The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

The Good

* Exciting and well-designed dungeons
* Controlling phantoms is fun and adds new depth to the series
* Lengthy story with plenty of side quests
* Innovative boss fights
* Frantic multiplayer.

The Bad

* Not too challenging.

There is something immensely appealing about the simple act of blowing your train's horn in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. You'll find yourself making the classic "toot-toot" sound often as you travel around the world of Hyrule, reveling in the way it makes your inner 10-year-old kid giggle with glee. Playing Spirit Tracks brings up similar feelings; it's fun and familiar, basking you in the nostalgia of the Zelda series' well-trodden gameplay formulas while adding enough changes to make it feel exciting again. And while its look will undoubtedly bring up comparisons with 2007's superb Phantom Hourglass, Link's new adventure does away with its predecessor's repetitiveness and pacing issues, making Spirit Tracks the superior of the two Zelda games available on Nintendo's handheld console.

You'll find plenty of new yet familiar scenarios in Spirit Tracks.

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It not just an art style that Spirit Tracks shares with Phantom Hourglass. This new game is a sequel, and while, you'll play as a new Link, several familiar faces from the 2007 game make an appearance in Spirit Tracks (some as direct descendants of old characters and some as older versions of their Phantom Hourglass selves). Spirit Tracks takes place 100 years after the events of Phantom Hourglass, and the land of Hyrule is in peril. The demon king Malladus is stirring, threatening to break free from the Tower of Spirits (his prison for the last century) and throw off the chains that have kept him suppressed. These chains are actually the game's Spirit Tracks, a series of lines crisscrossing the world that the inhabitants of Hyrule have been using to drive their trains on. Young Link starts the game as a newly graduated engineer, off to see Princess Zelda and gain his official train driver's qualification. Once there, Zelda confides to Link her fear that Malladus may be on the rise and urges him to take her to the Tower of Spirits so they can both investigate. But before they reach the tower, they are attacked. The tower then breaks into several pieces, and the evil Chancellor Cole and his sidekick Byrne steal Zelda's body for use as the resurrected Malladus' new body. Zelda's spirit remains, however, becoming Link's guide as he strives to prevent the demon king's rise and to reunite his beloved princess back with her physical form.

It's certainly a first for the series for Zelda to die (for all intents and purposes) right at the start of the game and for her spirit to join you for the rest of the adventure, but it's not the only new addition. As well as being a Na'vi-like fairy companion for Link, Zelda can take control of phantoms, which are heavily armed guardians of the Tower of Spirits (and who players of Phantom Hourglass will remember as the near-invincible soldiers guarding the Ocean Temple). You can control both Link and the Zelda-possessed phantoms, and it's this new play mechanic that invigorates the tried-and-true Zelda formula. Similar in concept to the domination rod in Twilight Princess, Zelda-phantoms will dutifully accompany Link as he explores the tower, but you can also assign them specific paths by tracing a line on the DS's touchpad, or even get them to activate switches, carry items, or attack enemies. The cooperative puzzles you'll need Zelda-phantoms for start off quite simply--getting their invincible frames to block a column of fire so you can move Link past, for example, or hitching a ride on their shields to traverse lava pits--but by the end of the game they'll get increasingly complex and will require you to use different types of phantoms (each with its own special abilities, such as being able to roll through obstacles, carry fiery swords, or warp around levels) to solve problems. Even more tricky are several boss battles that require you to control a Zelda-phantom and Link. These fights are tense and exciting, requiring fast reflexes as you're forced to quickly switch between the two characters to find an opponent's weak points.

The princess becomes your constant companion..

You can control only Link and Zelda in the Tower of Spirits, an area you'll have to visit several times to gain new maps that open up spirit tracks to different parts of the gameworld. Phantom Hourglass veterans who are worried that the Tower of Spirits is simply another name for the annoying Ocean Temple in that earlier game needn't fear; while you'll make multiple trips to the Tower of Spirits, the repetition and the time limits of the Ocean Temple have been done away with. You won't ever need to repeat the same levels. Outside of the Tower of Spirits and its dual Link-Zelda mechanic, Spirit Tracks plays similarly to most other adventures in the series. You'll venture into a multilevel dungeon, obtain a new weapon, and then use that new weapon to defeat a powerful boss creature at the end of that dungeon. Many of Link's weapons will be familiar to series veterans, including favorites such as the boomerang, the bow, and bombs. There are new weapons, too, including a hookshot-like whip, which Link can use to latch onto beams to swing across chasms Indiana Jones-style, and a special wand that can erect walls of sand.

