Panzer Tactics DS

[Fintilgin]

Has anyone else picked up Panzer Tactics for the Nintendo DS? I'm only a few missions in, but it seems like a really fun Panzer General clone with a few added options like leaders and special attacks. It doesn't have the branching camapign of Panzer General, but instead has a German campagin that runs up to Stalingrad, at which point you switch to the Soviets for a while, and then finish up as the Allies.

I thought I'd mention it was out there if any of you (or your kids) have a DS.

Also, as an aside, I've noticed that there are some interesting 'old school' games like this on the DS. There's a fair amount of turn-based games, a couple 'hard-core' Wizardry style RPGs like Etrian Odyssey, and now a real hex-based war game. I guess it might be a bit of a jump, but it seems to me like the DS might be a good platform for Matrix to try and put out a few games on. I mean, they tried cell-phones, right? No, it obviously wouldn't sell millions, but if stuff like Etrian Odyssey and Panzer Tactics can be profitible on it, it might be a good way to widen the market a bit and help make some new wargamers.

[Hanal]

It sounds as if you are breezing through the game....does it have difficulty levels?

[Fintilgin]

Actually I've only gone through the tutorials, Poland, and part of Norway. Just an hour or two of playtime.

The manual describes the campaigns as being a bit like difficulty levels. You start with the Germans which is 'easy', the Russian campaign is harder, and the Allied campaign is supposed to be hardest. I gather there are about 30 missions with a few 'bonus' missions you unlock for doing really well.

Missions have bonus objectives too, like in the first mission you can just go for Warsaw, or if you capture everything else on the map you get a discount for purchasing certain kinds of units for your 'core army' for the next scenario.

Honestly, it plays, looks, and feels enough like Panzer General that I wonder if they tried to get the rights and failed.

I doubt it will provide a stiff challenge for serious wargamers, but it's fun and it's nice to see a game like this on such a 'mainstream' system. It also has a wi-fi multiplayer matching system where your DS will connect to the internet and find you an opponent automatically, though I haven't tried that yet.

[jvgfanatic]

I have the game, been playing it a bit and have made it through the first two campaign missions. It's got a few flaws but is also quite fun.

Among the games I've been playing lately on the DS (on the road for the past two weeks) are: Sangokushi Taisen DS, Daisenryaku DS, Custom Robo Arena, Front Mission DS. On the PSP I've got Disgaea, Daisenryaku Portable 2, Dungeons & Dragons Tactics and a smattering of others. I've also been writing a strategy guide for a game soon to be released on the PS2 in the US: Daisenryaku VII Exceed.

Alas, Panzer Tactics has shoved ALL of that onto the shelf cause it's owning my DS. Whee. Long gone are the days when we had to wait three to five years between turn based strategy games on consoles.

[Hanal]

Are some of the titles you mentioned only available in Japanese?

[jvgfanatic]

Sadly some of the best console strategy games are Japanese-only. Remember Uncharted Waters? There's a new version for both PSP and DS that is quite fun and Japanese only (Daikoukai Jidai IV Rota Nova). The Daisenryaku Portable and Daisenryaku DS games are Japanese only but fortunately one of the games from that series is about to be released in english, the aforementioned Daisenryaku VII Exceed. I wrote the manual for that game but only had 12 pages to work with so don't knock it if you should see it, please. It's a budget title (at $15) but has a ton of gameplay.

Another Japanese-only strategy game worth looking at (in portable, region-free form) is Mobile Suit Gundam: Giren no Yabou (sci-fi mecha).

Translating these suckers is a hobby of mine.