Gaia's Moon (Nintendo DS) Review

By Adam Riley 01.01.2015

Review for Gaia

Almost everyone knows about the phenomenon that was Flappy Bird on smartphones, with the craze sweeping the world and quickly fizzling out after the developer struggled to cope with the fame that was associated with such a big hit. Spanish developer, EnjoyUp Games, has been behind many a great release across numerous Nintendo formats, but how does Gaia's Moon, a Nintendo DSiWare title that came out before Flappy Bird, shape up in today's market?

Cubed3 is a big fan of EnjoyUp's titles, but unfortunately Gaia's Moon does not fall into the category of much-loved games, instead proving to be a highly frustrating experience at the start and only really justifies its low entry fee of £1.79 (or 200 Nintendo Points as it used to be when the DSiWare service was still going) to the more ardent fans of the reactive action genre.

The basic idea is that any button is pressed to keep the main character up in the air, avoiding the oncoming obstacles. The more a button is hit, the higher the character goes, and leaving the controls alone lets him drop swiftly. As it states in the game, the idea is that something strange is causing changes to the balance of energy in Gaia that is necessary to prolong life, therefore, to discover the cause, players take on the role of Atreyu and his magical cane, Milo, whose help is required for flying across each stage to its finale.

Screenshot for Gaia's Moon on Nintendo DS

There is 'existential chaos' that ensues - so the game states - which is pretty much random skulls entering the screen from the right side of the screen as Atreyu (automatically) floats from left-to-right whilst sat upon Milo, and sharks leaping from the clouds below, along with unusual rock formations that seem to appear from nowhere to dislodge the lead from his ride, and a wide array of other dangers thrown in further into the game. It is indeed a more colourful and intricate iteration of the Flappy Bird formula, so if that appeals, this will also. As an added twist, Milo's energy depletes as each stage progresses, with a few energy orbs dotted around for collection to prolong flight power, usually in hard to reach areas of the screen.

With three levels of difficulty, some actual purpose to the events at hand (save the world? Okay!), and enough substance to provide a desire to reach the end of a stage no matter how many attempts it takes, although Gaia's Moon may seem frustrating at first try, it can very quickly become a decent time waster with practice, and soon enough the hours will be passing by quicker than imagined.

Screenshot for Gaia's Moon on Nintendo DS

Cubed3 Rating

6/10
Rated 6 out of 10

Good

Enjoyable reaction-based fun, Gaia's Moon is cheap and cheerful, but with other, more addictive bite-sized efforts on the 3DS eShop currently, sadly EnjoyUp's Flappy Bird-esque game will likely only appeal when all other options have been exhausted. Attempts at including a story to draw players in, as well as a same-system two-player mode, definitely do help to augment the experience, and the developer deserves credit for trying to flesh out such a basic concept. All-in-all, this is one to keep in mind as a back-up for a rainy day.

Developer

EnjoyUp

Publisher

EnjoyUp

Genre

Adventure

Players

2

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  6/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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