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Too much of a good thing.
People say thatís a bad thing, but to me, that doesnít make any sense. If something
is good, I want lots of it. I want it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I want it in
every possible color. I want her in every room of the house. And in this case, Iíll
take it on my console, my iPad andóhell, why not?óeven my Nintendo DS.
Plants vs. Zombies first sprouted in 2009 and has since released on every possible electronic
device with a screen. Thatís because Plants vs. Zombies is destined to be remembered as
one of the best games of its generation. It has that same irresistible, impossible-to-put-down
hook that has defined games like Tetris and Pac-Man in the past.
Yeah, itís that good.
A masterwork of the electronic crack developers over at PopCap Games, Plants vs. Zombies is
a very simple tower-defense game. You own a house. That house has a lawn. That lawn
has a zombie problem. Driven by the taste of brain, the undead are approaching. And
what comes next?
Well, Kevin McCallister, itís your house! You have to defend it!
Of course, as the title suggests, you do that by landscaping. You place plants in the yard,
and their natural defenses keep you safe in your house and by extension, your brain safe
in your skull. There are almost 50 different plants to discover, each with a unique ability
to aid in your quelling of the zombie threat.
If all this sounds familiar, thatís because Plants vs. Zombies is the same game on Nintendo
DS that itís always been. So the question is, how does the game hold up on Nintendoís
system? The answer is...not bad. This is far from the best version of Plants vs. Zombies,
but if the Nintendo DS is your preferred platform for portable play, this is absolutely a game
to add to your collection.
So whatís here thatís different from past versions? Well, not much. Thatís one of the
problems. If you have Plants vs. Zombies on any other platform, thereís nothing here
to make the DS version worth a purchase...aside from a few new minigames. This is more to
reach out to new players, so it has the same core game with the multiplayer modes from
the Xbox Live version.
Of course, the nice thing about Plants vs. Zombies on the Nintendo DS is that it also
supports single-card multiplayer, which is always a great and appreciated addition.
But really, the biggest problems with this version are technical. The game just doesnít
run as smoothly on the DS as it does on other platforms, so you have noticeable slowdown
during the larger zombie invasions. Itís unfortunate, because the chaotic flurries
of plant projectiles and zombie extremities are one of the gameís signature aspects...and
theyíre a lot less impressive on the Nintendo DS.
Now, issues with animations and frames may not seem that important for a game like Plants
vs. Zombies, but when you consider that the game runs perfectly and with much better graphics
on an iPhoneóand for a fraction of the costóthereís something a little sour about paying the cartridge
tax for what is basically an inferior version.
Nonetheless, if you donít have the required hardware to play any of its other versions,
buy this game immediately. After the first 20-minute play session that ends up being
an hour or two long, you can come thank me for telling you Plants vs. Zombies is worth
a purchase no matter where itís planted.