GDC 09: Diner Dash & Military Madness

While out at GDC I was able to meet up with the great crew at Hudson and check out ‘Diner Dash’ and ‘Military Madness’ which are their next two games heading to the Xbox LIVE Arcade.

‘Diner Dash’ is exactly what fans of the franchise have come to expect. The graphics have been redone in HD and the game looks great and is very accessible and fun to play. While the ease of point and click is gone since it’s on a console the buttons have been mapped to commands to help speed up the process and help you keep your customers happy. This really feels like a natural fit for the controller and even those used to playing on a PC will pick up this game with ease. Being able to send Flo to the next point while managing seating the incoming customers truly is a big help when it gets to the later levels of the game. Money is earned by keeping your customers happy (the heart level displayed above their heads) during their visit to your restaurant and it can be used to purchase upgrades that help you by adding another table or even paying some entertainment to keep them happy while waiting to be seated.

As you can imagine the timing for each stage (reading the menu, ordering and eating) is quite different and it truly becomes a juggling act after a couple minutes. With the co-op mode you can bring in a friend, or three, to help out and keep that restaurant running smoother. But be careful, there is such a thing as having too many cooks in the kitchen.

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The other upcoming Hudson title, ‘Military Madness,’ is a new take on one of their older franchises from the TurboGrafx-16 days. This version has stayed true to the original story, units and maps while upgrading the graphics to 3D and Hi-Def visuals. The camera is controlled with the left thumbstick while you can rotate and zoom in/out with the right. Players will use the D-Pad to select one of their tanks, infantry, aerial or commander units and either move them or have them initiate a battle with their opponent(s). If your units are lucky enough to make it through enough battles they will be rewarded by becoming more powerful over time. There can be up to four teams (player controlled or AI) in local or online multiplayer. Since we know that turn-based strategy games can take a while there are options to limit to total amount of time or turns a players has in a game.

While a fun game to play against a friend or computer opponent we did notice that using the D-Pad to select units while moving the camera with the thumbstick took some getting used to. If you’re a fan of the original or turned-based strategy games you’ll have to be sure to check this game out.

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Both titles are scheduled to hit your choice of digital distribution services, PSN & WiiWare along with Xbox LIVE Arcade, sometime this summer. Of course, as those dates become official and announced we’ll be sure to let you guys know.