Weird

Making something out of next-to-nothing

HIGH It's the pinnacle of electronic elegance.

LOW The difficulty of the extra stages verges on insanity.

WTF At only $6 for the download, it's an absurd value.

Game Description: Explore the universe like never before in Art Style: ORBIENT. Take control of gravity and antigravity to carefully maneuver your small star through 50 stages set in multiple galaxies. Collide with other stars to absorb them and make your own star expand in size, or capture the stars in your orbit and have them become your satellites. Space isn't empty though, and you'll have to avoid bumping into obstacles or getting pulled into a black hole. If you feel like relaxing while still being challenged, this is the game for you—its combination of simple controls, atmospheric sound, and unique environment make for an experience unlike any other!

Games in the Art Style series feature elegant design, polished graphics, and pick-up-and-play controls, creating an experience focused purely on fun and engaging game play.

Calling something ‘hardcore' doesn't prevent it from sucking

HIGH Having a robot for a main character is always a perk.

LOW Everything else.

WTF The utter lack of a difficulty curve: it's all just this side of infuriating.

Game Description: In this DS remake of the classic Bangai-O, you take the roles of Riki and Mami and strap into the powerful Bangai-O suit to undertake the task of catching criminals red-handed. Bangai-O Spirits provides gamers with shooter gameplay and punishing supermoves, along with strategic and tactical elements. The game also offers co-op, competitive multiplayerfor 1-4 players via local wireless, and a powerful level editor tool which allows players to edit in-game levels or create new ones from scratch.

Soul Bubbles from French developer Mekensleep is a fantastic game for the Nintendo DS that is so polished in its presentation, so balanced in its difficulty, and so clever in its gameplay design that it effortlessly sails towards the top of the handheld's library, easily the equal of (or better than) even first-party Nintendo titles themselves.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Comic Mischief

Game Description: In Soul Bubbles you are a young shaman apprentice, who is entrusted with saving lost souls and guiding them to safety. You must protect these fragile beings from the hostile and dangerous world around them, and you do this by creating protective bubbles to keep the spirits safe. Manipulate your bubbles by first drawing them, then deflating them, cutting them or joining them to other bubbles, filling them with water or gas; then escape traps, extinguish fires and avoid all the sticky or dangerous surfaces that will slow the bubbles down. The game features 8 worlds, with over 40 levels to explore which will challenge the shaman in a variety of ways and push the physics capabilities of the Nintendo DS to the max.

It's as sure as death or taxes that anyone who takes up videogaming will find themselves rooting through a bargain bin or scouring pre-owned shelves sooner or later. For those that do, few things feel as satisfying as saving hard-earned cash and getting a gem of a game at the same time.

The ultimate laid-back, chill-out experience, Arika's is another in a series of entries into the tiny, nicher-than-niche undersea exploration genre. The difference between this game and the abortive efforts that came before? It's actually good.