Crystal Defenders

 The strategy sub-genre known as Tower Defense hit the web a few years ago and its proven so addictive that publishers everywhere have been trying to bring it to our consoles ever since. We've seen penguins, monsters, crabs, and ninjas do it but until Square Enix came along no one had applied the gameplay to an established franchise. Ok, so it doesn't specifically say Final Fantasy on it but Crystal Defenders is clearly a Final Fantasy game, taking place after the events of Final Fantasy Tactics A2 on the Nintendo DS. 
 

Just don't expect a typical Final Fantasy storyline because Crystal Defenders started out as a Japanese cellphone franchise and all the emo dialog was cut out to cram in as much gameplay as possible. The original games were released in three chapters and Square Enix has taken the same approach with the WiiWare versions, this being Crystal Defenders R1 (of 2). All you really need to know is that monsters are on the march and if they reach the end of the path they'll steal your crystals until you lose.  
 
That actually sets up the gameplay pretty well. You work your way across a series of thirteen maps, each with a winding path that the monters are about to invade. It's your job to select just the right unit for just the right location in order to stop them before they reach the exit. The strategy comes into play as you only have so much Gil to spend on troops and upgrades and only so many spaces to place them along the roadside. At the outset you've only got two types of units to work with -- Soldiers and Black Mages -- but by the last few battles you'll have access to seven classes. It's pretty typical Tower Defense stuff, really, with Archers able to hit airborne enemies and Time Mages able to slow bad guys down. Thieves and Dragoons round out the cast allowing you to steal more Gil from defeated enemies and launch powerful attacks across a wider range.  
 
The control works better than you'd expect with the Wii Remote held sideways, which is good because it's the only control style on offer. You move a cursor around the screen with the D-Pad, select units with the 2 Button, launch the next wave with the A button and hold it down to speed things up for those rare uneventful moments. The D-Pad is a little slow to move around the screen but you can pause at any time, even in mid-wave, so it never leads to a lost crystal or missed opportunity. You won't want to admit it but the only way you'll lose in this game is by a poor decision. 
 
Unlike many Tower Defense games Crystal Defenders gets tough in a hurry, probably because there are so few stages. The Gil is tight, space is limited and you can never tell just how many waves you'll have to survive. Upgrades are critical and most units can be beefed all the way up to level seven, for a price. Just expect to replay several stages after one last monster on the 30th wave snatches your last crystal. It gets a bit grueling after a few tries but it's always fun watching your hordes of do-gooders smack down a stream of enemies at a choke point while you're planting another stretch of defenders in anticipation of the next wave. 
 
For a game ported over from a cellphone it looks surprisingly good on the Wii. The 2D sprites aren't all that animated and look a little fuzzy when you pause mid-attack but overall its an appealing and pleasing presentation. There's even a few atmospheric touches with drifting fog and flitting snowflakes and the game's cellular origins keep the screen clutter-free. The sound design gets a little grating when forty units attack all at once but the music holds strong with traditional Final Fantasy pomp and tension. 
 
Crystal Defenders R1 is a fun Tower Defense game, though it probably won't hold the attention of franchise fans that are used to immense character management and epic stories. It's the way Square Enix packaged it that makes it tough to recommend. For the equivalent of $8 you get thirteen missions while the Xbox Live Arcade version, priced at $10, features hundreds more. I've played both and I prefer the way the game feels on the Wii but they're both essentially the same game, only for two dollars more you get a lot more content. Square Enix has made it hard to recommend Crystal Defenders R1 by releasing so many other versions of the game that are comparably priced with more to do. But the Wii remains my preferred platform for Crystal Defenders. It runs smoother and the Wii Remote's simplicity makes the control feel better, just know that you'll be paying a premium for the entire experience (when and if R2 is finally released).