Feature: Top 9 Hidden Gems in the Nintendo Download Market

Nintendo hasn't really been known for its "stellar" list of downloadable titles, and for good reason.  Due to the company's poor quality control (or lack thereof, really), there is an ungodly amount of shovelware clogging the likes of WiiWare, DSiWare, and eShop. 

For every one of these...

...There are about 10 of these.

And that's a shame, because amidst all of the crap, there actually are some games that are worth playing.  The following are worthwhile experiences that you can pick up for less than $10 each.

(Note: I disqualified the BIT. TRIP games from this list, because I've given them numerous tongue baths in the majority of my posts already, and I'm running out of saliva...)



 #9: Art Style: precipice (DSiWare)

Be prepared to see the words "Art Style" in this list a lot.  The quality of games churned out by this company are staggering when compared to the likes of garbage like "Family Glide Hockey," and each new installment in the series is a breath of fresh air for those looking for a solid, creative puzzle experience.

In precipice (KUBOS in EU), the player controls a little silhouette that walks around on a bunch of cubes.  When a cube is stepped on, it changes to a vibrant color.  Making a row of 5, either vertically or horizontally, results in points.  The amount of points awarded is dependent on how many rows are made on a single floor.  Once the player understands that concept, then things start to get tricky...

As the player moves around, blocks constantly drop from the sky, which both hinders the player from creating straight rows, and endangers the silhouette of being crushed.  They can be pushed and pulled to help clear a path, but only if the player acts fast enough.  As all of this is happening, the lowest level of blocks periodically fall into black abyss, making sure that the player always climbs up without looking back.

While this whole concept may sound kind of confusing, precipice is a simple, unique game that's easy to get the hang of.  Accumulating points by clearing row after row can be challenging, and there really is no time to stand around and think.  However, the entire process is both engaging and rewarding.   precipice is definitely a game that appeals to players who are looking for a genuinely unique puzzle game for 500 Nintendo points.



#8: Electroplankton: Luminarrow

Alright, so this game isn't really a game so much as it is a pleasant-sounding little app.  Sue me, I still think it's worth the measly 200 points.

Truth be told, there's an Electroplankton for everyone out there, and Luminarrow just happens to be my favorite of the bunch.  When it starts up, there are four little plankton resting on the corners of the screen.  Tapping them sets them in motion, and the music just seems to spawn out of thin air from there.  When the plankton hits an arrow, it plays a different note (depending on where the arrow is on the grid), and travels in the direction it's pointing.  Making a path for the plankton to follow can result in a unique tune almost every time the game is played.

I guess what makes this particular Electroplankton so appealing to me is the surprising amount of depth that the player can take advantage of.  Each color of plankton travels at a different speed.  Those who are musically inclined will quickly pick up the fact that the smiling little orbs create sixteenth notes, eighth notes, quarter notes, and triplets.  This allows the player to create a plethora of different rhythms, and no matter how the grid is set up, the result will always sound pleasant.

Tinkering around for a few minutes every day with this app can be surprisingly cathartic, and at a small price of 200 points, it's pretty hard to pass up.



#7: Water Warfare (WiiWare)
Quick, name an FPS game in the past 5 years that has been released with an "E" rating.

If you said Water Warfare, then you've either played the game before, of you are a presumptuous cheater and I'm not too fond of your cocky attitude.

In all honesty, I'm surprised a game like this hasn't come out sooner.  It's a simple little FPS that sacrifices gritty realism for a charming, childish aesthetic.  Water guns are used instead of actual weapons, and a player is "killed" when his or her shirt is completely covered in water.  War-torn wastelands are replaced with randomly generated playgrounds and beachfronts, which is a stark contrast with the usual brown and gray that is seen in most FPS's these days.

What I really admire is the fact that the development team (Hudson) managed picked a theme and stick with it completely.  Everything in this game revolves around water, in some way or another.  There's water machine guns, water bazookas, and water sniper rifles.  The equivalent of a grenade is actually a water balloon.  If you run out of "ammo," you have to find a source of water (drinking fountain, beach shore, actual fountain, etc.) and stand there in order to refill it.  Raincoats can be used as temporary shields.  If you run around a lot, your t-shirt will slowly dry itself.



