Review: DotMan (DSiware)

Atari 2600's Dodg'em

There is something to be said for mobile gaming and how it is a perfect place for quick, pick-up-and-play games.  Especially when they are new and improved, updated ”copies” of earlier successful games and genres we all remember playing back at the dawn of the industry.  Take Dot Man which was just released this past week in the Nintendo DSiware Store.  If you remember enjoying games like Pac-Man and even more similarly, Atari 2600′s Dodg’em then you will almost be guaranteed to enjoy this new release from Agetec.  

In Dot Man you are racing around a big selection of varying, pre-defined mazesdriving over all the coins.  Of course, your red convertible isn’t the only car on the screen.  In Dot Man, you are being chased by the police, police that consist of hot, anime babes.  Ya, that’s what I said.  In the first couple mazes it starts out simple enough with your car and a single police car all going the same direction.  Later stages add multiple cop cars and start you off in opposite directions which really ramps up the difficulty level fast.  As you drive you cannot change direction (although a U-turn might be possible in later levels) only the lanes you traverse and once you perfect this lane change you will be drifting past multiple lanes at the last minute to outsmart the oncoming cops.   To help you along is an accelerator which you will be pressing a lot to keep you one step ahead of the law.  Occasional power-ups are laid around the mazes including a power booster which really increases your speed, but sometimes to your detriment as you find yourself overtaking and ultimately running into a cop by accident.  This was obviously a planned mechanic and really makes you have to think fast and act accordingly to change lanes at a moments notice.  Throughout the games later stages you will see other obstacles and power ups that you have to really discover on your own as there are no instructions or a manual offering up this information anywhere.   

You have three “lives” in Dot Man.  As the police get closer to you their siren turns on and really turns this game into a frantic twitch game that is getting harder to find these days.   The first time you get caught you are given a warning followed by a misdemeanor and finally a felony and the game ends.  The game does retain high scores making this a hard game to put down in lieu of continuing to better your score.  If you grew up on simple games like Pac-Man and Dodg’em then you could do far worse than to pick this game up for $1.99 as it is one of the better $2 games in the DSi library.  If you pick this up come back in here and tell us all what you think!