Diner Dash: Flo on the Go & Wedding Dash Hands-On

If you're a fan of "casual" PC games these days, there's pretty much little to know doubt you've downloaded and played one of PlayFirst's hugely popular titles. Thanks to a loyal (and expanding) user base that's downloaded its games hundreds of millions of times, the PlayFirst web site is one of those games havens that's doing quite well in this otherwise bumpy economy. With a huge library of all-ages games that range from fast-paced arcade action, "hidden object", strategy, puzzle, role playing and adventure games, there's pretty much something for everyone. Family-friendly games publisher Zoo Games, which has released titles for the Wii, Nintendo DS/DSi, PlayStation 2, PSP, iPhone, and PC has licensed two of PlayFirst's key titles for the Nintendo DS just in time for the holiday season - here's a rundown on what to expect.

Zoo showed off its two licensed PlayFirst DS titles at a press event at Big Daddy's New York City, a popular NYC "theme" diner that rocks a nice retro vibe with a mix of 50's cool, great food and supremely speedy wait staff. Diner Dash: Flo on the Go and Wedding Dash were playable and both were great fun as well as fine additions to the Nintendo DS library. Even if you're not a fan of this sort of "casual" game, both are surprisingly addictive, challenging and quite funny, especially if your sense of humor can appreciate elements such as tipsy uncles, battlin' bridesmaids and trying to wait tables on a cigar-shaped rocketship.

Diner Dash: Flo on the Go takes the hugely popular franchise (and super-waitress Flo with her friend Darla, of course) to five theme restaurants including a cruise ship and the aforementioned rocketship with the same fast-paced gameplay fans have come to expect.

If you haven't yet played a Diner Dash game previously, but remember the classic arcade games Tapper or Root Beer Tapper, it's a bit similar but much more frantic. Instead of moving through a bar or soda shoppe, you're tasked with seating different types of customers, taking their orders, delivering plates of food and cleaning up afterward. The simple game mechanics are explained thoroughly in the tutorial and as you go through the increasingly tricky stages, the amount of tasks and customer types increase geometrically.

Flo also gets new outfits as you progress, a good thing, as this installment begins after she loses her suitcase overboard the cruise ship things start out on. The build I played had a ton of outfit types unlocked, allowing for mix 'n match picking or super-coordinated gear from head to toe. Sure, you macho guns 'n glory types will scoff at this one, but it's a real brain-tickler and reflex test that gets crazier than some shooters I've seen, that's for sure.

Wedding Dash takes that same basic gameplay and introduces Quinn, a wedding planner tasked with helping assorted couples pull of perfect wedding receptions. The game adds quite a few twists to the Diner Dash formula that sets it apart from the former game such as pre-planning of events and completely different types of guest types and obstacles.

I found myself cracking up just reading the different descriptions of the guest types, all of which I've seen at the weddings I've attended. Tipsy uncle? Check. Overly emotional auntie? Check. You'll also get the annoying Mother-in-Law, pesky pooches, unstable cake-tables and more all come into play here and it's all very well done and really addictive once you start playing. The game itself is also quite funny, especially when you see a few of the wacky animations the more troublesome guests do. Things get pretty crazy when you've got guests wanting certain tables or not wanting to be placed near certain other guests. Slow eaters and fast drinkers keep things rolling with the overall goal of each map to get everyone on the dance floor to boogie the night away.

Both games have Career and Endless gameplay modes as well as a 2-player competitive mode. Diner Dash will have five restaurants each with different scenarios while Wedding Dash has over 50 stages set through five difficulty levels. Endless Mode is basically a "survival" deal where you're going to be pulling your hair out after about two minutes unless you're really good at the main game. Things get busy and never let up, which will probably make you leave a hefty tip the next time you're at a real diner. I'll have to admit, part of me though Wedding Dash would be partly about trying to escape from anything resembling matrimonial bliss, but snark aside, what's here is really darn entertaining for a E-rated game.

Overall, both games are must-buys whether you're in the mood for something different of if you're a huge fan of the orignal Diner Dash and its sequels looking to take your game on the road with a lot more variety and the ability to compete with a second player. Diner Dash: Flo on the Go is in stores on October 20, 2009, while Wedding Dash hits retail on November 9th, 2009. Definitely check both games out - you won't be disappointed.