16-Bit Powet Alphabet article, I opened with an image of Contra 3, despite the fact that I mentioned nothing about it during the article. Oh yeah, this game is just plain awesome too.
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Hmm, the kids seem to be into these tower defense games, and everyone loves zombies. Why not put the two together? Popcap, the king of casual gaming, has done just that with Plants vs Zombies. You play as a homeowner, and hordes of the undead are invading your lawn. All that stands between you and the undead holocaust is your garden and several lawnmowers.. These aren’t any ordinary plants however, these are sentient plants with combat abilities to fight off the zombie horde. You stockpile sunlight so you can have enough money to place your seeds. Each level you gain access to new plants, so you’re learning how to play the game as you move along. Your neighbor Crazy Dave helps you out by selling you seeds at his store, and you can take part in bonus games such as wall-nut zombie bowling. There are several unlockable modes, some of which parody Popcap’s other games such as Bejeweled.
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Since Iron Man returns to theaters this week, this week’s $20 GOTW will take a look back at one of old shellhead’s finest moments. A mysterious orb threatens all life on both the Marvel and Capcom universes, so Ruby Heart unites heroes from the two universes in order to help save it. However, fights keep breaking out, and now that teams are made up of three, things are more chaotic than ever. Marvel Vs Capcom 2 would be the last game Capcom did utilizing the Marvel license, and they decided to go out with a bang. MVC 2 features Iron Man, his buddy War Machine, and several of his fellow Avengers as part of the 50+ fighters on hand.
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Since Iron Man 2 hit theaters this past weekend, this special Maximum Letdown will take a look at one of his misadventures. This disc from Acclaim teamed old shellhead up with Valiant comic’s legendary hero X-O MANOWAR!!! No doubt many of you poweteers are jumping in complete joy over the fact that they finally bought Manowar to video game form. Okay, not really. Many of you are more likely asking just who in the hell is X-O Manowar. X-O Manowar, a.k.a Aric of Dacia is a former Visigoth tribesman who ended up in the modern era after escaping from an alien spaceship and stealing a suit of armor. He ends up teaming with Iron Man to stop Baron Zemo and Mistress Crescendo from stealing fragments of the cosmic cube. It’s crossover madness, but sadly the game isn’t nearly up to snuff. The graphics are horrid, the levels are generic, and the two heroes are interchangeable as they have the same punch, kick, and laser attacks. Supposedly there was some heavy CGI work employed, but the characters are so small and the backdrops are nondescript, it’s hard to tell where. Of course, being that this was an Acclaim game, the play controls are clunky. In short, while this crossover video game received a lot of hype, it failed to live up to any of it. Thankfully, Capcom would do the crossover thing right a few years down the line.

On a side note, isn’t it cold that the SNES and Genesis were left out the loop? Even the Game Boy and Game Gear got a port.

Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

The sixteen bit era of video games is considered by many to be the bridge between the past and modern eras of video gaming, and there were two kings of the ring: Nintendo’s Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega’s Genesis. Though there were more powerful systems that sprang up around the time, it would be these two that would outlast and outperform all of them, thanks to their accessibility. This was due not only to the technologies that the two systems boasted under the hood, but also with the library of games that were released for the two. It also gave rise to some of those most heated fanboy wars of our hobby. If you think system wars are bad now, you should have seen how bad it was during the 16-bit days, especially when system manufacturers were openly taking pot shots at each other. However, it was pointless for fanboys of both systems to argue with each other, as both systems not only had an equally impressive library of games (even if many multiplatform releases on the Sega Genesis tended to have inferior audio and visual quality to their SNES counterparts), but they outlasted and outsold the more powerful systems that sprang up around the same period. Click below to take a look back at one of gaming’s most exciting eras.
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Before Halo had players hosting 16-player LAN parties, the Bomberman games had players huddled on a couch trying to blow each other to kingdom come. Though the Bomberman series has been bought to just about every system in existence, Super Bomberman 2 is the one I love the most, if for no other reason than it was the first Bomberman game that I played. The single player game revolves around the title character being captured and having to fight his way to freedom and save the universe. You play through maze-like worlds battling enemies and gaining items. It’s fun, but the real package is the multiplayer mode. Up to 4 players can compete on one of 10 maps specifically designed for multiplayer. Like any good Bomberman game, you’ll have hours of fun trying to trap each other and catch each other in explosions.

If you’re a true gamer, you owe it to yourself to play at least one Bomberman game (the horrid Bomberman Zero notwithstanding). If not SBM2, then one of the other games in the series.