Platform: Nintendo DS
ERSB: E
Genre: Puzzle
Number of Players: 1
Developer: Neko Entertainment
Release Date: November 4th , 2007

There is a moment in every person’s life when they need to disconnect. They need to remove themselves from the stress of their work, the yelling of their kids or the shrill voice of their parent. Sometimes you just need to unplug and relax. Well, that is the goal of Zenses: Ocean. To plug into to a relaxing environment. The question is, will I be relaxed after playing or just frustrated?

The game graphics are without harsh, bright and grading colors. Instead all the colors through the game are soft blues, tans, browns, pinks and reds. The colors contribute to the relaxation goal of the game. This is also true about the effects. There is no harsh bangs, flashing lights or other distracting game affects. Instead there are smooth, clear lines with simple yet charming affects. The graphics were smooth, and flowed really well from more animation to the other. There was virtually no lag or loading between graphics, and I never had it crash or glitch out on me.

Zenses is a pure touch screen game. Not once did I have to use the directional pad or the a,b,y,x buttoms in order to control or play any of the games. Instead I would just have to tap on the screen and follow the directions. Each mini game has clearly written instructions on what you had to do, and what was required of the player. This cut down on the amount of random tapping that would come with a stylus game. The down side with the controls is how well the touch screen responds to the stylus. Sometimes I would have to tap very hard, while other times I would slightly graze the screen and would make a massive mistake with the puzzle. This did become very frustrating when having to be very specific in order or direction.

The sounds are simple, yet fitting. The soothing sounds of waves, slight pops of bubbles, a slight ping when a bubble was burst. None of the “Fire in the hole!” “Clang” or “Boom” that has come with games today. The music sets the tone of the game, and really drive home the purpose of the relaxation. Not once during the whole reviewing process or listening to others play it in the same room, did I get annoyed and agitated with the sounds. One critic about the music, a variety of didn’t ocean sounds would have enhanced the effect. After a while the sounds did become a little monotonous and I would have enjoyed a little variety.

In total there are six mini games. Turtle Turn, Pearl Diver, Wave Breaker, Ztones, Shell Twirl, and Hot Spot. Each game has a differently objective.
At the beginning of each game a screen of the games objective and controls are described to you. There is no time limit to read these instructions, and the screen will only go ahead when you hit the screen. After you have done so, each game begins.

The objections for each game are as follows:

Turtle Turn: This game would fit well into the basic flip game motif. You have to hit turtle shells in a specific way in a set number of turns, so that your shells look like the shells in the image above.

Pearl Diver : I believe this game was the most addicting of the set. You have a set amount of turns to make all the pearls on the screen go away. You can make triangles, and trap pearls in or just tap one away in order to make more room. As the levels get harder more and more pearls are on your screen with more colors.

Wave Breaker : A simple memory game is what wave breaker is. Shells are placed along the beach and the waves come and cover them up. You have to uncover the shells that the computer requests by tapping on them. As mentioned above with the fickleness of the controls, I found that during this game they would uncover the wrong pile of sand, in turn loosing the game.

Ztones: The best way for me to describe this game is to compare it to Bejeweled. You have to match together two-three like stones in rows. The stones then disappeared and the stone move along in the rows. The objective is to have no stones left on your screen. As the levels get harder more and more different types of stones are added.

Shell Twirl: You have to place similar color shells next to each other in order to create combos while it moves around in a swirling whirlpool. The more combos you create the higher your score.

Hot Spot: This game is a timed animated puzzle. The pieces of the plankton is moving and spinning around and you have to attach the pieces back together. There are a number of different plankton puzzles, and as the levels get harder and harder, the game really isn’t getting harder. Sometimes they move around, and sometimes the time limit is shorter, but I never failed the game once. Also this game also had the touchy controls that I have mentioned above.

I believe it is a testament to any game when BOTH of my parents when I visited them wanted to try out the game and played it for over a 15 minute time span. The game was easy enough for them to use and understand (My mother just started playing games as of this year with her DS), and really got them enthralled. What was even more interesting was the fact they picked it up again to play and beat either the high score the other had set, or myself and my sister had set. This is a testament to replay value. When people who are not interested in games, or how good the graphics are or quality, come back to the game because they think “It’s kind of fun.”  I did find that while it’s fun, in some games each higher level made the game harder, and in others  it really wasn’t getting more difficult, and I didn’t want to keep playing some levels because I already had all the in game achievements completed, and the highest score.

With all that said, I did play the game to write the review and then never picked it back up again. I did go back to see if it was enjoyable as the first time I played it and found that it was fun for a while, but I didn’t want to spend too much time at it. It would be great for fans of casual games, or people looking for a quick fix on a commute or short trip.

All in all Zenses is a good game from the puzzle genre. It has a large variety of puzzles,  a fantastic atmosphere, can really calm a person down.  This game is worth buying if you’re into puzzle games and it’s a pass if you’re not. Retail for 19.99- 24.99.