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Wedding Dash
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Graphics & Sound:
Considering the size of the DS screen, Wedding Dash actually looks really good. I first played this game on the PC and having to cram that entire game into a DS version was no easy task, but Empty Clip stepped up to the plate and cracked it out of the park. Quinn and, occasionally, Flo will be on hand to pave the way for a dream wedding for many happy couples. It's pretty easy to tell one guest from another (and this is pivotal to your success), with a few exceptions. There are two women who look a good bit alike, so sometimes I'd get confused between them, especially when you get to the later levels where guests are asking to change seats to sit next to a different guest, but aside from that, each guest was clear and recognizable.
The music is upbeat and pleasant and the sound effects are cute and do there job. You'll hear the sounds of food prep, angry grunts if you are too slow, emotional Aunt Ethel bursting into tears, drunken Uncle Ernie slurring his version of "I'm sorry" and even a barking dog from time to time. My favorite sound was the roar Bridezilla makes when you've angered too many of her guests and she starts to take it out on you. Fun stuff! |
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Gameplay:
Wedding Dash's gameplay is simple, yet maddeningly addictive. Quinn has been asked to help with planning a friend's wedding when her planner bails. Turns out she has a knack for it and the wedding planning snowball gets rolling. There are two game modes: Career Mode and Endless Reception. In Career Mode, Quinn will be tasked with some combination of planning the menu, the flowers, the honeymoon and the cake for the happy couple, based on the brief requirements and background info she is given. Sometimes these are easy, like they don't like the color yellow, but they love chocolate. Other times, you'll have to use your head a little like the request for a honeymoon at the tallest mountains in the world. You'll be given three choices for each aspect you'll be planning, like three appetizers, dinners, cakes, flower choices or honeymoon destinations. Select the correct choices and you'll be awarded $100 for each one, giving you a starting amount of up to $300. Each wedding will have a monetary Goal for Quinn and also an Expert Goal, as she will earn points for attending to the guests correctly.
Guests will arrive and request to be seated at a certain table or next to a particular person. As you progress, they'll ask to not be seated by certain folks and even still, to switch places in the middle of the wedding. It can get very hectic. Once a guest is seated, you'll pick up their present and deliver it to the bride and groom, serve them an appetizer, then dinner, then finally dessert. Sometimes, a guest will want a drink or to make a request to the DJ. One of the main things to remember is that you will increase your points as you chain items. What this means is that if you deliver an appetizer, you'll get $20. Deliver a dinner right after it and you'll get another $20. However, if you deliver a slew of appetizers in a row, their monetary value jumps $20 each time. The first is $20, then $40, then $60 and so on. When you are trying to hit that goal, it becomes infinitely easier if you chain items this way. However, because you have some guests that eat very quickly and some very slowly, its not always easy to do this. Further, the longer your guests wait on the delivery of their requests or wait to be seated, the more aggravated they become, costing you money at $50 for each guest who gets mad. This can really hurt your bottom line, plus it enrages the bride who turns into Bridezilla and becomes a snarling diva in a lovely shade of green.
Every few levels, you'll be offered a choice of an upgrade to help you along. It could be comfier chairs to increase guests' patience, a faster chef, a bigger chef's table to hold more food, better tasting food to increase points, a faster waitress or a faster Quinn, and better dancers which give you extra points for everyone out on the dance floor. You'll have to choose between three that are offered to you. Additionally, sometimes you'll get helpful extras like champagne to pass out to those waiting in the line (between 1 and 3 bottles per level) or a confetti machine which takes time to recharge and can be used about twice per level to make seated guests happier. When you consider that there are 5 main areas or venues and 10 levels per area, that's not a lot of upgrades for the long road ahead.
In the Endless Reception Mode, you have basically the same deal and you can select from the venues you have already unlocked. It will simply be an endless procession of wacky guests with immediate needs and very little patience. I didn't find I lasted too long with Endless Reception, even though there aren't any difficulty settings. While you will receive upgrades on a much more regular basis, they come in the form of a yellow notification at the bottom of the screen. While they appeared there frequently, I didn't have time to look for them and found that when I stopped my flow to click on the Upgrades button, I just got out of synch.
There is also a Multiplayer Mode where two players can battle it out with each other, but each one needs a copy of the game. Here, you can play Highest Score, First to Serve and Survival, just like in Diner Dash on DS. Sadly, I didn't know another person with a copy of the game and couldn't find a game to join, so I couldn't check out this feature.
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Difficulty:
Wedding Dash is no walk in the park. There are no difficulty settings for the game; it simply is what it is. You'll start off relatively slow and with low goals. It's fairly easy to nail the early levels. However, as you progress, the difficulty ramps up relatively quickly and you'll soon find yourself repeating levels over and over. I was stuck on Area 3 around the middle for a long time until I found the trick to pass it, and there were several other levels that I got stuck on like this as well. The trick to know is this - Wedding Dash is a time management game and a strategy game, but above all, it is a puzzle game. Every level is one big puzzle and you have to find the trick to solving it for success. Some are way easier than others, but some are really, really tough.
Although not typical, even Endless Reception didn't have a difficulty setting. I've played my fair share of Dash games and I regularly play a PC variant of Diner Dash on Endless Mode just for fun if I am on the phone or something. They always have Easy, Medium or Hard, but not Wedding Dash. Prepare to get your butt "served" to you on a silver platter in Endless Reception.
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Game Mechanics:
Wedding Dash is completely stylus-driven, once you get things started. You'll be clicking on your selections when in the wedding planning stages, then clicking on guests and dragging them to their tables. You'll click the menu items from the chef's table and bring them out to the guests, and also click when a Wedding Disaster occurs, where Quinn will go avert the disaster. These can be anything from a drunken Uncle Ernie cutting up, Aunt Ethel bawling loudly, a bridesmaids' brawl, bees buzzing around the guests, a kitchen fire, a barking dog, the wedding cake starting to topple and my favorite, a totally angry Bridezilla that needs calming if things aren't going as planned.
There is a nasty little bug in the game that I discovered and it could have been a game killer, but fortunately I found a way around it. Once you complete Level 10 on Area 3, the Cruise Ship, you progress on to a lovely island. However, I did that, completed the first island level, then turned off my game after backing out to the Main Menu. When I came back to play later, it clearly showed my expert score on Area 3, Level 10, yet the island venue was not available to be clicked. Annoyed, I once again completed Area 3, Level 10, then did the first two levels on the island and exited my game to come back and play later. Once again, when I returned to play, I was still back on Area 3, Level 10, showing it had been completed but again, with no access to Area 4. I gave it a final go, once again redoing Area 3, Level 10 and progressed to somewhere around Area 4, Level 5 or 6 and when I backed out and came back later, my progress had finally been saved. I wish I could tell you exactly where you need to progress to in order to avoid this annoying bug, but I didn't have the fortitude to continue redoing that same level to test it out. That being said, this is poor programming and without this aggravating error, the game would have received a higher score. Get better bug testers, Empty Clip!
Even considering that stupid bug, Wedding Dash is still a great game and lots of fun for anyone who likes strategy, time management and puzzles. Highly recommended if you can see past the obvious bug.
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-Psibabe, GameVortex Communications AKA Ashley Perkins |
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