99 Seconds Review: Lacking In Areas

99 Seconds Review: Lacking In Areas

99 Seconds
Nintendo DSiWare/eShop
EnjoyUp Games

99 Seconds is the follow up title to 99 Bullets and this time around you will be controlling that time while dodging numerous block patterns. While playing the game you will be able to slow, stop and even rewind time to avoid running into those blocks. However, once your time is up you will have to dodge everything without those abilities. There are icons that appear that will add an additional 10 seconds to the clock and you can also collect point icons as well. The main goal is to rack up as high of a score as you possibly can – It’s that simple. There are three difficulty levels to choose from. The hardest is played at a much faster pace making it much more difficult. There is only one mode but each time you start over it will be a slightly different beginning as the blocks that come at you are random throughout the game.

The gameplay is fairly addictive and can be a lot of fun as well as a good challenge. I like the ability to slow things down when things get tight. Also, the number of different patterns that come at you are fun to dodge and avoid. This is one of those arcade games that can be addicting and have you continuously playing for a better high score. However, one of my major gripes with this title, something that kills any game that is based on high scores, is that there is no online leaderboard. Now the game is fun and I will enjoy trying to beat my own times, but that will last for only so long. If I could see my friends on the leaderboards and be able to tell when someone has passed me, I am the type of person that would be all over this type of game once again to get my high score back.

99 Seconds is available for $1.99 making it a very affordable game for your DSi/3DS collection and it’s an easy game to pick up and play for a few minutes at a time. I enjoyed the style and found it to be interesting and fun but I think you will only be playing it for so long. For some people it might be a game that you play for just an hour and never touch again. The competition could have been more exciting with the online leaderboards which would have given people a reason to play for a longer period of time. Both sound and visuals are very uninteresting and don’t add to the gameplay experience which was a bit of a disappointment. Would I blame you for picking up this title? Absolutely not, but don’t expect it to keep you entertained for too long.

Score: 5/10

Additional comment: I just want to put this out there. I would be interested in a sequel to 99 Seconds specifically for the Nintendo 3DS with 3D visuals. Given the type of game that it is, if they where to add impressive 3D visuals to this game, it would add more entertainment. You could probably come up with even more interesting patterns that would look great on the 3DS. Add a good soundtrack as well as online leaderboards and you will have a highly entertaining 3DS title. I would love to see this happen!