Populous DS

[biosc1]

Well, I went out and got it. Nostalgic feelings got the better of me...

It's not actually a bad game, it's actually very similar to the original...well, maybe closer to Populous II. Many of the reviews stated that the on screen real estate was too small...they were right. It certainly feels cramped.

As for how it plays...surprisingly well actually. It has a very good interface, I never had trouble raising or lowering land (you grab the spot and pull up or down) and double tap to select powers or eject citizens from houses.

After playing through 10 levels so far, I have to admit that the glow wears off...it really does get repetitive. I know there are more challenges ahead, but it hard to slog on.

I think this game really falls into the pick up and polish off a world then put it down for a bit type gameplay. It's mindless and relatively fun. I think I just overplayed it as a youth and all that time spent playing it has come back to haunt me because it's the exact same game.

I bought it for $25...it's probably only worth $10-$15.

[Purple Santa]

This one originally was going to be a buy for me. But the fall releases got the better of me and bought more than I usually do. Still going to rent this but my list of "after semester" gaming is growing beyond anything reasonable...I wouldn't mind buying it from GF for suggested price though...

[biosc1]

For $10-$15, it would be a nice time waster. I really did feel cramped on the screen.

You may want to look into Simcity Creator that just came out. I traded Populous in for that and it's much better. I played some the other night, but wasn't sold, then played some more last night and it really started to get it's hooks into me.

[GrenMag]

Thanks for the heads-up. I've been locked into Civ:Rev on my DS for the last few months and I'm finally looking for something to replace it. I was thinking about Populous but I think I'll look elsewhere. I'll check out SimCity Creator. Got a brief synopsis/comparison to the other SimCity releases?

[Panthera]

I've been playing Anno 1701 on DS for my city-building fix and it is wonderful. It's less than $20 if you can find it now.

[crazyD]

www.playitreviewit.com

[GrenMag]

Funny - Couldn't find anything on either SimCity Creator or Anno 1701 over on PiRi...

[biosc1]

Thanks for the heads-up. I've been locked into Civ:Rev on my DS for the last few months and I'm finally looking for something to replace it. I was thinking about Populous but I think I'll look elsewhere. I'll check out SimCity Creator. Got a brief synopsis/comparison to the other SimCity releases?

Ah...Civ:Rev...I feel like I'm cheating on it every time I put a different game into my ds :o

I haven't played the other Sim games on the ds, so it's hard to compare. To me, it plays sort of like a cross of Sim 1 and Sim 2000. I really haven't played enough to really make much of a review yet.

Edit: Okay, played another hour of this game last night...I don't think I can safely recommend Simcity Creator...it's sloooooow...as in you have no real control over the time. Lots and lots of waiting going on as you try and up the population to unlock something else.

I will try the Freeplay mode later because it may just be the objective game is not for me.