Not afraid of monsters, eh? Well you've never met a Monsters Deluxe before!!

User Rating: 10 | PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe PSP
I found this title for only $9.99 and it looked so different and interesting I just had to buy it! The story behind the game is that you control the Tiki Man, who lives in a place known as Tiki Island. Tiki Island if facing destruction as recently hordes of various monsters have been attacking, wiping out your flocks. But the Tiki Man doesn't take it lying down. Using coins to build different types of weapons towers he takes the fight to the monsters in an effort to defend his people and liberate his homeland!!

From the main menu you have six options, the first of which is "One Player". This is the main story mode of the game where you will spend the majority of your time. Once you select this option you will have to choose a difficulty level (Casual, Regular or Hard-core, which is locked at first) and then be taken to the island screen. In this mode there are three islands you can choose to play on including the Tiki Man's homeland of Tiki Island, as well as two others named Toki Island and Gati Gati Island respectively. Once you select the island you want to play on you will then be taken to the map screen. The map screen is laid out kind of like in Super Mario Bros. 3, with the levels being connected by little white pathways. Each island will contain a number of Easy, Medium, Hard and Special levels, and there is actually a large number of levels in this game. It breaks down as follows: Tiki Island (1 Tutorial, 4 Easy, 7 Medium, 6 Hard, 3 Special), Toki Island (4 Easy, 4 Medium, 4 Hard, 3 Special) and Gati Gati Island (3 Easy, 2 Medium, 3 Hard, 3 Special). That makes 47 levels in total, not too shabby!

When you begin on an island the first Easy level will be available for play, as you defeat levels you will unlock future levels on the island for play. However, this is harder than it seems as to unlock all levels on any given island you have to achieve a certain number of "rainbows". Earning a rainbow on a level means you completed it in perfection, meaning no members of your flock got eaten by monsters. On Tiki Island earning enough rainbows isn't too hard as there are a lot of levels on that island in total, but on the two smaller islands it gets a little more difficult.

When you finally select a level you will then be taken to the play screen. Each level features a landscape from that section of the island. The landscapes normally feature bodies of water and rocks/cliffs, but can also include bridges and the like. The two most important things in each level though are the trees and your home base. You build your towers in any spot where a tree grows, the tree will be replaced by your weapons tower if you have enough coins built up for the tower you want to build. As for your home base, that is where the 20 members of your flock are hiding, do not let the monsters reach this building or they will eat your flock, one member at a time. As for the rest of the play screen, in the bottom right are three icons showing how many members of your flock remain, how many coins you've earned, and how many gems you've collected. On the bottom left you'll see a gauge showing which number wave of monsters are attacking, what type of monsters they are, and the type of monsters that will be attacking in the next wave. In the early levels you only face about 10 waves of monsters in total, but throughout most of the game there are 20 waves of monsters that will attack, 19 regular waves capped with 1 boss wave.

As for gameplay you really need to be on your toes and think. There are a number of different types of monsters including the Pine Cone, Sycamore, Spider, Bat, Giant and Bumble Bee. These different types of monsters fall in to two categories, ground based and air based. Amongst all of the different types of monsters you'll find their physical characteristics vary greatly in terms of what types of weapons they're most susceptible to. You really need to plan out what types of towers you need to build in order to most efficiently dispatch the various waves of monsters that are being thrown at you. Also, there are three different types of shields the monsters will occasionally be equipped with including the Magic, Physical and Ice Shields. These further complicate what types of weapons each monster is susceptible to. As for the weapons towers, there are a number of different types including the Arrow Tower, Cannon Tower, Anti-Air Tower, Ice Tower, Tesla Tower, Trap Tower, Fire Tower, Mortar Tower, Hive Tower and Laser Tower. Each tower has different characteristics, whether it can take out ground or air based enemies (or occasionally both), how quickly it fires, it's level of damage inflicted, etc. Figuring out the right combination of towers for each level is the key to beating this game.

On each level you at first have the Arrow, Cannon, Anti-Air and Ice towers available for use. The other towers mentioned above have to be unlocked each time around. To unlock the rest of these towers you have to collect a certain amount of blue gems. Gems are obtained in a couple of different ways. First, when you destroy a monster they sometimes leave a gem behind. Also, sometimes the trees in a level have hidden surprises within, including gems from time to time. Simply run over the tree to see if anything is inside of it. Once you have enough gems collected go to your home base and activate the tower screen where you can unlock the tower of your choice for play in that level. As for purchasing the weapons towers, you do that by collecting and spending coins. Each tower has a certain cost involved with it, the more powerful the tower is the higher the cost. You start each level off with a small amount of coinage but after that you have to collect coins, and there are a couple of ways to do this, the same as collecting gems. When monsters are destroyed they will leave behind a stash of coins and they can also be found hidden in trees. After you have your towers built there is another way in which you can utilize your blue gems. Each type of tower, once built, can be upgraded four times (each tower starts off at the blue level but can then be upgraded to yellow, red, purple and ultimately the black level). Depending on the type of tower you're upgrading this process increases your tower's range, destructive potential, rate of fire or area of damage. You can also slowly upgrade towers by placing your Tiki Man on the tower and "dancing" over it, which he'll do automatically once you get him there.