Such adherence to formula may be the undoing of lesser games, but consistently clever level design and the tricky-but-never-cheap puzzles in Spirit Tracks mean the game is a winning experience at all times. Though the game doesn't stray far from what made the Zelda series great, you'll still feel a palpable thrill when you figure out the way to get that final dungeon key or use your newly found weapon to take down an initially intimidating boss. The game itself is not too difficult--there are only a few puzzles in the final two dungeons that may get you stuck--but the problems you'll have to solve are almost all uniformly engaging and make creative use of Link's abilities and weapons.



What's also surprisingly engaging is riding your train around on the spirit tracks covering Hyrule. You would think that having fixed railway lines to travel on would make moving from location to location boring, but the game throws enough variety at you to make most trips interesting. As well as using your train's horn to scare away livestock clogging up the tracks or using your cannon to blast away roving enemies, you'll have to contend with demon trains cruising the tracks. You'll need to plan ahead to avoid these enemies, keeping a close eye on your map and switching lines when necessary to make sure you don't end up on a collision course. Crashing into one of these enemies is the biggest negative of riding a train in Hyrule. You'll become familiar with the crushing feeling of inevitability that comes when you've made a mistake switching lines and are forced to simply wait until the collision. And every hit sends you right back to where you started your trip, resulting in a fair bit of repetition.

You have to plan ahead to avoid other trains on the tracks.

Driving the train is easy: You have three speeds to switch between using a lever on the right of the touch screen, as well as a rope for the horn, which you can pull at any time (toot-toot!). The rest of the game's controls are similarly simple and intuitive, with the touch screen and stylus used for all movement and actions. You simply hold the stylus on the screen to move Link and tap or slash on enemies to attack. It was a winning control scheme two years ago when used in Phantom Hourglass, and it has lost none of its positives today. The DS's microphone gets another workout this time around, though. You can use it as a weapon by blowing into it to send a gust of wind at enemies, and you need to use it to play the spirit flute. You'll learn several songs that you can play on the ocarina-like instrument throughout the course of your adventure, with each song having special effects, such as healing you in dungeons and unveiling hidden chests.

Side quests aside, Spirit Tracks features more than 14 hours of play in the main story, but there's plenty to do outside of trying to stop Malladus. As in most Zelda games, there are plenty of hidden secrets and chests to track down, and many are inaccessible until later in the game when you've unlocked all of Link's weapons. The train is also used in several of Spirit Tracks' side quests. You'll be asked to use your train to ferry fussy passengers, move livestock from town to town, and even hunt down and capture cute rabbits for relocation to a bunny sanctuary. Your rewards for these tasks range from extra hearts to whole new sections of Spirit Tracks, leading to previously inaccessible areas and even more hidden goodies.

The game also comes with a fun four-player competitive mode which, in a plus, can be played by using one game cartridge and the DS' download play mode. It's a pretty simple set-up--you and three other players race around single-level dungeons trying to grab as many force gems before the timer runs out. Dying--either by getting hit by a roaming Phantom or falling victim to an environmental hazard such as lava or a deep pit--will cause you to drop some of your collected gems, which your competitors can then swoop up. And while you won't be able to use your weapons, you can cause mischief to your fellow players in other interesting ways. If a Phantom is chasing you, for example, running past another player will cause the Phantom to switch their brutal attention onto them instead. You can also activate switches to open trapdoors which, if timed correctly, can send your competitors hurtling to their doom, allowing you to pick up their hard-earned gems. Multiplayer games--especially with a full complement of players--are usually hectic and lots of fun as you scramble to grief other players in order to steal their gems. But with only six maps available, multiplayer is more an interesting little distraction rather than a fully-fledged time sink.

Using Zelda-phantoms adds a whole new dimension to the Zelda formula.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks hasn't improved markedly on the visuals seen in Phantom Hourglass, which isn't a problem considering that the first game looked great on the DS. Spirit Tracks is just as impressive, with the colorful world containing a surprising amount of detail to help bring the land of Hyrule to life. This game has an abundance of charm, from the endearing conversations you'll have with Zelda, to the many kooky and interesting personalities you'll come across and even the varied enemies. And while there's no dialogue in the game, aside from some grunts and squeals, the audio is impressive, with a tuneful soundtrack mixing seamlessly with classic sounds from the Zelda series' history (including that familiar yet still triumphant trill when you open chests).

You'll find plenty that's familiar in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, but the inclusion of new mechanics, such as controlling both Link and Zelda, and the simple joy of driving the train lift this game above being just another Zelda adventure. This game is a top-notch adventure, and whether this is your first or 15th time in Hyrule, Spirit Tracks is a must-play.
By Randolph Ramsay, GameSpot

Maestro! Jump in Music

The Good

* Cute characters and environment
* Novel gameplay.

