Populous is one of the most intriguing stories to have been launched in the late nineties and, going by its immense popularity, it was only natural that the story would finally end up on the Nintendo DS. The story, with its theme based on the Bullfrog god sim, virtually created a stir with its release, and paved the way for a whole new genre of strategy gaming. But what’s disheartening is that, despite the best efforts of the manufacturers, the game does not look at all at home on the handheld platform, and is only a pale shadow of what it could be.

Nevertheless, the Populous for the DS is still very much a linear god game where you are supposed to take on the mantel of one of five good elemental deities that are responsible for the well being of the town. The twist to the tale is that there is a demon who is on the threshold of building a similar community of followers on the other side of the map, and who might disrupt the serenity of your town. Your role is a bit like that of a landscaper, similar to Sim City, where a majority of your world-building efforts are confined to the levelling terrain so that worshippers become your devotees and pay due respect to you by building ever more elaborate homes. The trick here is that more houses lead to more happiness, improved health, and other benefits. You must be careful and astute enough to enhance the all-round development of your man folk as that will help you to successfully drive away the evil forces sent by the demon.

The gameplay of the game is rather solid and you have to basically maintain a balance between three tasks: while scouting through the terrain keep altering your moves so as to provide yourself the best possible building opportunities; ensure the health of the worshippers; and finally give space to the worshippers to build a divine power, called psyche energy, in their homes.

Tags for this review: ds, handheld, lite, sim

The game Sally’s Salon is inspired by the likes of Diner Dash and Burger Rush, and has Sally as the main protagonist. Sally for one has pretty humble roots, but nevertheless has big dreams in the sense that she wants to open a chain of swanky salons, hold your breath Hollywood! She has finally managed to open her first beauty salon after toiling for years through training and saving her money. Now she is determined to make her dream a reality.

The main theme of the game is to keep the customers happy and give them the haircut that they long for. You will be provided clues about how the customer is feeling about a particular haircut through their peculiar facial expressions. You however, have to be astute enough to understand the message that the expressions convey and use the same expressions to give the customers the correct haircut.

Every customer has his own set of requirements, but you can identify what they want via the bubble that appears above their head. Quite interestingly, you have to drag each customer to a specific chair with the mouse to serve their requirements. It is of utmost importance that you gratify the customers with your services as it will ultimately culminate into cash money and useful tips that will come in handy when moving through the various levels. Using cash you can improve the salon by buying new pieces of equipment like a coffee machine to brew beverages that restore hearts to customers. You can even buy uniforms for Sally which will enable her to move faster! All these factors will ultimately help Sally fulfill her desires.

One of the game’s attractive features is that it is not overly difficult and yet keeps you involved with a good dose of challenges. Moreover, once you get caught in this delicate little game time will just fly!

Tags for this review: nintendo ds lite sallys hairdressing, sim