[i]Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime[/i] falls into the category of games labelled “Charming”. It stars our favorite [i]Dragon Quest[/i] enemy, Slime, in an adventure that will steal your heart. The game is not overly difficult or deep, but the presentation and outright fun make it one of the best Nintendo DS titles to date.
The bulk of [i]Rocket Slime[/i] places you in the role of Rocket, a Slime with a mission. See, all of his friends and family were kidnapped by an evil organization called the Plob. Engaging, eh? Well, thankfully, the game is executed well. You play it from a top down perspective, ala Zelda, and most of your attacks involve hurling yourself at the enemy. Rocket can also carry items on top of his head which can be chucked for various pleasing results. [i]Rocket Slime[/i] is incredibly easy to pick up so even rookies will have a fun time with it.
When you are not adventuring around areas beating up baddies, you’re jumping in your gigantic Slime tank to do battle with the Plob’s army of tanks. Here is where [i]Rocket Slime[/i] sets itself apart from other adventure games. Every item you find in the adventure portion of the game can be sent back to town and used as ammo for your tank. Clubs, bombs, arrows; The works. You also get a crew of 3 helper characters, which can be picked from dozens of characters. There is plenty of strategy here. Tank battles are done using the same interface as when you are walking around the levels. To shoot at the enemy, you need to walk to the ammo chutes and pick up some ammo, then throw it into your cannons. What makes the battles especially intense is that both sides can walk over to the opposing tank, beat down the door, and wreak havoc. Tank battles are one way you can rescue the 100 slimes that have been captured by the Plob. Rescuing your friends results in your town coming back to its former glory, Soulblazer style.
Those who have an appreciation for 2D graphics will get a kick out of [i]Rocket Slime[/i]. Rocket and every other character is represented and painstakingly animated. A lot of the music is classic [i]Dragon Quest[/i], and I recognized many tunes from playing through [i]Dragon Quest VIII[/i] recently.
The main problem I have with [i]Rocket Slime[/i] is the difficulty. It is not a very hard game. It is fun, and absolutely engaging, but you will rarely lose a tank battle, and dying is simply a non-factor given how many hearts you have. Fortunately, [i]Rocket Slime[/i] has what may be the most entertaining multiplayer mode in wireless gaming. You are going to need multiple copies of the game, but it’s part of the fun. Each player takes their tank set up they have built up over the course of the single player game up against their friends. The difficulty not found in single player definitely comes into play when you are against a human opponent. Buy your friend a copy of this game if you have to, because if you don’t play multiplayer you are missing out on a significant portion of the game.
Well that’s it. [i]Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime[/i] is awesome. It is one of the most entertaining games in recent memory and will provide you with hours of bouncy, gooey fun. Highly recommended for both the [i]Dragon Quest[/i] fan and new players alike.
