Introduction: In this 'action-puzzler', monsters from outer space are attacking our planet and it's your task to repel the invaders using a specially designed 'Bakudan Ball' weapon that fires blobs of colour at the alien creatures descending space-invader like down the screen. Unfortunately the game never really delivers and you'll be losing interest pretty rapidly.

GamePlay: Monster Bomber is a simple game to play. The aim is to destroy the oncoming monsters by either hitting them with a matching colour blob, or knocking them backwards with a powered up blob of a different colour - if ultimately a matching colour alien is hit then all monsters involved in the collision are destroyed. If you hit an alien of the wrong colour with a non-powered up ball, it can mutate into another monster instead of being zapped.

There are two game modes, one non-interactive tutorial and a DS download mode where up to 4 players can play using one game card.

Scenario mode starts you at the bottom of an inverted pyramid with a choice of two paths at each level. One path is usually to defeat a set number of monsters or to score a certain number of chains, ('normal' stages) while the other may be to hit monsters with a limited set of shots in a sort of puzzle level (a 'mission' stage). Often though, the two options are identical, which smacks of sloppy programming to me.

I also found the 'mission' stage rather annoying as I found it difficult to aim to the required accuracy. The alien you need to hit is often mostly hidden behind a shielding wall & so you have to either be very accurate or somehow bounce the ball off surrounding walls to hit it. It may have just been me, but I found targeting to this level of accuracy annoyingly hard. You are given a maximum number of misses allowed - e.g. two - hit that limit and you'll have to start again.

The chain challenges are also highly frustrating - because the little monsters wander fairly randomly about the screen it is nigh on impossible to actually plan a particular chain. This is fine normally, but in this mode if it says you need to get a chain of three two times, then it has to be a chain of exactly three. And because you'll rarely be able to set that up, you'll basically just fire away until out of the blue you get the required chain.

Get to the top of the pyramid and the credits roll - well done you've defeated the enemy! Its time to start at the bottom of the pyramid again & try a different route. Quite frankly there isn't really enough variety in the game to make me want to do that more than a couple of times.
Control: Control is entirely using the stylus and works pretty well. Select a bomb from the palette of up to five colours at the bottom of the screen, drag it up to the launch area and release it with a flick of the stylus in any direction. Alternatively hold the blob in the launch area in order to charge it up and it then has the power to knock the monsters back up the screen, allowing chains of them to get wiped out.

Control: In game menus are easy to use but there seems to be an awful lot of confirmation required throughout the process - leading to a build up of impatience as you click though. There are also a number of instances where a button-like image appears that I tried to select but it turned not to be selectable.

Graphics: The five different monster types are nicely done in a cutesy style, but the cartoon style backgrounds are rather poor. They represent different areas on Earth - such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, New York etc but to me they were done in style clashed with the in-game action and it all seemed a bit messy. The menu screens are a little bland but other than that are OK. Oddly, although the levels appear to be set in Earth cities, the map that accompanies the menu bears no resemblance to Earth itself.

Sound & Music: The music is well done & suits the game style, with several different tunes that cycle around. I was happy to leave it playing during the game and it never felt too repetitive. There is also an option to change the active tune by tapping a button on the bottom right of the screen - this is a nice touch. Sound effects are fine; nothing out of the ordinary, but adequately done.

Dual Screen Use: The game uses the two screens adequately enough with the bottom screen used for selecting from the menu and preparing the bombs for launch. The top screen holds the rather odd little map and the target area of descending aliens. As mentioned earlier I did find accurately targeting the top screen a little tricky.

Final Comments: I'm afraid Monster Bomber never really did it for me. It's a reasonably well done game, but certainly lacks long term appeal and the gameplay doesn't quite hit the spot. OK for a quick blast but nothing more.

Pro: Good use of the stylus, colourful, ok sound.
Con: Annoying modes and repetitive gameplay with little scope for skilled play.
Final Score: 5.0

Reviewed by: Douglas Andrews