This game landed on my doormat this week, It kinda intruiged me. So i whipped out the DS and shoved in the cart….. and heres what I found …..

First impressions:

Hurry Up Hedgehog! game play dynamic is based on the popular board game Igel Ärgern (also known as Egelrace) loosely translated “Hedgehogs in a Hurry” and designed by Doris Matthäus and Frank Nestel.
The gameplay as you will see from the screenshots seems quite basic to begin with and you think to yourself “is that it?”….

BUT and thats a BIG BUT, when you start to understand the gameplay and how it works it starts to get interesting. There are different modes of play each one of them makes a great twist to the game.

Firstly you are presented with the language screen, so I chose UK(this time as i chose a different language the first time and could not understand a word i was reading)

Using the touch screen is a nice addition to the game giving it that board game feel.

Next is the player options for the game, and of course the normal help files which are not much use really, the only way to find out how to play is to play.

if you choose the ? (help) it will give you a quick runthough of how to play the game so basically a lane is selected, in which a hedghog will move forward, then you have the option to move one of your hedghogs sideways etc.

Choosing the single DS takes you into Local player mode (1 or more people can play on the same DS)

Your then confronted with the game rules screen which it quite baffling to begin with until you read the manual.

• Within the game rules we have the following options:

Top left = Stacking mode (you can stack hedghogs on the same square)

Top right = Tube Mode / Flat mode is all about the board you play on

Middle Left = Doping- the 1st to reach the goal is disqualified.

Middle right = Lane Selection

Bottom = Nominate Startup on

Next screen is the Human / AI player choice

Within this section you can setup up to 6 human / AI competitors or a mixture of both if you have some friends round.

I tend to choose all but one AI as it makes good playing

On the next screen you can choose your board theme, there are initially 6 to choose from just select one of them and move to the game screen.

Your presented with your themed board complete with holes (watch out for them)

Click the Green arrow to get underway, this will choose a lane to start from, this lane is the only lane you are able to move forward on, but you are able to move sideways on the other lanes to get to a better position.

The aim is to get at least 3 of your hedghogs to the other side of the board but the AI is quite good and you will find this hard to win.

We received a copy of Chronos Twins from our good friends over @ Oxygen Games,  firstly i thought “Oh no not another platformer” but thought i would give it the benefit of the doubt. And was i right to do so? you better keep reading to find out :).

Chronos Twins incorporates time travel as you explore two different dimensions. This is a retro side-scrolling shooter with a difference, gameplay is split onto both screens of the DS, one is the past and the other present.

First of all the opening story seemed long winded until i actually started to read it where it gives you some great background knowledge of what the actual game is about and the main storyline.

“The planet Skyla is under alien invasion from an invincible, nameless enemy. This mysterious enemy cannot be defeated due to its ability to physically exist in both the past and the present at the same time. During the invasion Nash, one of the Llhedar race inhabiting the planet, is killed and his brother Nec is chosen to defeat the enemy and avenge his brother’s death. The Llhedar race are known for their psychic powers and being persistent in completing their goals, no matter the danger involved. This is why Nec is chosen for the mission by the Wise, the sages of Skyla who have invented the Dual Time machine allowing travel to two time dimensions at once. ”

Armed with this knowledge i pushed on into the game, to begin with I played Nash, and as the text above says i got annialated by the being. After this and a few cut scenes later i’m back at it as Nash’s brother Nec, it was after this that the fun really started first of all it uses one screen at a time easy gently getting me into the game with its very easy learning curve. Then both screens, slowly easing me into using both screens simultatiously, (which is no mean feat when your used to just gaming on one screen, and of course i am a bloke and am unable to multitask )  As soon as i hit level 2 the fun started when you have to really concentrate on both screens to get anywhere in the game, i lost count of the times i lost concentration and ended up shouting at the DS in frustration, with people in the office kinda looking at me funny thinking i am insane… :)

After a while the game is unforgiving in the way that if you use continues and have only 1 life you get sent back to a far away check point and have to do all the hard section again, but to be honest is great as it brought me down a peg or two. I thought I was good at platformers but reprogramming my head to watch the same character on TWO screens simultaniously is seriously hard work.

During the game you come across various ”beings” the main first one kills off Nash, then lots of lil gelatinous “non moving” beings that fire out green maggot like creatures that chase after you, these are kinda fun when they are appearing on both screens at once forcing you to be aware of both screens. 

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I am currently on Level 6 of 15… And I am thoroughly enjoying the game, With its retro feel and fantastic gameplay.
A real big thanks goes out to Oxygen Games for giving me the privelage of playing this, lets hope that more games come out with such excellent gameplay.

Gameplay - 9/10 - Innovative fun, very intense, Two screen madness. 
Graphics - 6/10 - Nothing special but the gameplay makes up for it.
Sounds - 7/10 - Quite a nice set of retro sounds added to the playability
Overall - 8/10 - Well worth a buy, its a great concept of a game, Frustrating to the point of shouting, but the mind stretch is well worth it.