Handheld
(DS) Gunpey DS
By Ryan Newman
Nov 22, 2006, 7 :28 am

Designed by Gunpei Yokoi, the man behind the Game Boy, Gunpey DS is an enhanced update of the WonderSwan original. As one of the first puzzlers to try to integrate music into its design, it stands as a mark for the future of the genre. This slightly revamped edition sports support for the stylus, as well as the original method of play using the directional pad and buttons, which happens to be the same control scheme of the PlayStation Portable edition. It’s a nice touch, offering a greater variety of play for a less-than-stellar puzzler.

Ugh. I guess some people feel that puzzle games need more pizzazz, making for a brightly colored, over-the-top faux Old West look mixed with outer space and music-style trappings. I don’t really see why, and it’s enough to give you a headache.

For all of this, all the bright pinks and greens, dogs wearing gold chains and cowgirls wailing on guitars, what, exactly, are you supposed to do? You’re supposed to connect lines on a grid, creating a solid line from left to right, moving the line panels vertically within columns: all the eye-searing backgrounds and cutscenes and overly poppy music for that. There’s a bit more to it, of course. The lines come in four types: diagonal up, diagonal down, angle up, and angle down. You use your stylus or the directional pad and buttons to shift the lines vertically within their column on the grid all while new lines are summoned by you or automatically appear from the bottom up. The second the lines touch the top of the screen, you lose.

There is a bit in the packaging about playing to the music and how doing so will make your playing the game seem “as if it’s a musical instrument!” No, I didn’t really get that from the game; I did garner a new appreciation for the DS’ handy volume button though. The mentioning of music on the box is a bit of a stretch, considering that, aside from the characters’ styles being based on genres of music, the gameplay itself isn’t dependent on keeping up with beats or tones. There are some separate musical features though, including the ability to take sounds from stages you have competed in and edit them together in Sound Sets.  You can then use Patternizer to create musical patterns utilizing the creations you edited together or by selecting pre-edited patterns. The sound editing portion is a pretty thorough package for what it is, but why it’s in here is beyond me.

The game definitely doesn’t skimp on modes, that’s for sure. Aside from the sound editing features, there are a variety of actual gameplay modes. Encompassing all modes are two selectable primary rules: Original and Break. In Original, empty panels are left once they have been cleared; in Break, the panels above cleared panels fall down to fill the space. When playing in Break, Chain moves are made possible by a line falling down, opening up an opportunity for a new line to be created once a line has been formed and begins to explode. The explosion that takes place on a connected line also gives you time to adjust pieces below it or to try to fit more pieces on it, which, if connected in time, will count as one giant piece which will garner you more points and possibly a special attack on an enemy.

The special attacks are done by clearing a certain number of lines and the level of the attack is determined by the number of lines cleared: if you clear 14-15 panels, you activate the Slot Machine, causing your opponent’s panel types to change; oddly enough, clearing 16-17 panels enacts No Touching, disabling the stylus and forcing your opponent to play the game how it is played on the PSP, with the directional pad and shoulder buttons; and so on. Trying to pull off these special attacks makes a hectic game all the more so and really requires some quick thinking and planning.

There will be ample opportunities to unleash the special attacks as you will be taken to the frontier to face off against various challengers. By beating characters along the frontier you get to unlock new characters, stages, and sound sets. You avoid the obnoxious characters (a dog that’s a rapper, a cat that’s a jazz musician, a hacker into techno, etc.) you’ll encounter by playing solo, but you don’t earn anything that way; it’s a tough tradeoff.  There is also Endless Mode, which is a survival mode, a Time Attack Mode (clear as many lines as you can in a certain amount of time), a Stage Attack Mode (set panel speeds and try to clear as many as possible to win the level), and a Double Screen Mode. Double Screen Mode is one of the more unique modes in that it actually isn’t so much a mode as it is a way of playing – both Endless and Time Attack can be played in DSM – which involves playing two screens at once and requiring you to go back and forth between them by hitting the shoulder buttons. You can also send a demo to a friend to compete with a character you can actually show disdain for in person.

There is also one more mode entirely devoid of any real purpose: G-Note’s Gallery. Throughout the game your victories will also unlock moves for G-Note, a small purple 8-bit character, to perform. Once in the Gallery, you place pieces on a small grid for him to interact with on the top screen. Along with the pieces are also icons representing moves for him to perform, whether it’s jumping or blowing bubbles, and having him do them as he moseys about. G-Note also appears in Endless Mode and Time Attack Mode, walking around Lemmings-like on your lines. Yeah, I don’t know why either.

Overall: 6.5/10

In sessions with controlled volume, Gunpey DS provides a chaotic and involving experience. It just didn’t grab me like a good puzzle title should, though. Aside from the thorough editing features, the superficial music aspect did nothing for me, and I found the wacky presentation to be borderline obnoxious.