Nice Package! (Hatena Satena, GameBoy Advance)

This obscure, Japan-only puzzler from 2001 was one of eight titles I included in my recent post full of #HudsonMonth game recommendations.

Why do I think people should play it? For starters, its gameplay is similar to that of the ever-popular Picross.

Also, the visuals and audio offered up by Hatena Satena are light years beyond what you'll see and hear in your typical Picross title. Need proof? Check out this "let's play" video of the game.



Another reason I think folks should play--or at least buy a copy of--Hatena Satena is that its packaging is stunning.

I'm especially impressed with its box cover, which can be seen in the photo above. My personal favorite element of it: the logo, which is so heavily stylized that it's nearly impossible to decipher.



I also like the cover's depictions of Hatena Satena's adorable, Super Milk Chan-esque cast of characters, of course--the part-alien, part-octopus protagonist, in particular.

Speaking of whom, his or her smiling face also can be found on the game's cartridge label.

The snapshot above offers a glimpse of Hatena Satena's instruction manual. Unfortunately, the majority of this booklet is filled with text and screenshots--much like the manual that was produced for a similarly overlooked (and sadly Japan-only) GameBoy Advance puzzler called Guru Logi Champ.



The back of Guru Logi Champ's box is a bit of a bummer, I've got to say. Why its artists and designers couldn't have continued the front cover's brilliance on the reverse is beyond me. I guess someone at Hudson decided the space had to be covered with explanatory text instead.

Have any of you played Hatena Satena? If so, please share your thoughts on it in the comments section of this post. Also feel free to share your impressions of Guru Logi Champ, if you've played that GBA puzzler.

See also: previous 'Nice Package!' posts about Guru Logi Champ and Hitsuji no Kimochi

Oh, look, yet another reason to buy one of those PINKxWHITE 3DS LLs at some point

With the reason in question being that Nintendo of Japan just added Club Nintendo Picross to its heaping pile of awesome Club Nintendo rewards.

Club Nintendo Picross, which apparently features Nintendo-focused puzzles of up to 80-by-80 squares in size, isn't a boxed game like previous Club Nintendo-only releases Game & Watch Collection and Tingle's Balloon Fight; rather, it's a digital title that can be downloaded to your 3DS or 3DS LL should you have 80 Club Nintendo points that you're willing to hand over.



Granted, it's more than possible that Club Nintendo Picross will be localized and offered to North American Club Nintendo members at some point, but I'd really like to make use of some of the Japanese Club Nintendo points I surely could obtain should I finally register all of the Japanese DS games I purchased over the last few years.

Also, I'd really like to own one of those sweet-looking PINKxWHITE 3DS LLs (sorry, I can't type that without using capital letters), so just let me believe it'll remain a Japan-only title, OK?

The Great Gaymathon Review #43: Guru Logi Champ (GameBoy Advance)

Game: Guru Logi Champ

Genre: Puzzle

Developer: Compile

Publisher: Compile

System: GameBoy Advance

Release date: 2001

If you want to know why I bought a copy of this game, check out its cover art (above). OK, so that wasn't the only reason I picked it up, but it was a rather prominent one. A few others: it was developed by the folks at Compile (makers of Aleste, Gunhead, Puyo Puyo and more) and it has garnered rave reviews over the years. Oh, and it's portable--as is the case with pretty much all of my favorite puzzlers.

So, has it lived up to expectations, despite the fact that I dropped a pretty penny on it? Definitely. That's mainly due to the fact that it differs from just about every other puzzle game I've ever played. If I had to name one it's similar to, I'd go with Picross. Even that isn't the greatest comparison, though, as while the two titles are alike in some ways, they're otherwise quite unique.

For instance, each "stage" in Guru Logi Champ starts with a semi-finished image. The player's job, then, is to complete the image by shooting blocks (from a cannon, using the GBA's A button) up into the play area. That's easier said than done, though, because: 1) you're given just enough blocks to complete a given stage and 2) blocks continue to slide across the play area until they run into another block. The good news: blocks can be sucked back into the aforementioned cannon by pressing the GBA's B button. Also, the play area can be rotated using the system's shoulder buttons.

Anyway, as is often the case with such games, it all begins rather easily before ramping up to a level of difficulty I like to refer to as "brain-breaking." Thankfully, it never crosses the line to "game-breaking"--as in, you get so frustrated you want to yank the cartridge from the system and smash it to smithereens.

In fact, it's nearly always completely enjoyable, due in no small part to Guru Logi Champ's wonderfully silly (and colorful) characters and graphics, which includes (in the game's single-player story mode) a number of hilarious intermissions, and its everything-but-the-kitchen-sink soundtrack, which includes both tropically-inflected and hip-hop-esque tunes.

See also: Previous 'Great Gaymathon' posts