Touchmaster started out as a series of touch-based arcade games usually found in bars. They’ve ported over some as collections on the DS, though I’m not sure if ALL of them are from the arcade or if they made some up for the home version. I have them all on the DS, as I do like the casual puzzle fare these titles offer. Touchmaster Connect is the fourth in the series, so as I always do, here’s a rundown of all the games you can play on it!

I don’t really know much about the Touchmaster arcade games because I don’t really go to bars much at all. I’m not really a fan of most bars. First of all, I’m not much of a drinker. I just haven’t found any alcoholic beverages that taste good. Plus they’re expensive. Usually when I want something to drink, I’ll just get water. Yeah, I know, I’m a very boring person. And you know what? I’m OK with that. The other reason why I don’t frequent bars is usually they’re too dark and/or too loud. If I’m going out to a bar, I would want to see and hear people, and you really can’t do that if it’s too dark and loud.

Anyway, Touchmaster Connect is really just Touchmaster 4 on the DS; I guess they just decided to drop the numbers. I think they call it Connect because there’s an option in the game to post your high scores on Facebook and/or Twitter. If you have a DSi, you can even take your picture when you get a high score! I’m not sure why you’d want to post your high scores on Facebook and/or Twitter, but hey, that’s just me. I don’t even have a Facebook or Twitter account. I only have enough time to write reviews here and that’s it.

Anyway, here are the games you can play on Touchmaster Connect. It’s probably one of the best collections in the series, as most of the games on here I really like.

Spider Kings

I think every Touchmaster DS game has to have a version of Solitaire on it. The game touts that this is Spider Solitaire with a twist, but I don’t know what that twist is. I guess it’s that you have a time limit. That’s the one bad thing about a lot of these Touchmaster games is that since they were originally arcade titles, they have time limits so they could eat more quarters. It would’ve been nice if they took out the time limits on some of these games, but oh well.

Card Pirates

This is a simple version of the card game “Speed.” I used to play card games like this all the time during lunch in high school. Everyone always carried around a deck of cards when I was in high school. True story. Anyway, in this one, your opponent is a pirate. Arrrr! Two cards are laid face up and you have to quickly put in a card one higher or lower on top of it. You can cycle through your hand and can see five cards at a time. It’s hard because the other player is really quick! Whoever uses up their hand first, wins.

Tri-Towers

This is another Solitaire-like card game. The cards are arranged into three pyramids and you have to clear them out by taking out one card higher or lower than what is in your hand. You want to try and take out all three “towers” this way. A little bit of strategy is involved here. But it’s pretty fun, and usually I don’t like Solitaire type games.

Cattle Drive

It’s a card game even though there aren’t any cards. The ‘cards’ are hexagon shaped blocks arranged on a field, and each one has a number and color assigned to it. You have select five to clear them out. Any five will do, but you get bonus points if those five make some kind of poker hand. The backdrop has a cowboy/western theme to it.

11 Ball

I swear this one was on one of the earlier Touchmaster games, but this one has better graphics. Pool balls are arranged on a table, and you have to tap two, three, or more to add up to 11 to clear them. You get points for clearing deeper into the stack, but if you have to draw another ball, the one you had gets put back in the pile so it makes it hard to clear the whole table.

Ink Rally

Okay that‘s it for the card games. Ink Rally reminds me of the challenges in Yoshi Touch & Go and Kirby Canvas Curse. You have to draw lines to make a bouncing tire go into a goal basket. Try to collect coins along the way for extra points. Unfortunately, the wonky physics make this game pretty hard.

Sudoku6

It’s a simplified Sudoku game where you only have grids of six instead of nine. The time limit is kind of short, even on easy. Or maybe I just suck at Sudoku. The Asian guy in the background could almost be considered a racial stereotype.

Quik Match

It’s just a simple Mah-Jongg game and the tiles are easy to read numbers and colors. Only problem is the time limit is way too short to clear out the whole board, so it’s tough to get a high score for me.

Tic Tac Trivia

It’s just Tic-Tac-Toe, but in order to put your X or O on the board, you have to answer a trivia question right. There are different categories you can choose from, and if you answer your opponent’s question right, you can put another of your X’s on the board! Any empty squares after you make a three in a row gets you bonus points, too.

Super Cell Chaos

This one reminds me of the explosion combos you can make in games like Missile Command and Namco’s Grobda. One tap sends out a circular explosion, and if any germs hit it, they’ll explode in the same way, too. You have to clear out a certain number of germs this way. The only catch is that you only get one tap to do it. So making combos is the only way to go. Some germs will explode in different ways, like power-ups.

Dodge Bull

You move your little matador around the ring with the stylus and must avoid rolling balls. After a while, a bull-guy will come out and you have to avoid his charges and balls he throws at you. You get a high score for how long you survive without getting hit.

Feeding Frosty

Like Dodge Bull, you move around your snowball with the stylus and must ‘eat’ snowflakes to get bigger. Eventually you’ll get two and three snowballs stacked up, and can ‘eat’ other snowmen who are smaller and aren’t stacked as high. If a bigger snowman gets you, you lose a life. Avoid fires and collect magic hats for power-ups.

Tricky Fish

This reminds me of the mini-games where you have to shoot a can in the air multiple times and try not to let it touch the ground. Except in this game you are tapping a puffer fish to keep it in the air for points. It’s really hard!

Vinci-Ball

It’s just Arkanoid or Breakout with a Da Vinci theme. The cramped screen and large objects to break make it kind of hard, though.

Draggle Drop

Now it’s on to the color matching puzzle games! My favorite! In this game, you have to match three or more connecting dinosaur eggs of the same color so they’ll hatch and disappear for points. The controls are a lot like in Yoshi’s Cookie or Pokemon Trozei (I wish they’d make a DS version of Yoshi’s Cookie). It gets harder later in Draggle Drop when they add more colors and bigger eggs that hinder your movement.

Super Boxxi

This one reminds me of some of the other color block puzzle games in the other Touchmasters. Except this one is more fast paced. Tap on blocks of the same color to clear them. More will rise up from the bottom, and if they reach the top you lose. Try to clear out the whole board this way. It’s pretty tough, though.

Pharaoh’s 9

It’s like a strategy board game mix of Tic-Tac-Toe and checkers. Place your chips on the board alternately with the CPU, and once they’re all on, you can move them around one at a time. If you can get three of your chips in a row, you can take one of the other player’s chips. Take them all out to win. It’s very hard, though. I only won once on Easy!

Monster Madness

I think this one is one of my favorites. The rules are a lot like Super Boxxi. You have to tap same colored gravestones to clear them, and standing on each stack is a monster. You have to clear out a whole column to make the monster on top fall into an open grave. And when they’re all gone, you go onto the next level. If you run out of moves, more stones will stack up to give you another chance. But if you can clear out all the stones quickly, you’ll get bonus points. Very fun.

Boxdrop

OK, this one is actually a cleverly disguised game of Blackjack or 21. You have to stack numbers boxes into columns to add up to a certain number, but if you go over you’ll bust the scale. You can put boxes you don’t need into a recycle bin, but if it gets full you’ll have to use them. Try not to bust scales and put enough boxes into stacks to get a high score.

Coco Loco

And finally, this one is just Bejeweled, except you are matching tropical fruit instead of jewels. The music is really annoying, though. My mom LOVES this game (she has another version of this on her DS called Zoo Keeper). So I made the mistake of showing her Touchmaster Connect. I may never see my game again! Ha ha!

Anyway, those are all the games on Touchmaster Connect. Not a bad collection of casual games for only 20 bucks. That’s all for now, later! –Cary

Tags: Game Reviews