Genre: Tower Defense
Year: 2007
Developed by: Q-Games
Published by: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platforms: PS3, PSP, Vita, PC, Mac, Linux, Wii U
#121
Feeling Like: Dance Desire
I mentioned in Defense Grid 2 that I love Tower Defense games. Still true.
Pixel Junk Monsters has the advantage of being the first Tower Defense game that I played, in Dave R (TD)’s apartment in Halifax while we were taking a break from Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2. I was mystified – so… you don’t move? Oh, you can move. You can’t attack? Oh, you…build towers and they attack. What…like, what do we do? Oh, here come some enemies. Ah, you can upgrade your towers by…dancing on them?
The aesthetic in Pixel Junk Monsters is impossibly endearing. Everything feels quiet and muted in the most relaxing way possible. The colors are soft and the sound effects accompany the action without being a distraction. It’s a cozy, challenging game. I’ve never felt more peaceful while being stressed out at the same time.
Pixel Junk Monsters also has the great advantage of being one of the earliest games I played co-operative with Kyla.
This was in our early dating phase, but I was beyond smitten with her. I was nervous, then excited to present co-operative video games as a way to pass the time together. I was thrilled to find that she seemed to enjoy playing them as much as I did. Pixel Junk Monsters grabbed a hold of us and refused to let go.
I’m talking about playing until the sun started to come up. That magical hour where you can’t tell if you’re up very late, or super early. Every failure was merely a minor setback, which was followed by a quick strategy session. Which towers didn’t work? Which ones did? Should we upgrade towers together instead of spreading out on the map? How many Tesla towers should we build? We blew through the entire game in just a few sittings, but by the time we were done we could barely blink we were so tired. This was the precursor to Kyla refusing to let us stop binge watching a TV show if the episode ended on a cliffhanger; if there was more fun to be had, we were going to have it until we passed out. Bonus points if Chester is snuggling with us – at that point, it would take a minor earthquake to rouse us from the couch.
Even the bad guys are cute. They amble along peacefully as your adorable weapons shoot, fry, electrify and bombard them. The tone is so playful that I’m hesitant to call the game “violent”, though you are building cannons and arrows to destroy spiders and golems. Hmmm.
I can’t come up with a good reason as to why I didn’t try out Pixel Junk Monsters 2, aside from the graphics looking VERY odd. I should know by now not to judge a book by its cover. It’s been a while since Kyla and I plunged into a Tower Defense together, certainly not since we were married last year. It could be a good excuse to construct and scheme together. If it’s half as good as the original, I know we’ll be in for an amazing time.
The 500 