GTA: Chinatown Wars for the DS

I'm usually not too crazy about the GTA games (I think they're kind of repetitive) but man, this new one for the DS is a great game. I picked it up last night and I can hardly put it down. It bumped BANGAIO SPIRITS out of the DS, which I thought wasn't going to happen for months. (HIGHLY recommend that one if you're a total masochist, BTW).

It's really kind of arcade-y and more like GTA 1 or 2, just with the whole sandbox/persistent world thing from 3 on. The drug trade mechanic is really fun- it's basically a pick-up-and-deliver thing with fluctuating market prices and demand. Plus, having all of your money tied up in a duffle bag full of coke while you're on the run from the cops adds a high stakes element to the chases.

And the chases are great- you have to try to actually beat the cops, force them to crash and so on. There's less detail overall, but the essentials are all there.

There's a lot of little activities too that are all handled with the stylus- making molotov cocktails, disarming bombs, hot-wiring cars, etc.- they're definitely novelty, but they're fun and so far, not irritating.

It's really surprising because it feels completely full-featured and "complete" in a way that I didn't expect. Plus, the ability to play it in bite-sized chunks and just put the DS on sleep is pretty sweet.

So far I think it's one of the best DS games I've played.

I just read the review over at Ars Technica . As noted in the blog, the DS is just kicking my wallet's ass lately.

I actually wanted to follow up with you in re your DS experience so far--sounds like that WIZARDS QUEST went to a good home and you got digital entertainment mainlined.

I haven't even cracked the plastic on CHRONO TRIGGER and I'm looking at MARIO KART DS, PUZZLE QUEST: GALACTRIX, PEGGLE: DUAL SHOT, MOON, GTA: CHINATOWN WARS--all the while playing LOCK'S QUEST and MARVEL TRADING CARD GAME. I'll easily be the most entertained guy in the poor house.

I'm pretty convinced that the DS is the best console on the market right now, believe it or not. I'd much rather play the games I have on it than anything on the Wii or the other ones out there- it's the perfect mix of classicaly style games, innovative elements, casual-friendly gameplay (with hardcore trappings), and charm.

I'm just really surprised at the quality of some of these games...I think being an "old school" gamer makes me appreciate it more than somebody who's all up into 360/PS3 stuff. The best DS games make feel like I did playing SNES games a long time ago.

I've traded a lot of Wii games and a couple of DS stuff I got in trade to get more DS stuff...this is what I have:

- GTA: CHINATOWN WARS- must buy
- All three CASTLEVANIA titles (haven't played PORTRAIT OF RUIN yet, but the other two were almost as good as SYMPHONY OF NIGHT)
- BANGAIO SPIRITS (totally hardcore nutso Treasure shooter with a casual game format- totally brilliant and only $15)
- MARIO KART DS (just great)
- THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU (bizarro Square J-pop/youth culture RPG- may be brilliant, only halfway through it- you get rewarded for NOT playing it for a while)
- ADVANCE WARS: DUAL STRIKE (great, obviously)
- ELITE BEAT AGENTS (the Chicago song with the dead dad animation is worth the price of admission alone)
- NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. (It's SMB, alright, and a good one at that)
- PROFESSOR LAYTON (very cool, but hurts my brains)
- PHANTOM HOURGLASS (looks great, played about 4 hours of it and got GTA)
- ANIMAL CROSSING (barely turned it on)
- MARIO & LUIGI: PARTNERS IN TIME (watched the intro)

Next purchase is going to be CHRONO TRIGGER. I'll probably get that PEGGLE: DUAL SHOT soon, even though I have the PC version. HENRY HATSWORTH looks pretty great too. GALCTRIX, I'm going to get the PC version because the DS version is supposedly really slow.

Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume and Suikoden Tierkreis both come out this week and look great.

Michael Barnes wrote:

I'm pretty convinced that the DS is the best console on the market right now, believe it or not. I'd much rather play the games I have on it than anything on the Wii or the other ones out there- it's the perfect mix of classicaly style games, innovative elements, casual-friendly gameplay (with hardcore trappings), and charm.

That's my thoughts on the system as well. There are some games out there for the other systems that I do enjoy but pound per pound, dollar per dollar, I enjoy what is being pumped out for the DS. By far and away I've logged more hours onto the DS than any other system. Plus I'm an Atlus fan and it seems that the most innovative and unique games that they put out are even more so on the DS.

LvT

Thanks for the heads up Michael et al. This is my ONLY consol, and I like what I've seen, which isnt much. Didnt really like Phantom Hourglass that much though... story line's just kidna boring.

What I'm looking forward to: Infinite Space

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_space

LordVonTush, you must be happier than a pig in shit. Atlus is making slow sweet love to this platform. This is their RPG release schedule for the DS through June 2009: LEGACY OF YS: BOOKS 1 & 2, THE DARK SPIRE, SUPER ROBOT TAISEN OG SAGA ENDLESS FRONTIER*, KNIGHTS IN THE NIGHTMARE, DEVIL SUMMONER 2: RAIDOU KUZUNOA VS. KING ABADDON**, DEVIL SURVIVOR.

Not to mention, LUMINOUS ARC 2, DISGAEA, IZUNA 2, ETRIAN ODYSSEY 2, SUMMON KNIGHT: TWIN AGE, and all the rest. It's a good time to like Japanese RPGs and have a DS.

Ska_baron, that game reminds me of ESCAPE VELOCITY with better fighting. I'm interested. DAMN--there it goes again!


* best game title of the year, hands down.
** second place!

Damn it Jeb! I try to avoid looking at games for the DS because whenever I do a list of about 6-12 titles always appear...And of course now I've hit Atlus' site and add more to that list.

By the way, I've just seen the best Genre for a game.
Game: Dokapon Journey
Genre: Friendship Destroying RPG

LvT

Wow, INFINITE SPACE looks awesome.

Michael Barnes wrote:

Wow, INFINITE SPACE looks awesome.

I know. Now, it just better BE awesome.

Or else.

You know, I swore of consoles many moons ago because they're bloody money pits. it's just this freaking DS is doing a really good job of pulling me back in. GTA 1&2 rank amongst my favorite video games of all time and Chinatown Wars looks pretty cool-- not to mention all of the other titles you guys mentioned.

Whats's the multiplayer sitiuation like on the DS?

I haven't really messed with it much...I bought some Merman meat from somebody's shop in ORDER OF ECCLESIA, but that's really it. GTA has some MP options, haven't looked at them but I know there's like street racing and stuff you can do.

Havn't touched my DS since i stopped catching the train.

I've duked it out with randoms in ZELDA: PHANTOM HOURGLASS--that was entertaining. Hmm. I actually did this while on the john*, so in a way, it's even more impressive. I'm looking forward to some MARVEL TCG gaming once I have a decent enough collection of cards.
What I really like about the DS gaming is that it's pretty painless. Get on a WiFi network and... there you go--you're gaming. A lot of the DS-to-DS gaming is good too--a number of titles let you multiplayer off the one card. Some even have options for both, like NEW SUPER MARIO BROS, which lets you send a small chase game using one just the one card or full-blown duke it out old school if you both have cards.

This is a solid piece of hardware.

If you don't have one yet, and are willing to forgo playing GB Advance carts, you may want to wait for the DSi, which is like DS++.

*BTW--my DS has poop on it, so keep your hands off.

had a bunch of fun on the DS, but I get my old-school gaming fix via emulators on the PSP now+puzzle quest. there really is only room for one of the hand-helds for me.