In line with the "third pillar" scheme, Nintendo has released a new line of games - this isn't the "Touch" Generation, this is the "Bit" Generation - games meant to invoke the spirits of games past. They're all minimalist and sleek, priced at ¥2,000 (about $20), and designed to look great on the micro.
I've been playing dotstream, which is a brilliant 2D (well 1D?) racer - you race coloured lines on a black background from left to right, dodging obstacles to form a track. It has overtones of a fully fledged racing game, subtle hints that remind you of everything Extreme-G and friends wanted to be (but without being just another Wipeout wannabe). It feels like a slimmed down Unirally due to the side-on element, and yet is somehow totally fresh (and refreshing). It's hard enough in a way F-Zero is - just hard enough that you can get good enough with a little effort to do what was previously impossible. I'm enjoying this a tonne, but (as far as I can tell) the omission of multiplayer is practically unforgivable.
The other two released, Boundish and Dialhex haven't captured me as much. Boundish amounts to Pong on steroids (and is very good at it, looking spiffy and including a mode called Human League of all things), and Dialhex is a puzzle game which is really quite good - it involves rearranging triangles into hexagons in a crazy addictive way - but they both pale into insignificance compared to how much fun I'm having with Dotstream. The music in all of them is pretty cool in a very gameboy-pop kinda way, far better with headphones.
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