TwiddleGeek

I’ve always written off Trackmania, but since switching over to a laptop I’ve been looking for some fun and low-spec games to populate it with. All my consoles are packed for a move, so I decided to grab the recently released TrackMania Nations Forever and give it a shot. Why not, since it’s free?

The first impressions were definitely good. I had expected some shoddy Linux-esque racing clone, but TrackMania actually looks pretty good and scales really well to my laptop’s specs. It certainly feels like a professional, fully realized title right from the first menus rather than some basement hobby project.

One of the things that threw me about TM is that, from the shots, it looks like a formula type racing game. Actually, it’s an arcade racer with crazy jumps, track suspended in midair, and a focus on speed. The best way I’ve heard it described is something like Hot Wheels, actually. In solo play, the goal is to beat set times and win medals, with increasingly difficult tracks. The cool thing is that you can race a ghost of the medal time, and also a ghost of your best time. The game even tracks your progress vs other players locally and around the world.

What I like most though is that hitting the backspace key will instantly restart the race with absolutely no delay at all. I’ve certainly had to hit it quite a few times since a single mistake in a time trial race means you’re not going to beat the goal time. If there were a delay, I’d probably lose patience with it far quicker. Haven’t tried the online play yet, but I plan on it soon. Really, for a free game, you can’t ask for much more. I’d even consider getting the full Trackmania United Forever game, but I think Nations alone has plenty to satisfy most players. It’s far better than I was expecting.

MinishooterRS Delta is a fairly new (2007) freeware shoot-em-up from Japanese developer PEPOSOFT. What amuses me about this one is that it’s presented in what I’m sure Yahtzee would call “teeny-weeny eyestrain-o-vision” at 160×120 pixels. While there are zoom options, I’m sure deep in some internal .ini file the game registers that you wussed out.

Seriously though, aside from the tiny, tiny resolution hook, the game is just fun and surprisingly lengthy. Several hidden stages are offered, tons of bosses and a boss mode, and even lots of hidden ships to unlock. There’s no real gameplay gimmicks here, this is a pretty straight-up Japanese shoot-em-up. Dodge the massive onslaught of bullets and shoot, shoot, shoot ’til whatever you’re up against is dead.

Though it’s in Japanese, you really don’t need any knowledge of the language to play. The menu system is in English, and the game is straight forward. Z fires, X boosts, arrow keys control. I’m a pretty big shoot-em-up fan, and MinishooterRS makes for a great distraction. Give it a try, if you like the genre.

Ever had one of them times that you meant to be doing something completely different, but got distracted by something fun? N did that to me. Like its name, it’s deceptively simple with minimalist graphics. Basically, you run your little ninja guy around the map, flipping a switch and getting to the exit before the time limit. You’ll be doing wall jumps, making flying leaps, and dodging everything from lasers to missiles.

What I really like about it is that even though it has puzzles, it focuses on being a platformer. Frankly, I get frustrated with pure puzzle games quickly. With N, rather than scratching your head trying to figure out the solution, you’ll be tested on reflexes as well as wit. The controls are pretty cool. Though it took me some getting used to, I was soon bounding around the level with ease. Apparently N+ is coming to the NDS and PSP soon, so grab the freebie now.

Source: N

Steve Taylor has came up with a fun little game called Plasma Pong. Think of it like Geometry Wars meets Pong. Rather than simply batting the ball back and forth, you emit jets of plasma from the paddle which pushes the ball toward the other side. Your opponent is doing the same however, so the battle becomes all about manipulating the fluid dynamics of the field. It’s fast paced, pretty to look at, and a decent amount of fun. The music will get on your nerves after the first play through, however.