The Bad

* Short adventure with only 25 songs to play
* Soundtrack doesn't cover enough genres
* No multiplayer modes.

UK REVIEW--Maestro! Jump in Music offers a fresh take on the rhythm genre by mixing music with platforming to make a surprisingly fun game. You play as a cute bird called Presto, who you control by plucking the strings he walks on. If your timing is right, you play a number of classic and contemporary songs, while also making Presto jump between platforms and collect notes for points. This results in frantic and fun gameplay as you create songs by tapping and dragging the stylus. While the lack of multiplayer modes, the short length, and musical repetition dampen the experience somewhat, Maestro manages to be both enjoyable and challenging enough to keep you engaged from start to finish.

Maestro constantly adds new challenges, such as tapping these birds to the beat of a drum.

Presto is a gifted conductor who has won the affection of female avian Belle. When his actions enrage fellow suitor Staccato, the spider exacts revenge on the lovebirds and the rest of the universe by creating a magical curse that silences all creatures, dooming them to a future without music. Your journey takes you through six areas in a quest to restore music to the world, which you do by unlocking notes found in each stage. Maestro takes place in an imaginative, detailed world filled with appealing characters. It tries too hard to be funny at times with lame jokes and cliches (such as, "Houston, we have a problem…Presto is on the dark side of the moon"), and the ending features a twist which cheapens the story before it, but it's a lighthearted and whimsical journey overall.

Maestro is an interesting mix of rhythm and platforming that will appeal to fans of both genres. Presto automatically walks at a steady pace along platforms that look like strings, and these represent the time and pitch of the music, much like a stave. It's your job to pluck the strings when instructed, which not only plays the song, but allows Presto to collect notes above or below, earning you points. The notes move across the screen from the right side, instead of from above like in Guitar Hero. Presto collects some notes as he walks into them, while others are collected by tapping or dragging the stylus. While your primary focus is to collect notes, you also need to make sure Presto doesn't fall into the gaps between platforms. If this happens, the song continues, but you miss a short section of notes. You can also strum notes that appear on strings above or below Presto, and as long as you don't strum through the string he's on, he'll continue unabated.

The soundtrack includes pop songs, such as The Jackson 5's ABC and Madness's Our House, and rock, like The Animals' The House of the Rising Sun and Screamin' Jay Hawkins' I Put a Spell on You. However, the vast majority of the lineup is classical music, such as Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, Tchaikovsky's Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt. They're instantly recognisable and fun to play, but the soundtrack would have benefitted from a more varied lineup of genres. After completing each level, you're given a grade based on how many notes you successfully hit, with a score of B+ or higher required to continue to the next level. Maestro does away with a typical performance meter during songs; instead, Presto sports a crown whenever you're playing at an acceptable level. At the beginning of the game, Presto is singing, so it's a bit strange that all of the songs are instrumental--even the ones that originally featured vocals. You have the option to "sing" into the DS microphone at the same time you hit each note, but though this fills a meter that represents your singing ability, it doesn't have any effect on the game, so it's ultimately pointless.

Maestro does a good job of keeping you entertained throughout the adventure. The tutorial successfully teaches you the basic controls and gameplay, and the well-pitched difficulty curve means the gameplay remains challenging as you progress. The game rewards you with new mechanics, such as the addition of drum beats to tap or mandolins and harps that you need to strum in various ways. You jump, fall, strum, tap, and add other actions to create a moving orchestral performance, and later stages introduce more notes to each song, while demanding fewer mistakes. At the end of each three-level world, you need to fight Staccato in a boss battle. These levels require you to listen to sections of music and then repeat them back, note for note. Beating Staccato loses its appeal after the first few encounters, because it's mostly the same experience each time, and a greater variety of boss characters would have been more fun. Unfortunately, the story is short, and if you're familiar with rhythm games, it will take only a couple of hours to get through the game's 25 songs on the default level. Once you've completed the game, two harder difficulty levels are unlocked. These add more notes (and thus complexity) to each song and feature longer versions of each. The added difficulties ramp up the challenge and it’s likely to take multiple attempts to get through each one. In addition to the campaign mode, Maestro gives you the option of replaying individual songs, with or without being scored. The lack of multiplayer modes, however, is disappointing. It would have been fun to compete against a friend for the highest score, or play together as Presto and Belle in co-op, so this is something of a missed opportunity.

Maestro has some amusing characters, such as these puffer fish you have to tap in time to the beat.

