12 (also known as 12 Family Games[1]) is a collection of 12 mini-games targeted for families, released for the Nintendo DS, on 2008, and published by the infamous, now defunct company Phoenix Games.
Gameplay
The games included are:
- Lolli Rolling - In this game, you control a hamster riding a watermelon, who is juggling. You must use the Control Pad to dodge obstacles along the path while keeping the juggling constant by pressing the corresponding buttons on the right of the screen as they scroll down between the red lines.
- Fun Fishing - Select from a variety of different fishing spots, then get ready to fish. Cast your rod, then when a fish is hooked, reel it in by holding down on the Control Pad.
- Fill Love - A Tetris-like puzzle game where you match like-coloured hearts. If you place three in a row, they disappear. If you place four in a square, they transform in a big heart, and then can be cleared in the normal way, but are worth more points.
- Dice - This game is a puzzle-game where you match three of the same kind of dice to clear them. When you clear a set of dice, the surrounding dice change their numbers, possibly resulting in additional chains for extra points.
- Testy Grill - This game is an action-puzzle game where you grill as many different foods on a grill as possible, making sure not to burn them. When they're cooked, you pick them up to eat them. The person to eat the most in the contest wins. Includes Story and Score Modes.
- Egg Adventure - A platform game, where you control an egg who climbs ladders, dodges enemies and collects hay while on his way to the goal. Reaching the goal completes the level.
- Mr. Oil - You control a man who catches bottles of oil that are being thrown by a woman on the other side of a road. Every so often a dog will run across the screen and you'll need to press down on the control pad to avoid it.
- Match 2 - In this game, there are a set of cards laid face down. You must flip over three cards, in the hope that they match up. When you match a trio, they are removed from the set. There are also bomb cards, which remove surrounding cards.
- Bang Bang Balloon - You control a man on a platform. You can move him up and down, and shoot darts. Your goal is to shoot as many of the balloons that are floating up off-screen as possible.
- Moon - You control a cat with a horn, and must herd sleeping mice back into their mouse hole. If you do not do so before time runs out, a pink cat runs on-screen and catches them.
- Kuo - A top-down shooter set underwater. Instead of controlling a spaceship, you control a turtle. You can spin-dash with L and R, and in addition to your normal gun, you have smart bombs which can be used to destroy all on-screen enemies.
- Buffy Racing 2 - This is a top-down racing game where you control a bull. You must beat the other bulls to win the race. Pressing L activates a turbo while pressing R drops a cow pat that acts like an oil slick.
Reception
Lance McGill of Aussie-Nintendo gave it 4/10, writing "As their untouchable cartoon movie line-up doesn't really count, 12 is easily one of the best games Phoenix Games have ever released. Stay the hell away from it."[2]