Power Disc Slam Review

London based Chequered Cow Games have made their debut to the 3DS with Power Disc Slam. The mechanics for this game are based on the cult classic Neo Geo game Windjammers according to founder David McEwen he wanted Power Disc Slam to be a spiritual successor to Windjammers.

This arcade Frisbee/Disc sport game has players throwing the disc towards the opponent’s point zones in that the yellow targets are 3 points and red targets are 5 points. You can also score 2 points by “lobbing” the disc to land in your opponent’s side.

The gameplay is in 1 vs 1 mode as you compete in getting the highest points. When you first load this game you are invited to check out the tutorial, which is recommended. It’s not the best tutorial in the world as it doesn’t show you all the right instructions to perform certain moves e.g arc the disc.

In Power Disc Slam there are two types of throws, the fast simple throw with the A button or a lob with the B button. Lobbing while seeming like a good move is rarely effective against the computer even in easy mode. There is also the fact that the X and Y buttons are not used, which is a wasted opportunity to have different types of moves, considering dashing is the same button used for throwing (A button).

A noticeable thing that will strike you about Power Disc Slam is how overly sensitive and imprecise the movement is. One example is aiming the disc and sometimes especially when dashing it doesn’t already goes in the direction you want it to. It can be frustrating at first and will take some time to get used to. The matches can be fast and you have to watch the screen with closer attention as the opponent sometimes throws the disc back the second they catch it.

There are 8 characters from different nationalities which have strengths and weakness in their power or skill. There are 8 different stadiums to choose from, which unlike the characters have more visual variety between them.

There are 5 different modes in Single Player (Arcade, Cup, Free Play, Mini Games and Survival). There are several difficulties to choose from Easy to Very Hard (With Cup have Novice to Master in which you unlock they you complete the previous difficulty). Due to the mechanics of the game, even the easier difficulties can feel hard, as it took me several tries just to beat the Cup on Novice difficulty.

The Mini Games have 6 different games from high score challenge to disc block bash (similar to Breakout) and were a nice change of pace from the main game.

The graphics seem underwhelming especially the character models which feel stiff. The framerate is a smooth 60 frames per second so it balances out, not to mention the 3D effect is great especially the stadium surroundings. The music and sound effects are better, but nothing too memorable.

It is good to see multiplayer for both local and online as many developers would forgo these modes due to possible inconvenience. There is also Streetpass support in which you play other who you pass if they have the game as well.

Representing Team GB at PDS.

Despite it’s promising premise, Power Disc Slam has a long way to go before it can seen as a competitor to Windjammers. A patch could easily fix the gameplay issues in this game in which would bring the game from playable to great.

Pros:

• Loads of modes to play through
• Has Online/Multiplayer support
• Smooth framerate

Cons:

• Controls can be too sensitive
• Dashing and throwing are the same button
• Character models are underwhelming

Score 6/10

Follow Chequered Cow Games at https://twitter.com/chequeredcow

Chequered Cow Games kindly provided 3DSBlessed with a review copy.

Categories: Articles, Home

Tags: 3D, 3ds, chequered cow games, eshop, neo geo, power disc slam, Windjammers

This post was written by Cyburn, posted on August 9, 2016 Tuesday at 12:00 pm