Though the DS typically thrives from innovative ideas, sometimes it’s not a bad idea to follow lead on previously established success. Take Neopets Puzzle Adventure for example. After witnessing the success of 2007’s Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, Capcom has followed suit and provided their own Othello based version of the game using the widely known Neopets license. This highly popular Nickelodeon based website phenomenon has kids everywhere obsessed with these virtual pets and what better way to ensure a great licensed videogame translation than to hand it over to none other than the masters of licensed gaming themselves (Capcom). In their early days, as many of you may already know, Capcom could take any popular license and create an incredible game out of it. Can they achieve this success with Neopets Puzzle Adventure and can they add appeal to a broader audience than just the typical Neopets fan or preteen?
Same old Song & Dance…?
I won’t lie, I fell in love with Puzzle Quest when it hit the DS in March of 2007 and until I played through the game’s fairly lengthy story mode (as well as nearly maxed out my character), I was determined to play the game nonstop. Like crack in a cartridge, Puzzle Quest rarely got old and portable form only increased the addiction. Aspects such as level gaining, stat increases, mounts (which increased stats and moves) and a wide variety of spells, skills, and items to equip (to go with three completely different classes) were what made the game so addicting. The story itself wasn’t phenomenal but the puzzle based RPG gameplay was so addictive it was borderline illegal.
Neopets provides a similar style of gameplay to Puzzle Quest but all in all, it seems to lack in many of the areas of depth that made Puzzle Quest such a great game. Similar to Puzzle Quest, players must explore an overworld map by tapping areas on the touch screen and once a destination was reached, a sequence of the story would follow along with a battle. However, Neopets is a lot less open ended and player controlled. In Puzzle Quest, you can choose to embark on a number of different quests by visiting different areas of the map and run into enemies along the way. In Neopets, the gameplay seems a little more “on rails” where you generally are forced to move from point to point with no open ended exploration of the map. This kind of defeats the whole purpose of the map aside from an aesthetic viewpoint.
Battles in Neopets are on par with the difficulty/presentation/mechanics of Puzzle Quest, only in this game you’ll be playing Othello rather than Bejewelled. One different mechanic from the board game are shockwaves that occur if you flip a large amount of tiles in one turn (which flip a random piece on the board and cause any subsequent pieces to flip as well). This was a cool feature but I felt like it was a little harsh when your opponent caught multiple shockwaves in one turn, completely flipping the tides of the battle and forcing you to lose.
Another different mechanic is the use of “Petpets”, which are creatures that effectively double as spells in the battle. You can equip a certain amount of these before each battle based on your character’s certain level and they have the potential to do a number of things to the board such as flip, remove, place and protect tiles. The only other difference is that the shape of the board may change from level to level.
Now, these battles are admittedly fun but still lacking compared to the deep experience we saw in Puzzle Quest. More complicated game pieces such as attack skulls, coins and mana added more flare to the battles and spells were actually used at a price (mana) in order to ad even further strategy to the experience. Also, when levels were gained in Puzzle Quest, players could not only learn spells but also add points to different elemental attributes in order to improve the effectiveness of their spells. Equipment was also a great addition to Puzzle Quest as you could embark on quests just to find rare items or buy things from shops around the map.
All in all, the depth of Puzzle Quest was what made it so appealing and though Neopets severely lacks in this category (probably not to overcomplicate the game for kids) the core experience is still intact. However, after playing through the moderately long 1-player game of around 150 or so missions, the game really gives you no reason to continue playing (on that file or by starting a new game) whereas with Puzzle Quest, players can start a new game with a different class of character, or just continue to level up their character to increase his stats.
Fan-Fare
Fans of the Neopets franchise (a typically younger audience) should be very happy with what they see in the game, despite the lack in depth: featuring multiple Neopets to choose from along with the ability to name them is a nice start for any Neopet fan. Also, as you play through the adventure, you’ll be speaking with other Neopets to help you realize your part in saving the world. Players can also unlock special codes to enter online if they so choose. The more you play through the game, the more codes you’ll unlock, which gives players even more of an incentive to finish it (assuming you love Neopets).
One aspect of Neopets that stands out from the experience you’ll have with Puzzle Quest are the mini games you’ll play along the way. These games are great additions to the gameplay and are not gimmicky as one might expect. Games such as a shooting gallery, a memory game, and SameGame (Bubble Breaker) are all fun to play and do not feel forced in the slightest. Also, the multiplayer experience seems a little more enjoyable specifically because Othello is more of a multiplayer based game. So, if you’ve got a friend to play with, this is also an enjoyable (though simplistic) multiplayer experience.
As for the presentation, the game actually is presented very nicely featuring authentic looking Neopet caricatures and well polished graphics throughout. The sound is also surprisingly mystical at times and often enjoyable. As for the controls, Neopets successfully uses a well polished control scheme that is entirely touch screen based. Though I can’t really say I know much about Neopets, I can say that I was impressed with the level of polish in this game’s presentation and controls.
Overall
Neopets is essentially a Puzzle Quest for kids: It’s not complicated in the slightest but it still provides the same level of polish in the game’s overall presentation and gameplay as Puzzle Quest. If you’re a Neopets fan or are still prepubescent, this game is a great addition to your library. However, older fans of this style of gameplay should go with Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords for its amount of depth and replay value.