Line Rider Freestyle

So now it’s on the Nintendo DS, what’s it like?  It should never be said that Line Rider Freestyle for the Nintendo DS has the worst cut-scenes ever (they’re not bad or anything) but they’re trying too hard to be cute and don’t match the style or audience of the main game.  But that, along with the rest of the functional yet ugly interface, is all that should be said against it.

This is much more than the web- and iPhone-based iterations before it; it’s got puzzles!  To be a tad more verbose about it, this takes the workings of previous versions and applies them to zones within preset levels.  Within these new levels, there are coins you have to collect to complete the level (red ones), coins you need to collect to unlock bonus items (yellow ones), the zones in which you can affect change (green boxes) and a finish line.  This isn’t the only mode: there’s Freestyle and Puzzle Mode too (with content sharing available), but it’s by far the most substantial and, more importantly, the most fun.

The puzzling does get pretty fiendish, which is why, before the halfway mark rolls around, most players will be aching for a means to save replays of their best solutions.  Sure, progress is saved automatically, but being able to say “Hey look at this!” would have dramatically improved the social aspect of the game.

How about the controls?  It has to be said they are overly awkward to start with (making the toolbox icon look like a close button is not a good idea).  This is due to the controls being retooled for a smaller screen, so everything that took a single click or tap on previous versions, now takes two:  For example, changing line type requires you tap the line type icon to open the palette before you can choose a line type.  That said, little to no thought will be given to it before much playing is done, and won’t bother anyone who hasn’t played previous versions.

So, there’s a lot of fun to be had here and the value is good enough for around 50 puzzles (it can be had for £12.73).  The overall feel here is that of a puzzle game with the original Line Rider thrown in.  In other words, any feelings of paying for something that used to be free are blown away by the new stuff.