My latest video game column is out. Usually, console games suck up all my reporting energy but two new portable titles — Patapon for the PSP and Professor Layton and the Curious Village for the DS — made me think it’s time I turned my attention to handhelds for once.
I’ve been playing both of them over the past few days. Pataponis actually quite challenging because it’s up to you to explore the Patapon world and find the things you need to advance. Professor Layton is cute. But I’ve worked through about 1/5 of the puzzles and have yet to feel really challenged. There have only been one or two that have required me to use all three hints. Believe me, this is not attributable to me being some sort of brainiac. I just think so far the puzzles have been pretty easy.
I picked these games to write about because they are bizarre mash-ups of different gaming genres. They aren’t without their flaws, but they definitely deliver unique experiences and are worth checking out.
You can click here to see the article on the Reuters Web site, or read on below:
By Scott Hillis
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Bizarre little creatures that look like walking eyeballs and a puzzle-cracking professor may not seem to have much in common at first glance.
But they are the stars of two new vastly different hand-held video games that are winning praise for the ways they combine different genres to produce quirky new experiences.
“Patapon”, out this week for Sony’s PSP, is being hailed as one of the system’s best games. It is perhaps best characterized as a rhythm-based, side-scrolling real-time strategy game.
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