Maestro's visuals are creative, from the animated characters to the vibrant environments. The backgrounds are interesting and varied, and your adventures will take you to jungles, oceans, a Venetian-inspired city, the Wild West, and even the depths of space. Presto has an undeniable charm, whether he is frantically flapping his wings to reach a higher note or taking a bow after each song. Each area features different enemies, from insects in the jungle to creatures of the deep, and they're all animated with amusing expressions, such as the Mexican bandit-style chicken called Chickenito, who throws his sombrero at you if you fail to hit him in time.

Maestro! Jump in Music is a fun and refreshing experience, combining rhythm and platforming into a cute adventure. While the story is short-lived, the soundtrack could do with more variety, and multiplayer is nonexistent, the additional difficulty levels offer plenty of replay value. If you're a fan of instrumental music or are looking for an interesting take on the music genre, then you should consider adding Maestro to your repertoire.
By Luke Anderson, GameSpot

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

The Good

* Exciting combat
* Good mission variety
* Full ability customization
* Challenge missions and multiplayer boost replayability
* Great presentation.

The Bad

* Some minor slowdown issues
* Spellcasting can be slow
* Finicky camera.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is a compelling action role-playing game that successfully blends Disney elements with an original cast and an absorbing plot that will both intrigue and surprise you. The game's fun battle system is exceptionally fast-paced, while new customization options, thrilling boss fights and an entertaining multiplayer mode will further hook you. 358/2 Days offers an enjoyable, nostalgic experience that never lets its simplicity or its occasional quirks undermine its appeal.

Tackle challenging heartless with ruthless combos and limit breaks.

The game's greatest draw is its gripping and beautifully simple story of friendship, which features some dynamic characters and a number of interesting twists. Rather than playing as series protagonist Sora, in 358/2 Days you assume role of Roxas, his "nobody": a mirror image bereft of memories. With nothing to cling to but a name and a dubious group called Organization XIII, Roxas hopes to recapture his past by defeating shadow monsters known as heartless. Plenty of familiar faces and Disney locales are faithfully woven into the story, but they never steal the plot's thunder as you unravel the Organization's dark secrets.

Unlike in previous games in the series, gameplay is broken up into challenging missions that let you set your own pace while encouraging exploration. Missions are staged throughout seven classic Disney worlds that are segmented, but you'll quickly encounter new areas to explore and fun platforming elements. You're afforded a lot of control over which tasks you accept, so you have the freedom to work on those that advance the story or dabble in extra assignments for greater rewards. Key tasks are sometimes repeated, which can get a little dull, but story events and surprise mini-bosses ensure that monotony rarely has a chance to set in. Other missions, such as exploring Agrabah's Cave of Wonders, increase immersion by altering objectives while you're on the field. For example, you might have to suddenly engage in aerial battles while searching for new heartless. A detailed map makes locating heartless easy, while a useful checkpoint system saves you from repeating objectives if you slip up.

The fun, fast-paced battle system occurs in real time and offers an exhilarating combat experience accentuated by combos. Comfortable controls and a variety of camera options make it easy to keep up with the action, while a convenient targeting mode frees you from hassling with the camera by locking it on a foe. A handy shortcut menu drastically cuts down on the amount of time spent cycling through items and spells in the midst of battle, which allows combat to flow smoothly in the toughest of fights. A fun chaining system rewards you with bonus points for defeating heartless within time restraints, adding a nice element of pressure. Lengthy combos, which are quick and easy to use, enliven the gameplay along with devastating limit breaks that you strategically activate when your health is low. Spellcasting is somewhat slow to respond, which is unfortunate when you're trying to heal yourself or a companion, but the only real annoyance is the minor slowdown you'll encounter when unleashing combos against large batches of foes. Crafty enemies keep combat enticing by employing a variety of effective tactics, such as repeatedly freezing you in place. Boss fights are especially fun and intense, with most bosses implementing clever tricks to test your mettle while requiring you to outmaneuver patterned attacks. Unfortunately, some bosses are so large that the camera hinders depth perception, but it's only slightly aggravating.

Roxas' abilities are governed through a unique grid-based panel system that lets you customize abilities according to your play style as you progress. It grants you the freedom to focus on one or a variety of different talents, such as magical prowess or speed, which is a refreshing level of personalization. Numerous panel types--from accessories to magic--directly impact your abilities when inserted into panel slots. You're also able to link panels by matching them up with special counterparts, providing drastic improvements. For example, linking a fire spell to a "double cast" panel lets you cast that spell twice. Though it may sound complex, the system is relatively easy to learn and lets you save different arrangements--such as one emphasizing magic and another focusing on physical attacks--as decks, so you can easily switch between strategies. The panel system's only oddity is that you're unable to tweak your abilities during missions, but this challenges you to use your limited slots effectively.

