It seems only natural, after creating the most memorable fantasy RPG series ever (Final Fantasy) and the Wii’s last big RPG (The Last Story), that legendary designer Hironobu Sakaouchi would follow it up….

…with an iOS game about surfing.

Hey, when you’ve effectively cemented your gaming legacy, you’re entitled to do things like pursue creative vanity projects on emerging gaming platforms. And let’s be real: It’s not like the App Store’s awash in a ton of surfing games.

Party Wave’s action features two distinct stages, one deliberate and frustrating, the other frenetic and fabulous. Unfortunately, the annoying stuff is what you’re forced to deal with first. Each level begins with you using finger swipes to guide a series of slow-paddling surfers—sometimes a whole hell of a lot of surfers—across the screen to a sparkling wave icon before the actual wave comes in. This isn’t particularly difficult in the first handful of levels when the seas are largely clear, but once the obstacles begin to move and multiply like sharks in bloodied water, the fact that the surfers need almost constant line-draw babysitting to avoid crashing into rocks, sea life and each other makes Party Wave begin to feel like an exercise in herding drunken dolphins. I especially enjoyed the level where a tight-circling stingray picks off two of your surfers—effectively deep-sixing your shot at a “perfect” level rating and the strategic star that accompanies it—before they even have a chance to appear on-screen. Cowabummer.

Once you’ve safely shepherded as many surfboards as possible to safety, stage two begins, and so does the fun. Here, as many as ten surfers slice up and down the wave at once, and it’s your job to tap them before they bail the wave three times and crash the party. Every time you do, they zip back toward the crest, sometimes somersaulting into the sky if you’ve given them enough momentum. Once airborne, you can tap them again to pull off aerials and collect major level points.

When Party Wave is really rocking, it’s easy to feel like you’re playing the greatest surfer popcorn popper ever. The good news? Swiping your finger is as good as tap-tap-tapping, and proves critical when the party’s sizable. The bad news? Swiping is likely to result in hitting the full-on marine beast assault that plagues every wave, from jellyfish that paralyze your surfers and dolphins whose Seaworld-audition quality flips totally harsh the mellow on your surfers’ airborne antics. For the bazillionth time, you’ll find yourself wishing the iPad’s touch controls were a little more precise.

Sakaouchi’s Mistwalker Studios certainly isn’t afraid to bring the crazy. In this case, it’s a grade-A anachronism: Cute little aliens in spaceships that occasionally hover in the air above the wave for you to swipe at, collect and even house. Maybe they should have brought surfboards, too.

Like a lot of iOS developers, Mistwalker has created an unusual and entertaining diversion that’s sometimes hampered by the limitations of its control scheme. In that sense, it’s kinda like surfing a windy day at Big Sur with a plastic snow sled—surftastic in patches, sure, but ultimately as frustrating as it is fun.

Pros:
+ Party Wave mode is a tap-tap-tapping frenzy of fun
+ Kooky touches (Aliens? Surfing dogs?) amp the charm
+ Nailing a “perfect” on the first phase means you don’t repeat it if you crash the second

Cons:
– Iffy touch controls make guiding the boards feel like sucking seawater up your nose
– Controlling multiple surfers on an iPod Touch screen is just about impossible

Game Info:
Platform: iOS
Publisher: Mistwalker Corporation
Developer: Mistwalker Corporation
Release Date: 7/24/2012
Genre: Action/ Line-drawing
Age Rating: 4+
Players: 1
Source: Review code provided by developer

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The father of Final Fantasy takes a break from RPGs for a Hawaii-inspired iOS vacation to the colorful world of Party Wave, available now from the App Store as a $2 universal app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Surf’s up, dudes and dudettes!

Gather ’round, Nintendo Wii owners, for XSEED Games and Mistwalker have an epic story to tell. The Last Story, that is, an incredible role-playing adventure from the creator of Final Fantasy.

The Last Story finally makes it to North America next month, on August 14th to be specific. As previously announced, all first-print copies of the game will be deemed Limited Editions containing a 44-page softcover art book and exclusive storybook packaging. If that wasn’t enough to get you to throw down for a pre-order, maybe this will.

By pre-ordering The Last Story at participating retailers such as Amazon.com, EB Games Canada or GameStop, you’ll also score a bonus soundtrack CD featuring a sampler-size helping of seven songs from the game. Nobuo Uematsu scored the game, so you’re totally going to want this if you have any interest in video game music.

Fans demanded it. Campaigned for it even. XSEED Games (in partnership with Nintendo) made it happen: The Last Story, the Wii RPG from Mistwalker studio and the father of Final Fantasy, is being localized for release in North America this summer (July 10 is the current ship date).

As the cherry on top of this delicious role-playing sundae surprise, XSEED now announces that Hironobu Sakaguchi’s latest masterpiece will launch as an automatic Limited Edition. All first print copies, at the regular $49.99 price, will come with a softcover art book stuffed with 44 pages of beautiful pictures to look at. An outer box, custom made in the style of a fantasy storybook, will also be included, the perfect collectible case option for storing the game and art book and displaying them on your game shelf when not in use.

Judging by how fast Xenoblade Chronicles flew off the shelves at launch–as a GameStop exclusive at that–you better throw down for a pre-order fast before the Limited Edition printing is all spoken for.

XSEED Games [Facebook]

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