Touchmaster
Posted August 11, 2007
Compiling over 20 mini-games together, Midway has created a DS cart that nearly everyone can get some enjoyment out of. Everything from puzzlers to word games to card games is included in Touchmaster, all faithful to the name of the game. Additionally, Midway included quite a bit of online / sharing functions that toss in a competitive level of play. The games are presented in a simple menu format, all with player setup functions listed to the side. Finding specific games takes a few tries at first glance, but soon becomes easy after several play sessions.
Gameplay:
The card games comprise about 40% of the games in Touchmaster, most of which are twists on old favorites like Solitaire and Blackjack. Triple Eleven is an interesting game that requires the player to use combinations of cards to add up to 11 to clear the board. If you cannot find a match, the board becomes more populated and the conclusion is a bit farther off. Phoenix 13 is similar to that, but tosses wild cards into the mix for longer playtime. Also, a couple standards, like FreeCell, are added in case you haven’t got enough over the last 10 years in Windows.
The puzzle games are twists on games like Tetris, Bejeweled, and Wheel of Fortune. Each clone attempts to emulate the games, but usually adds slight changes to keep the game fresh. Wheel of Fortune almost seems more like Hangman. There are zero charges for vowels nor any spinning prices; just 6 strikes until you are out. The only one that felt fresh to me was Times Square. It’s a grid-based game that tosses in some strategic thinking in order to maximize your score totals.
The skill games are the most varied of the bunch, but occasionally rely on the old standards. Games like checkers are tossed in for the younger players. There is a basketball shooting game called Hot Hoops that’s pretty entertaining and a few dice games that become addictive. For those that enjoy a jumble, Word Search will scratch that itch nicely.
Out of the entire bunch, my main source of entertainment was the Trivia Quiz. The large bank of questions will keep players coming back for more. I only wish there were more categories and a selection for age of player. For instance, the entertainment category would toss out a question about the TV show Friends then hit you with a question about an obscure 1950’s film star. Still, the Trivia game is certainly the most fun to compete with in a local player match.
Speaking of which, you will need two DS carts to utilize a local player match. Oddly, the game doesn’t support the Download Play function, which would seem right at home with this type of game. Concerning online play, there are tournaments created by Midway to compete in, but the browsing component leaves much to be desired. Tournaments cannot be player-created unfortunately. You can also upload your high scores in nearly all the games for comparison against your friends.
Graphics:
Visually, this DS title is very bland. The original menu art isn’t very detailed and the arcade game art is basically copied from each specific title. The color scheme appears ugly and obtrusive in most mini-games as well. Staring at some of the puzzlers will blur the eyes eventually. I also found the text to be too small in most of the card and word games. Games, like the Wheel of Fortune knock-off, often fell prey to a limited amount of space on the DS screen, which led to touch mistakes.
Audio:
The brief, repeating midi-tunes for each mini-game are fairly standard for a DS title. Nothing stands out as overly impressive and the sound effects for the buttons can become slightly annoying after 30 minutes of play.
Overall:
Touchmaster is definitely worth picking up around the $15 to $20 mark, but not full retail price. Folks that enjoy competing over the online leaderboards will definitely get a kick out of playing some of the mini-games over and over. There is enough variety in Touchmaster to pick up from time to time and folks of all ages can easily hop into a session with ease.
Gameplay:
The card games comprise about 40% of the games in Touchmaster, most of which are twists on old favorites like Solitaire and Blackjack. Triple Eleven is an interesting game that requires the player to use combinations of cards to add up to 11 to clear the board. If you cannot find a match, the board becomes more populated and the conclusion is a bit farther off. Phoenix 13 is similar to that, but tosses wild cards into the mix for longer playtime. Also, a couple standards, like FreeCell, are added in case you haven’t got enough over the last 10 years in Windows.
The puzzle games are twists on games like Tetris, Bejeweled, and Wheel of Fortune. Each clone attempts to emulate the games, but usually adds slight changes to keep the game fresh. Wheel of Fortune almost seems more like Hangman. There are zero charges for vowels nor any spinning prices; just 6 strikes until you are out. The only one that felt fresh to me was Times Square. It’s a grid-based game that tosses in some strategic thinking in order to maximize your score totals.
The skill games are the most varied of the bunch, but occasionally rely on the old standards. Games like checkers are tossed in for the younger players. There is a basketball shooting game called Hot Hoops that’s pretty entertaining and a few dice games that become addictive. For those that enjoy a jumble, Word Search will scratch that itch nicely.
Out of the entire bunch, my main source of entertainment was the Trivia Quiz. The large bank of questions will keep players coming back for more. I only wish there were more categories and a selection for age of player. For instance, the entertainment category would toss out a question about the TV show Friends then hit you with a question about an obscure 1950’s film star. Still, the Trivia game is certainly the most fun to compete with in a local player match.
Speaking of which, you will need two DS carts to utilize a local player match. Oddly, the game doesn’t support the Download Play function, which would seem right at home with this type of game. Concerning online play, there are tournaments created by Midway to compete in, but the browsing component leaves much to be desired. Tournaments cannot be player-created unfortunately. You can also upload your high scores in nearly all the games for comparison against your friends.
Graphics:
Visually, this DS title is very bland. The original menu art isn’t very detailed and the arcade game art is basically copied from each specific title. The color scheme appears ugly and obtrusive in most mini-games as well. Staring at some of the puzzlers will blur the eyes eventually. I also found the text to be too small in most of the card and word games. Games, like the Wheel of Fortune knock-off, often fell prey to a limited amount of space on the DS screen, which led to touch mistakes.
Audio:
The brief, repeating midi-tunes for each mini-game are fairly standard for a DS title. Nothing stands out as overly impressive and the sound effects for the buttons can become slightly annoying after 30 minutes of play.
Overall:
Touchmaster is definitely worth picking up around the $15 to $20 mark, but not full retail price. Folks that enjoy competing over the online leaderboards will definitely get a kick out of playing some of the mini-games over and over. There is enough variety in Touchmaster to pick up from time to time and folks of all ages can easily hop into a session with ease.