A great presentation reveals a new tale of friendship.

The impressive presentation features highly detailed environments that appropriately match their Disney sources. Moonlight filters through windows and shines on elaborate statuary decorating the Beast's castle, while Twilight Town's colorful sunset is soft and stunning. The 3D character models are comparable to their PlayStation 2 counterparts, which is a notable feat for the DS; however, texturing is a little muddled for character clothing, and jagged edges are noticeable. Some gorgeous cutscenes and good voicing highlight key plot elements, while the game's powerful, though largely recycled, soundtrack provides sweet melodies and invigorating battle music. The captivating opening theme, "Sanctuary," as performed by Japanese pop singer Utada Hikaru, is pulled from Kingdom Hearts II and sounds great. Sound effects, from explosions to the swipe of your keyblade, are clear and nicely embellish combat.

You'll spend roughly 30 hours completing the story mode, assuming you take the time to play through some practice missions and to search for cleverly hidden items. Unlockable challenge missions boost replayability by presenting you with tougher objectives while simultaneously restricting your abilities, such as having you defeat heartless without jumping. If you prefer more savage battles, you can adjust the difficulty level accordingly, which dramatically increases the game's intensity. A satisfying mission mode with a bevy of playable characters from Organization XIII lets you redo missions solo, or you can join up to three friends with their own copies of the game to show off your personalized combat style in co-operative play--a fun first for the series. Replaying missions from the story with friends at your side makes them significantly easier, but there's some fun to be had racing to collect coins before your friends get them all.

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days stays true to the series by utilizing a variety of popular Disney worlds, an enthralling plot, and classic gameplay freshened up with fully customizable abilities. Though it has a few minor faults, it remains a charming and rewarding adventure that's a real treat to play.
By Shiva Stella, GameSpot

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

The Good

* Funny story introduces some hysterical new characters
* Varied gameplay features plenty of creative puzzles
* Terrific array of moves and combos
* Badges and ranks are fresh additions
* Bright, vibrant visuals.

The Bad

* Not much replay value.

The story in most Mario games boils down to three things: Princess Peach is ransom fodder, the Mushroom Kingdom residents are hopeless at damage control, and Luigi treads that fine line between hero and zero. But though these elements have been in one combination or another in just about every Mario game for more than two decades, Nintendo has almost always managed to put some new spin on the classic Mario formula to keep the games fun and interesting. Case in point: the recently released Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, a fun and funny action role-playing game for the Nintendo DS that tosses Mario's longtime nemesis, Bowser, into the action as a playable character. The odd coupling of hero and surly shelled villain--who you just know is chomping at the bit to smash the mustachioed plumber--makes for not only comedy gold, but also a complete gold-star experience that's definitely deserving of your time and money.

The brothers prepare to do battle with Bowser's lunch.

The game finds the Mushroom Kingdom weathering its latest calamity: a mysterious ailment known as the blorbs, which causes the locals to balloon out to the point where they can't move. Mario and Luigi are called in to help, but when Bowser crashes the party, a series of sitcom-like shenanigans ensue that leave Peach, the brothers, a star sprite, some toads, and some magic pipes inside Bowser's belly. The villain behind it all is Lord Fawful, whom you might remember from Superstar Saga on the Game Boy Advance. He's a resident of the neighboring Bean Bean Kingdom and has designs on a powerful artifact buried beneath Toad Town. Fawful's evil intentions for the Mushroom Kingdom see him hijack Bowser's castle and brainwash the koopa king's minions. This leads Bowser to end up playing the role of unlikely hero in the adventure. His real motive is that he wants to be the only Peach kidnapper and mayhem bringer in town, but given the circumstances, no one's really complaining.

There's plenty of Nintendo's patented good-natured humor, which deftly walks the line between genuinely funny and cheesy as you progress through the story. The storytelling is kept fresh thanks to the inclusion of some new, eccentric faces that allowed the writers to have some fun. Fawful is a chatty, ungrammatical nightmare; Starlow the star sprite is helpful but surprisingly punchy; Bowser is a self-absorbed, impatient but likable jerk; and the two French block people, one of whom is looking for the perfect massage, are as funny as they are bizarre.

