A good game doesn’t always make a good portable
game.
Obviously, games that are being played on
the go—on a train or a subway or a...flying
stick or whatever—have a slightly different
set of standards.
They should be accessible.
They should be easy to jump into.
They should be...you know, portable.
Gaia’s Moon is all those things and more.
In fact, that’s kind of the problem with
it.
The freaking game’s so easy to jump into,
it’s kind of hard to jump back out.
Released to DSiWare in early 2012 and now
available on the eShop for the Nintendo 3DS,
Gaia’s Moon comes from EnjoyUp Games.
You may know them as the developer behind
stuff like Abyss and 99Moves...they’ve certainly
done some interesting stuff on DSiWare, but
Gaia’s Moon might be their best.
So the story is...collect the orbs.
I mean, there’s something about a disturbance
in the balance of energy or something, and
there’s existential chaos...so you play
as this little boy named Atreyu.
And you fly around on a...magic stick.
So it’s essentially Star Wars Episode Gryffindor:
The Neverending Story Strikes Back.
The Phantom...Racing Snail.
This is part of what I touched on earlier...portable
games having their own goals.
This kind of game doesn’t need some elaborate
story.
It throws you right into the gameplay, wasting
no time in introducing you to its mechanics
and getting you hooked.
And yes, you’re definitely getting hooked.
Beware, commuters...you may miss your stop.
And you don’t have a Luck Dragon to fly
you back.
Gaia’s Moon is a simple side-scrolling action
game based on momentum.
It’s so simple, in fact, that it only uses
a single button.
Hold it down, and Atreyu pulls up and gains
some elevation.
Let go, and he inspires a crappy metalcore
band.
Actually, he loses elevation, which can be
more useful.
So it’s this constant balancing of momentum.
You have to avoid obstacles and collect enough
energy to make it to the end.
So the gameplay is really tight and precise,
but what I like most about Gaia’s Moon is
the way it looks.
I mean, it’s not a stunning game, but there’s
a real charm to its style.
The sprites are nice, and the colors have
this soft, almost pastel quality.
This is a very pretty game...easily the most
attractive I’ve played from EnjoyUp.
Now, EnjoyUp games aren’t known for having
a lot of content.
And Gaia’s Moon is no different.
But it does have an interesting two-player
mode.
“Interesting” in that...it’s two players
for one DS.
One character on the bottom screen, one on
the top.
One person using a button, the other using
the d-pad.
This is exactly the kind of stuff I like to
see on DSiWare and the eShop.
Games that are not only good games, but good
portable games.
This is the kind of game that makes the minutes
in the bus, the car, the waiting room...seem
to fly by.
It’s Gaia’s Moon for the Nintendo DSi.