Almost every child in existence has dreamed of having
a water gun war of this magnitude.

The game actually goes in to much more depth than I can competently explain, with tons of power-ups, game modes, and weapon variety.  Suffice it to say, Water Warfare provides everything a player could ever want out of an FPS, for a measly price of 800 points.  It has online multiplayer, split-screen multiplayer, single player challenges, and a varied enough set of maps and locations.  While the controls can be a bit tough to get used to at first, this humble little download title manages to provide a unique experience in an otherwise stagnant genre.



#6: Art Style: Cubello (WiiWare)
...Crap, this game is confusing.  Just watch the video first, before I even think about trying to explain it.

Alright, so basically, there's this mess of cubes floating in the middle of the screen called a Cubello (Cubeleo in JPN).  As a player, you have a certain stock of different colored cubes at your disposal.  Your job is to point at where you want your cubes to go, then shoot them at the Cubello.  The goal is to connect at least four of the same color together, in whatever contrived fashion you want.  Once that is accomplished, the four cubes fall off and are never seen again.  Get all of the cubes to fall of the Cubello, and you win.

Got it?

I hope so, because this game is mesmerizing as hell.  Watching the giant Cubello spin around the screen as you look for the perfect spot to shoot your cube is more engaging than you might think.  To make things worse, the whole process almost seems hypnotic, and on more than a couple occasions I found myself blanking out as I absent-mindedly shot cubes exactly where they needed to go.

Alright, it's 3:00 in the morning.
Just one more level.  I got this...

The whole process of clearing out a giant Cubello is immensely satisfying, and it's one that doesn't seem to get boring very fast.  At 600 points, you really can't go wrong with a unique title like this.



#5: Pushmo (3DS)

It's games like this that prove to me that Nintendo still has some worthwhile tricks up its sleeve.  This nifty little puzzle platformer is as addicting as it is mind-bending.  The basic premise has the player pushing and pulling sections of blocks in order to climb up to a goal at the top of the structure.  The concept is simple, but man, is Nintendo good at taking an idea and running with it.

The puzzles get downright diabolical later on, with the addition of switches and teleporting sections.  You may just be pushing and pulling blocks everywhere, but your mind will get a workout all the while.  As of right now, this is one of the few titles on the 3DS that actually makes it worthwhile to have the 3D on all the time.  The sense of depth perception that's gained from being able to look "into" the screen makes it much easier for the brain to process what's going on.

On top of the addicting "one more level" gameplay, the game also features a level creating and sharing mode that uses QR codes to download levels, allowing for practically infinite replayability.

And I'll be damned if I said that wasn't awesome sometimes.

At 500 points, you get a lot of bang for your buck with this title.  At the very least, it's original enough to warrant looking into.



#4: Pop+ Solo (DSiWare)
Finally!  A game that I can explain without making it sound overly convoluted or confusing!

In Pop+ Solo, you pop bubbles.

That's it.

And it is so. damn. addicting.

The developers at Nnooo managed to take the universal glee of popping bubbles and turn it into an even more enjoyable experience.  As one might not be able to pick up from watching a few minutes of footage, Pop+ Solo is actually a fairly in depth puzzle game.  Popping bubbles of the same color helps to build up a multiplier for points.  Smaller bubbles are worth more points, but bigger bubbles add more time to the ever present countdown clock. 

Building up a sufficient multiplier by focusing on only one color of bubble takes more concentration than one might think, and the inclusion of power-ups and penalty bubbles make things even more interesting.  There's bubbles that slow down time, which helps out with weeding out the desired colors, and there are others that explode, taking out all of the similar colored bubbles within a certain radius.  Knowing the right time to tap these bubbles is key to building up a high score.



"F*CKING BUBBLES!"

Another admirable aspect of this game the amount of variety that is pulled out of such a simple concept.  Each different mode puts a new twist on the game, forcing the player to change his or her strategy drastically.  For instance, Defend mode forces the player to pop each and every individual bubble.  If one of them passes off the screen, the game is over.  On the other side of the spectrum, Chill mode takes out the score, multiplier, timer, and everything.  You just pop bubbles, and it is damn cathartic.