As you make your way through the story, your time is divided between controlling Bowser on the top screen and directing the brothers on the bottom screen. You'll usually be able to switch active control of Bowser and the brothers by simply hitting the buttons that correspond to them. The X and Y buttons are used for anything related to Bowser's attacks, while the A and B buttons are tied to the brothers. The control system is smooth and easy to use. This ease of use is a key component to many sequences where you'll have to make Bowser engage in activities to move things around in his guts to let the brothers get by. For example, sometimes you have to direct Bowser to chug water to shift some obstacles in his innards so the brothers can slip by, or position him in front of an X-ray machine to cause certain walls to disappear.

At the start of the adventure, Mario and Luigi are confined to Bowser's insides, which are miniature worlds unto themselves. The koopa king's roomy interior is broken up into areas that correspond to the different parts of his body. Initially, the brothers will spend the bulk of their time inside Bowser acting as his support staff and helping him deal with random physical problems as they arise. For example, you'll have to guide the pair to Bowser's throat and do some work to restore his flame breath. Later in the game, the brothers serve as a medical team and get some resuscitation going when heavy things, such as castles, fall on Bowser, which happens a lot more than you'd think. One of the side benefits of the internal work the brothers do is opening up more powers and abilities for Bowser to use. However, as you get further into the game, circumstances change and the boys are able to move in and out of Bowser's guts courtesy of the magic pipes he swallowed.

The action sticks closely to the basic template that has been set in the Mario & Luigi series since the first game appeared on the Game Boy Advance, albeit with some cool DS updates. Bowser and the brothers each have a number of different unique abilities that you can unlock over the course of the adventure. The brothers' abilities are mostly team-based actions, such as standing on each other's shoulders, using an air-filled Mario, burrowing underground, or smashing Mario into miniature size, to name a few. As always, new abilities let you access different areas and find the many secrets peppered throughout the land. When in combat, you can access a different set of combo moves that make up the brothers' chuckle-worthy special attacks. One noteworthy example sees you stuffing Luigi full of pastries so that he balloons out, and then tossing him in the air so he can slam down to the ground and damage your enemies. As with normal attacks, if you time your button presses right, you can do bonus damage to your targets, which is both satisfying and key during boss fights.

Subtlety has never been Bowser's strong suit.

When you're playing as Bowser, the action works in more or less the same way, but with a very cool twist. When you're exploring, the irritable monarch has fewer moves at his disposal than the brothers, and he's not big on subtlety. For example, when faced with an obstacle, Bowser can often stomp, slam, roll, or burn his way past it. When using Bowser in combat, you have a basic punch and flame attack, as well as a powerful breath attack that lets you inhale items or small enemies. The breath attack is handy for finding hidden block kittens spread throughout the world as well as for passing the buck in battles. When enemies are inhaled, they'll end up in Bowser's stomach, where Mario and Luigi can take them on, which makes for some interesting multipart battles. Bowser's special attacks differ from the brothers', thanks to his many minions. Each special attack uses a set of minions, such as goombas, koopas, and bob-ombs, and requires you to use the touch screen to perform the attack. Finally, Bowser has several unique combat sections in which he grows to Godzilla-like proportions. These require you to turn your DS on its side and use the touch screen and microphone to attack and to collect items. Bowser's size boost doesn't offer him too big an advantage over his enemies, though, since they're as big as he is and just about as mean. These sections offer a cool change of pace that adds to the game's already impressive amount of variety.

While the main story sends you through various locations in the Mushroom Kingdom to explore, battle, solve puzzles, and drive off Fawful, that isn't everything there is to do. One of the best aspects of the game is the variety of activities to take on. Over the course of the adventure, you have the option to solve puzzles, give massages, look for hidden items, and engage in minigames. The game's role-playing elements keep things simple and accessible. Bowser and the boys earn experience and level up as they progress. New to the leveling system is a ranking system that determines which gear you can equip on the characters and which shops you can buy gear from. Another new twist is the way that badges are implemented in battle. Badges are items you can purchase and equip on each brother, separately from gear, and they will offer a variety of effects depending on the badge combination. The only minor ding on the game's offerings is that, outside of going back to earn a secret rank, there isn't much reason to go back and replay the game once you've finished it.

On top of all this superb and varied gameplay, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story boasts a colorful and crisp art style, impressive character animation, and some whimsical audio design that's perfectly in keeping with other aspects of the game. It's a fun, accessible role-playing game for the DS that anyone with even a passing interest in the subject matter shouldn't miss.
By Ricardo Torres, GameSpot

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes

The Good

* Interesting take on match-three puzzle gameplay
* Lengthy Story mode
* Engaging RPG elements
* Colorful, attractive anime-style presentation.

The Bad

* Puzzle elements are a bit clunky
* Quick Battle and multiplayer don't offer any RPG-like progression.

