Bakushow Review

We asked 100 people what the most pointless game to appear on the DS is.

Our survey said... 'Bakushow'.

Created by a team comprising of just five members, Bakushow certainly accomplishes their goal of creating the most simple product available on the popular handheld. But that's probably the best and only compliment we can pay to what is otherwise a complete waste of plastic.

A quiz show of sorts that pits you as both the quizmaster and contestant, the basis behind Bakushow is that each player (between 2-4) takes it in turn to jot down a question, or as the manual suggests a drawing to finish off, whatever... the theory is you're in complete control in what amounts to little more than an unappealing mix of Family Fortunes and Pictionary - although that probably makes it sound more fun then it actually is.

The manual details an example of the idea behind finishing off drawings with a cat that looks as though it's jumped straight out of a Disney film. We defy anybody to create anything even remotely bordering on a legible image with just the DS touchscreen and stylus, it's impossible to produce anything that doesn't look as though it's come from a pre-school art lesson.

After a short duration each player is then given three points to award to the most entertaining answer, although rather strangely you can vote for yourself, which leads to plenty of stalemate situations where everybody is just voting for their own answers.

And that is Bakushow... not even in a nutshell! There's something that borders on a game during waiting sections, where you have to hit strange creatures that ran across the screen and in many ways this provides more entertainment than the main game concept.

The problem is there's really nothing to Bakushow, there's no content and very little in the ways of a concept to grasp. It is very simple, but it's hard to imagine where the appeal lies. We've tried our hardest to take Bakushow for what it is, but the simple fact remains that despite its budget price you could share the same level of entertainment with a handful of post-it notes and a pen - much cheaper!

Perhaps the only good thing to be said about Bakushow is the fact that it does only require one cartridge for up to four players to play, and more significantly it's impossible to play in single player. As Rising Games proudly states: "No single player mode is included so Billy No Mates need not apply!" - perhaps the first time it's actually beneficial not to have any friends.