That's pretty much it for the main mode of play, the only other thing you have to know about are the Special levels I mentioned near the beginning, they're a bit different than the others. These levels, if you beat them, will reward you with a gameplay unlock including things like the Gem Tower, increased speed from Tiki Man, the Remote Bomb weapon, the Interest upgrade, etc. However, each of these Special levels has a stipulation that makes them a little more difficult to complete, like the monsters don't drop gems, or the monsters don't drop coins, etc. I think that's about it for One Player mode!

The second choice from the main menu is called "Two Player" and is where you go if you have a buddy who wants to play. As long as each of you has a PSP and your own copy of Monsters Deluxe you can play a 2 player game over your wireless internet. Since I don't have any friends I haven't been able to play this mode . . .

The third option from the main menu is "Online Play" and is similar to Two Player, only instead of having a specific buddy in mind you just go on your wireless internet and challenge anybody else out there in cyberspace who may be interested in playing. Haven't got a chance to try this one out yet either.

The fourth option from the main menu is called "Tiki Hut" and is where the alternate game mode this title has to offer can be found. This game mode is called "Medal Challenge". As you complete levels in the main One Player mode of the game you will unlock levels to play in the Medal Challenge mode, in total there are 24 of them. Each of these levels is just a random level taken from the three islands in One Player mode, but a wacky stipulation is put on it, you must complete the level but also perform a certain task along the way. These tasks include things like perfectly completing the level, not using any gems during the level, finishing the level with a certain balance of coins, refraining from building a certain type of tower, etc. As you complete these levels in Medal Challenge you will achieve a number of extra unlocks, which can be accessed in the Tiki Hut as well. These extras include stuff like trophies, audio and video clips, game concept art, an image gallery, etc.

Fifth on the main menu is the "How to Play" option. Here you will simply find a game overview and instructions on how to play.

The sixth and final choice from the main menu is "Options". Here you can view the game credits, adjust the background and music volumes, change the direction of the ring and tower menus, as well as change your online screen name.

As for game controls, they are very simple. The analog stick (can also use the directional buttons if you wish) is used to move the Tiki Man around his environment and also to navigate the various menus. The L button is used to zoom in/out the camera angle on a level. The R button is used to display the current upgrade status on all towers you've built in a level. The X button is your action button. When standing on a tree use it to bring up the tower menu and again to confirm what you want to build. Also, when you have a tower in place already press X to bring up the menu to either upgrade or sell your tower, press again to confirm your choice. Also use X to access the tower menu within your home base. The Triangle button is used to bring up the menu for Tiki Speak. When playing with another human you can make a speech bubble and put different game images inside of it, up to four at a time, hinting towards what types of towers to build, etc. And lastly the Square button is used to drop and then detonate Remote Bombs.

This game's presentation is good. It's nothing outstanding because really this game is quite basic and simple in nature. The graphics aren't anything special, but they don't need to be. The game is pretty colourful and the sound is well done, a very unique soundtrack that fits the game well. The controls are bang on, very easy to use. But most importantly the fun factor is through the roof! The game, even though it gets quite hard at times, is enormously addictive.

For pros and cons I honestly can't think of any cons. I really can't! For pros there are many however. First, the most interesting thing about this game is the premise and concept behind it. Like I said when I first saw it, it just looked so unique and different . . . I don't have anything else quite like it in my game collection. For being such a basic game, it really manages to blow you away. I also like the game length, 47 levels in One Player mode plus 24 more in Medal Challenge means you'll be playing this thing for quite some time, especially considering how hard some of the later levels get. And for how basic a game it is it comes with a fair amount of extras. I just really can't say enough about how fun and different this game is, you wouldn't think it could grab a hold of you so fiercely, but it really does!

As for tips and tricks, there are a few I can offer. First, study and learn early on just what the capabilities are of both your various towers and the different monsters. The sooner you learn how to most efficiently dispatch your enemies the smoother your sailing is going to be once you reach the harder parts of the game. Also, don't give up early and quit a level if your rainbow is ruined. Play a level through to it's end the first couple times so you know all the different waves of enemies that will be attacking you, that way you'll know exactly how to set up your towers and prepare for them the next time around. Lastly, you may be hesitant to try any of the more expensive towers because of the high number of gems you require to unlock them, but don't be. Try unlocking different towers early on and experiment with their effectiveness, in later levels these more powerful towers can really save your bacon.

What more can I say, Monsters Deluxe is a simple, yet very unique game that will reel you in hook, line and sinker!! Everybody with a PSP should try this one on for a nice change of pace, and at only $10, why not!?!