Judging from the colorful anime characters and soothing soundtrack, you might mistake Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes for a Japanese-style console role-playing game. But it's actually a unique hybrid game that offers an RPG-like Story mode complete with character progression, quests, and items--plus some light strategy elements--all wrapped around match-three-style puzzle gameplay similar to that of Puzzle Quest. So you get a very substantial Story mode, plus single-player quick battles and multi- or single-cart multiplayer. And while Clash of Heroes' puzzle mechanics aren't always elegant, the meaty Story mode and RPG-like progression make it a great all-around package for those with any interest in both puzzle games and RPGs.

In Clash of Heroes, you'll engage in puzzle battles with armies of angels, demons, and knights.

Clash of Heroes takes several cues from the Heroes of Might and Magic strategy series for the PC--a classic set of hybrid strategy-RPG games that let you play as a hero character from one of several factions, each of which produced a different set of fabulous warriors and monsters of varying levels of power to join your hero's quest. On the off chance that you're a fan of the Heroes series, you'll be pleasantly surprised to see several references to it. For instance, various Heroes factions and critters, such as the mystical wizard's tower and the demonic inferno (and their assorted denizens) make an appearance here. And just like in the Heroes series, in this game, you play as a hero that gains experience levels, collects gold and resources, and hires more-powerful creatures from habitat structures as they become available.

However, the core of the game is its head-to-head, turn-based puzzle battles. Battles take place on two 8-by-6 grids, one on the upper DS screen and one on the lower screen, that are filled with military units of various colors. Your job is to use the few moves you have each turn to match identical units of the same color in specific patterns, such as horizontal lines, which builds a defensive wall between the screens. Walls shield you from attacks and have other properties depending on which hero you're playing (the nature-loving Sylvan heroes, for instance, have vine walls that grow bigger each turn). Matching three normal units vertically will charge them and set them to attack after they charge up for several rounds (different units have differing charge times with different damage levels and other properties). Once the timer runs down, they'll rush forward across DS screens and attack anything across from them, including enemy walls, enemy units, specific targets of opportunity located in some of the puzzle-like challenge missions, and, in many cases, enemy heroes. These units disappear forever, but they replenish your offscreen reserves of units, which you can reinforce by spending a move to call in more troops. You can also set yourself up for various attack bonuses by activating more than one group of the same color in the same turn, which is known as a link bonus, or by stacking two identical, activated units vertically on top of each other, which provides the even more powerful fusion bonus.

The turn-based puzzle system is challenging and satisfying once you figure it out.

Each hero can equip up to three different low-level units and has two additional slots in his army for more-powerful creatures, including elite units, which take up two vertical spaces, and champion units, which take up a 2-by-2 grid. Elite units require two identical low-level units of the same color lined up vertically beneath them to activate them for battle, while champion units require a 2-by-2 grid of four identical low-level units lined up, though once they're charged, some elite and champion units can turn the tide of battle, both because they have powerful abilities such as healing your hero while charging, ignoring walls, or obliterating idle enemy units, and also because they tend to be tougher than nonactivated units and can often soak up more damage than a wall. And aside from standard, elite, and champion units, your hero has a single, unique spell ability that is intended to be a game-changer (such as detonating all your existing walls into devastating fireball attacks). In addition, you may equip your choice of one artifact item (the actual list of available artifacts depends on your faction), which will provide a global bonus to your hero's units, walls, or health…or some other miscellaneous advantage. Choosing your unit loadout and artifacts (and in Story mode, choosing which elite and champion units to purchase with your limited funds), along with choosing your next move in each puzzle battle, add some strategic depth as well.



Starting to sound a little complicated? It takes some time to get used to how things work, though it's rewarding once you wrap your head around mechanics like walls, fusion attacks, link attacks, and spells. However, if you're a longtime puzzle game fan, you might find the gameplay to be a little clunky due to some minor issues. This is because your moves on the puzzle board are limited to picking up and dragging the bottom-most unit on any column, deleting a single unit anywhere on the board, or casting your hero's spell (which needs to be charged up by dealing or sustaining a sufficient amount of damage). There's also an artifact that one faction possesses that lets you pick up and move walls anywhere on the board, but that's it. Otherwise, there's no way to manipulate your units horizontally, and although you can earn additional moves each turn by pulling off a combination maneuver that ends up either forming a wall or charging units, sometimes you'll begin a battle with a bad layout with no combinations available and cumbersome units taking up too much space. In fact, most of the champion units in the game have such long charge times that their bulky 2-by-2 size makes them much more trouble than they're worth, since they'll often get killed off before you can fully charge them. Getting a bad layout can also kill your chances of winning Story mode's various boss battles, which throw creatively placed challenges or moving targets at you with very few turns to react. Still, with the exception of the trial-and-error nature of some of Story mode's boss battles, these problems aren't showstoppers--the game's complex battle system is otherwise very satisfying once you figure it out.

