Candystand has taken their games away from your computer to the other gaming devices in your home. I’ve already reviewed their iPhone version of MatchMaker, but this game is from a completely different family tree.

Rating: E
Genre: Tower Defense (hence the “TD” in the name!)
Number of Players: 1
Publisher: Candystand
Cost: $3.99

BUY

There are eight maps to choose from.

Say hello to VectorTD. It is a simple (but deep!) tower defense game. You have eight maps, which get ravaged by small pixel terrorists called “Vectoids” that move from one end of the map to the other. There are seven different kinds of Vectoids, and they get stronger from wave to wave. Every Vectoid that makes it across the entire map drains one life out of you and then goes back to the beginning of the map until they’ve all been eliminated (and each vaporized Vectoid nets you a little cash, as a bonus). After defeating a wave, you get a little break (unless you turn those off, but as a tower defense newbie, I chose not to).

What’s that break for? Well, you’ve got to set up a defense somehow, right? Around the main path, you can place 11 different kinds of towers from four categories (green, red, purple and blue). Just buy the tower, and then place it. Each performs a certain attack, and you can increase its range by upgrading it, up to level 10.

Each Vectoid has a weakness, and it’s your job to determine it and buy the right kind of towers to work to your advantage. Since you get a preview of what’s coming up, this task is made pretty easy.

You also get to customize every tower by choosing what it targets. See, your towers are pretty smart. They can pick the weakest target in range and just shoot away until the HP is gone. They can pick the strongest target and weaken it. One class of towers even slows down its targets using this system, and you can get more shooting time in on individual Vectoids.

Occasionally, you also get a bonus. You can spend that bonus one of four ways. You can purchase one of two towers that increase the damage or range of the towers in its range, you can buy five more lives (remember, every Vectoid that makes it all the way through equals a lost life), and you can also up your interest rate, netting you more money after every wave.

It’s not long before you get in a groove. Spend your cash (or try skipping building for a wave to build up some cash reserves), let the Vectoids attempt to make it through your live fire course, and if they do, build some more – fast. If you fail completely, it’s okay. You can either start over completely on that map, or switch to something new. You may have to replay some maps a few times, since the action does get more and more hectic as you go on.

The music reminds me of being in a club (it’s the same as in the Flash version), and the action is in short bursts, just the way I like it. It was easy to learn, and all of the information I needed to play was available right from the start (though the instruction manual is a little difficult to get to – from what I recall, it required an analog stick press). It’s simple as a whole, but the concept has proven to be an addicting one. I’m glad that VectorTD is my first tower defense title, and I love how I can go back to it over and over again when I need a little timewaster.

Once again, the best part of Candystand selling games for other platforms is that you can try before you buy. To play the original Flash version of VectorTD, click here. In my experience with both, I know that they’re incredibly similar. The only thing that differs even slightly is the screen layout, but they made this with the PSP in mind, so that makes sense. (Doesn’t make it any more difficult to play, though.)

This tower defense title should be a joy to anyone who enjoys the genre already, but even if you’re new like I was, $3.99 is a pretty good price to find out just how much you enjoy it.

VectorTD  was provided by Candystand, and does not affect the outcome of this review.