Globulos Party
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DSi
| Globulos Party

There just aren't enough games about pushing other people into big holes.

The act combines two of the human race's favourite things - really deep, dark pits of doom, and shoving people, Leonidas-style, into them.

Fortunately, GlobZ has come along to satisfy our pit-driven hunger with Globulos, the developer's web-based multiplayer playground of squidgey bouncing creatures and turn-based gameplay.

Not only does it provide a formidable number of pits to push each other into, but there'e a variety of other silly games to mess around with too.

Hole lotta fun

And now the GlobZ world has landed on DSiWare in the form of Globulos Party, bringing a variety of the original game modes, along with some new content to play with friends.

The core gameplay remains the same. Players are presented with an arena in which to do battle, and are given ten seconds to choose which direction to move each of their Globulos in.

The direction and power of each movement can be set via the touchscreen, indicated by stretching arrows from each Globulos.

The action for that turn then plays out, for better or for worse, with critters bouncing off the walls and each other. Once resting places have been decided, it's time to move your remaining critters once again. Play continues until one team fulfils the set mission.

There are 20 different games on offer, ranging from Arena (knock each other into a pit) to Sumo Wrestling. Each game has its own set of play areas and medals to collect.

Bit less bounce

While some of these modes are genuinely good fun, it soon becomes apparent that there are one too many clones on show.

Take Basketball, for example. Compared to Football, it really isn't that different a game - merely a skin change for the ball and goal.

A few games aren't much fun, either. Rally is a simple turn-based race around a track, while Hockey becomes rather irritating after the puck has slid behind the goal for the umpteenth time.

That's not to say there's no fun to be found. Monster mode involves frantically running away from a laser-happy creature, while Tic-Tac-Toe is a great take on the classic pencil and paper game.

Party tricks

Every game can be played against either AI-controlled opposition or a friend.

The AI opponents are a bit of a mixed bag. Set to easy, they'll throw themselves into pits and generally go in directions, which make no sense at all.

Even set to hard, they'll still make the occasional silly move. Beating the computer then becomes a case of waiting for your opponent to mess up.

Globulos Party against a friend is a lot more fun, but setting a game up can be a little tedious.

There are three play options. Firstly, two friends can play on the same system, passing it back and forth between moves. It works well enough, although the flow of play is broken up quite a bit.

If both players have a DSi and a copy of the game, you can play wirelessly. This is definitely the best option, providing smooth gameplay and allowing both players to focus.

There's also download play, enabling a player to share his copy of the game with another DSi. Unfortunately, it's incredibly slow to download and the DSi needs to be restarted every time you want to change game type. Not recommended.

But strangely, for a game which was originally playable online, the DSiWare version does not feature wi-fi play. It's a shame, as it would have boosted the game's replayability ten-fold.

Still, if you've been longing for a proper DSi multiplayer bash to play with friends in the living room, Globulos Party is the answer.

Globulos Party

Globulos Party offers great local multiplayer fun, but is a little too hit and miss as a single-player game
Score
Mike Rose
Mike Rose
An expert in the indie games scene, Mike comes to Pocket Gamer as our handheld gaming correspondent. He is the author of 250 Indie Games You Must Play.