This kind of variety is welcome in a game that's already addicting as hell.  500 points is a small price to pay for a game that revolves around such a primal, childhood pastime.



#3: Art Academy (DSiWare)
This isn't a game by any stretch of the imagination.  Regardless, it is probably one of the most useful (and cheapest) tools I've ever encountered that has taught me how to draw better.

(Note that this is a video of the retail version)

Make no mistake.  If you're willing to put forth the effort, you'll be able to draw or paint everything you see in that video above.  I started off like any other talentless art newbie, making stickmen and horribly disfigured animals.  After just a few hours with the app, I made this.

Those are my initials in the corner.  I made this!

This title is just brilliant in terms of teaching a hopeless person like me how to use brush strokes, pencil strokes, and color mixtures in order to make a realistic looking piece of art. 

On top of that, all of the tools are impressively accurate when used.  The brush runs out of paint and makes skid marks when used for longer strokes.  The pencil makes darker marks when the stylus is pressed harder against the screen.  There are different kinds of erasers, brushes and pencils to use for different instances and occasions, and the game's simple step-by-step instructions help to teach you all of it.

When compared to the price of formal art lessons, 800 points is a steal for those who want to make the image in their head actually appear on paper the way they want it to.



#2: Art Style: Aquia (DSiWare)
Yet another Art Style game.  At this point, it shouldn't be very surprising.

This one takes the simple "match 3" concept that is a staple to most puzzle games, and puts an added spin on it.  Instead of swapping blocks with each other, the player actually pushes blocks into the tower in the middle, resulting in pushing other blocks out of the system, to be used again.  The whole concept sounds confusing, and it's initially hard to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be swapping in and out of the tower of blocks like a pro.

And that's a good thing, because as things get more intense, a black fog slowly creeps in from the top of the screen, blocking your field of view.  The only way to slow it down is by continuously chaining together matching rows of 3's (or by connecting 3 special "air blocks" together).  Things can get pretty intense as the blackness starts to reach the bottom screen, and the player's field of vision is effectively chopped in half.

Like many of the other Art Style games, Aquia (Aquite in EU) is subtly cathartic and hypnotic.  Once again, you might find yourself going into a daze as you move your cursor in and out of the tower, matching 3's without even thinking.  The ambiance and sound effects that accompany each level are pleasant and strangely calming, even when things take a turn for the worse and your brain goes into overdrive...

For those of you who haven't played this game,
something like this is hard as hell.

Aquia is just one of those games that you keep coming back to time and time again.  It's always a fresh experience, even after it's been put away for a few months.  At 500 points, you really can't afford to pass this up.



#1: Art Style: PiCTOBiTS (DSiWare)
I've mentioned this before on my list of semi-obscure games, but this is worth mentioning again.  And again.  And again until someone else buys it.

In a bizarre, yet creative twist on puzzle games like Tetris, PiCTOBiTS (PiCTOPiCT in EU) becomes all kinds of awesome the moment you get a handle on how to play it.  Basically, there are these multicolored blocks called "bits" that are slowly falling from the top of the screen.  The player's job is to match the colors of the bits with the stock of blocks on the bottom of the screen.  Matching 4 together will clear that section of color, and slowly reveal an 8-bit picture on the top of the screen.

As all of this is going on, a vaguely familiar 8-bit chiptune plays in the background.  As more of the picture is revealed, the music slowly becomes more and more recognizable, until it finally becomes a full-fledged remix of classic songs like "Hyrule Theme" or "Bowser's Castle." 

I can't really pin down what makes this game so addicting.  Maybe it's the unique concept, and fast-paced gameplay.  Or maybe I'm just a sucker for old school throwbacks.  Perhaps it's the challenging difficulty curve later on in the game.

Personally, I think it mostly has to do with the kickass soundtrack.

There's literally nothing I can find that I dislike about this game.  Every aspect I can think of is all kinds of awesome, and I have nothing but fond memories whenever I come back to it.  500 points is all you need to get one of the best portable downloadable experiences.  So, stop wasting time and buy it already!