Posts
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Parking Dash
Parking Dash, a new time management game from PlayFirst, the makers of Diner Dash, Flo on the Go, and Cooking Dash, is a fun and enjoyable game.You're Karma, a friend of Flo (famous heroine of the Diner Dash and Cooking Dash series), who inherits a parking lot (luckily) behind Flo's Diner. Flo encourages your entrepreneurial skills and to run a valet service instead of selling the lot.
There are some interesting twists to the time management aspect. As each customer appears, a timer is over their head. This lets you know how long they want to park. Since some spaces can blocked in, it's important to strategically place the cars that will be there the longest in those spots (and then to remember which ones will be there the longest!) Karma must keep the customers happy by picking up and delivering the car on time as well as managing the parking lot space limitations.
Play style is different from many of the dash games - more on that in a tip post to follow. There are bonuses to placing the same color car on a similar colored spot (just like sitting diners in the same color of chair). The cast of characters is the same from the dash games and have the same sort of temperaments. The businesswomen are still the most impatient. As the game progresses, there are upgrades that help improve the appearance of the lot, increasing either tip or patience level. I thought it was pretty funny to have a donut upgrade to help improve driver patience. Bonus points are scored by performing a series of events (parking cars, delivering cars, washing cars). The happiness of the customer is designated by their face. Big grin: happy. Small smile: content. Unhappy: red. Upgrades are choices at the beginning of levels and do not have to be purchased.
Graphics are very similar to other Dash games. I did love how the "bug" style cars have a little purple heart on top.
There is a radio station that plays music and you can change the channels a la Grand Theft Auto. This has no bearing on the satisfaction of the customers, but is a welcome addition to listening to the same music over and over. It does add a boost of speed for Karma, and can add to the hectic pace of some of the later levels.
What they did well: As in many of the Dash games, you get to see familiar faces - like Flo and Quinn (from Wedding Dash). The puzzle piece of placing the cars in a way that is accessible is a nice and different twist on time management games. Again, having the radio station dials is also an improvement over the same music.
What could have been better: The upgrades were not very compelling, and there weren't achievements to unlock. Not having hearts to show the happiness of the customers is such a different take for the Dash games, I found it a little difficult to know when a customer was just content vs bordering on angry. Sometimes the only "hint" was the sound of tires peeling out of the lot and then the -100 flashing on the screen.
It is a challenging time management game that both new players and veteran “Dash” fans will enjoy.
Recommended for: kids, fans of the Dash series or time management games
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment