Monster House for Nintendo DS is a twin-stick-like shooter for Nintendo DS, where instead of sticks you have D-pad for movement and a touch screen for shooting. I have already played through a game with similar gameplay on the same console, Iron Man, and I said that I would've perferred actual sticks. My issue is that sometimes my shots don't align where I want them to, and I can't stare at the touch screen for too long. Yes, this game does actually show enemies on the touch screen, but it doesn't show stage hazards and objects that can block you, so you still want to focus on the top screen. Honestly, if this game wasn't on DS, it probably would've been a solid 4 star game.
With that said however, I still think it's a decent game in its own right. The game is still decently enjoyable, and the game keeps introducing new enemies, hazards and bonuses up until the very end, keeping the adventure fresh, which I appreciate. The level design is generally solid, and unlike Iron Man's big and boring landscapes, the levels take place in individual rooms. There isn't really enemy spam, yes, there are swarms of enemies, but it's more manageable especially with plentiful power-ups and it doesn't feel like you can't avoid taking damage, well most times, there are a few instances of tight spaces where you fight enemies, but for the most part the arenas are spacious. The game isn't very difficult on normal difficulty because when you take damage, your invulnerability period kills most enemies on contact, which can be used as a legit strategy. Take damage, run into enemies and take a healing item. It's the same on Hard, but I haven't really played on hard difficulty so I don't know what about the game gets harder. Even when you die, you can just reload your save file and try again, you lose in-level progress regardless and the game auto-saves after each level. You can play between three kids, where only Chowder stands out to me becaues his attack is a spray, like charged shot in GBA game but actually more useful, DJ and Jenny felt the same to me. They all have their individual health bars, and they regenerate after you choose other kid and beat a level as them, so you should switch between as you play. There are a few levels where you have to play as specific kid, and dying as them results in game over, can't replace them with another kid.
I have to compliment the game's dialogue, as some of the lines can be pretty funny. Chowder doesn't come as a huge coward like in GBA game and the team is more cooperative between one another. There are some other differences in story between DS and GBA games, such as Nebbercracker being completely absent, and you get to fight the entire house at the end... literally, it just gets up to get you and you just spray that sucker with your water gun to defeat it. Dynamite plan from GBA game makes much more sense.
The graphics are kinda decent, though while the main character models look fine, other characters are a bit more mixed. Like this guy, Lister, with his paper-thin neck and long brown sticks for arms, his model just looks bad, as if the devs didn't finish his model. There are also a few ceiling obstructions, and since the game is a top-down perspective, they can sometimes obscure view. The music is pretty decent, a few of the tracks are from GBA game (enhanced of course), but most of the tracks are original, so I don't mind occasional reuse as much. The only one technical issue I noticed is that one time the sound effects stopped playing in one level, but aside from that the game is bug-free.
If the game wasn't on DS and I was able to play it as a normal twin-stck shooter, I imagine I would've enjoyed it much more. For what it is however, it's not a bad game. There's decent variety, and the mechanics are still solid. I think I do prefer GBA game for being a cool Zelda-like with secrets and more overall content, even if that game isn't as polished, but ultimately I give DS version the same rating as GBA game: 3.5 stars. A licensed game that's decent and doesn't suck. Not bad, Monster House.
With that said however, I still think it's a decent game in its own right. The game is still decently enjoyable, and the game keeps introducing new enemies, hazards and bonuses up until the very end, keeping the adventure fresh, which I appreciate. The level design is generally solid, and unlike Iron Man's big and boring landscapes, the levels take place in individual rooms. There isn't really enemy spam, yes, there are swarms of enemies, but it's more manageable especially with plentiful power-ups and it doesn't feel like you can't avoid taking damage, well most times, there are a few instances of tight spaces where you fight enemies, but for the most part the arenas are spacious. The game isn't very difficult on normal difficulty because when you take damage, your invulnerability period kills most enemies on contact, which can be used as a legit strategy. Take damage, run into enemies and take a healing item. It's the same on Hard, but I haven't really played on hard difficulty so I don't know what about the game gets harder. Even when you die, you can just reload your save file and try again, you lose in-level progress regardless and the game auto-saves after each level. You can play between three kids, where only Chowder stands out to me becaues his attack is a spray, like charged shot in GBA game but actually more useful, DJ and Jenny felt the same to me. They all have their individual health bars, and they regenerate after you choose other kid and beat a level as them, so you should switch between as you play. There are a few levels where you have to play as specific kid, and dying as them results in game over, can't replace them with another kid.
I have to compliment the game's dialogue, as some of the lines can be pretty funny. Chowder doesn't come as a huge coward like in GBA game and the team is more cooperative between one another. There are some other differences in story between DS and GBA games, such as Nebbercracker being completely absent, and you get to fight the entire house at the end... literally, it just gets up to get you and you just spray that sucker with your water gun to defeat it. Dynamite plan from GBA game makes much more sense.
The graphics are kinda decent, though while the main character models look fine, other characters are a bit more mixed. Like this guy, Lister, with his paper-thin neck and long brown sticks for arms, his model just looks bad, as if the devs didn't finish his model. There are also a few ceiling obstructions, and since the game is a top-down perspective, they can sometimes obscure view. The music is pretty decent, a few of the tracks are from GBA game (enhanced of course), but most of the tracks are original, so I don't mind occasional reuse as much. The only one technical issue I noticed is that one time the sound effects stopped playing in one level, but aside from that the game is bug-free.
If the game wasn't on DS and I was able to play it as a normal twin-stck shooter, I imagine I would've enjoyed it much more. For what it is however, it's not a bad game. There's decent variety, and the mechanics are still solid. I think I do prefer GBA game for being a cool Zelda-like with secrets and more overall content, even if that game isn't as polished, but ultimately I give DS version the same rating as GBA game: 3.5 stars. A licensed game that's decent and doesn't suck. Not bad, Monster House.