The real star of Clash of Heroes is the lengthy story mode, which offers RPG-like progression and boss battles.

What's even more satisfying is Clash of Heroes' Story mode, a well-written, colorful adventure that resembles the gameplay of the classic 16-bit console RPGs as you move your characters along an overland map to the tune of gentle symphonic music. In Story mode, you follow the adventures of five different plucky young heroes as they uncover a sinister plan to overrun the world with demons. The plot isn't necessarily original, but it's written well enough to make you care about these brave young warriors and want to see their motivations through to the end. An even greater incentive is the sense of progression as you gain experience levels for both your heroes and their armies, pick up new artifacts, and eventually end up crushing enemies that once overwhelmed you. In some cases, you're all but required to repeatedly fight random encounter battles to grind your armies up to a higher experience level, but otherwise, Story mode has a very good pace that lets you either rush through to the end or take your time--upward of 20 to 30 hours or more--to gain your levels and perform challenging side quests and puzzle missions that are always rewarding.

Aside from Story mode, Clash of Heroes offers a Quick Battle mode and multiplayer, which can be played with all five Story mode heroes, as well as five additional companion characters that you unlock in Story mode. In both Quick Battle and multiplayer, you start with your hero at the maximum level of 10 and with your units at the maximum level of 5. These matches are enjoyable enough, but they don't offer the incentive of continued progression that Story mode does--being victorious in a quick battle or in multiplayer doesn't earn you any kind of character progression or achievements. And as it turns out, not all of Clash of Heroes' factions are created equal--the wizard tower faction is noticeably more powerful than any other in the game thanks to its relatively quick-charging elite units and devastating spells, while the knight's castle faction ends up being the slowest and weakest of the bunch.

The puzzles and balance aren't perfect, but the RPG elements and colorful presentation add a lot to the game.

All things considered, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes has a lot going for it, including intriguing hybrid mechanics, callbacks to a classic strategy series, enjoyable puzzle battles, and a well-written story that could have come out of a vintage 16-bit RPG. Since the puzzle gameplay is an integral part of the battle system, and since the role-playing elements are the star of the game's main attraction--Story mode--you'll need to be a fan of both puzzle games and RPGs to get the most out of Clash of Heroes. However, if you are a fan of both game genres, you'll find a very good puzzle game and a great console RPG experience here.
By Andrew Park, GameSpot

Pokemon Platinum Version

The Good

* Same great Pokemon core mechanics
* Countless tweaks refine the experience
* Battle Frontier, Distortion World greatly extend replayability
* Almost 60 Pokemon added to Sinnoh's native Pokedex.

The Bad

* Limited, simplistic minigames in Wi-Fi Plaza
* Heavily recycled material from Diamond/Pearl
* Story could use sprucing up.

Two things are certain in the crazy world of Pokemon: Somehow these adorable creatures trigger an undeniable urge to collect 'em all, and every new generation of games ultimately spawns a special edition with additional features. Usually these new editions rely on cheesy gimmicks, but Pokemon Platinum's gameplay is much more refined than that of its predecessors, Diamond and Pearl. The focus is still on classic, addictive battling, but Platinum also incorporates several new areas and an impressive array of subtle changes, making it the best of the bunch despite heavily recycled content.

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Platinum maintains the franchise's traditional elements, including a cozy (if banal and predictable) backstory with some slight adjustments. You select your character's gender, receive your first Pokemon from the local Professor Rowan, and embark on your own adventure--exploring the land of Sinnoh's vivid countryside and meddling in the affairs of the laughable Team Galactic. Two new characters extend the returning plot, providing interesting details about the new areas and Pokemon forms, but they add little overall.

The majority of the gameplay follows the series' tried-and-true formula for a pleasantly nostalgic journey. You travel with a team of six Pokemon and engage other trainers and wild Pokemon in simple, turn-based battles. Each creature has four moves based on elemental types, such as fire and water, and the goal is to capitalize on your opponent's elemental weakness. These ability types form the basis of a rock-paper-scissors mechanic that encourages you to catch a variety of Pokemon to tackle any opponent, providing the foundation of the game's highly addictive nature. Capturing Pokemon adds them to your collection and expands your Pokedex's Pokemon data, which now boasts almost 60 new creatures, though you're still spending most of your time battling the same old Pokemon.

Facing off against the game's huge selection of Pokemon masters is now even more challenging and fun. Pokemon gyms have been redesigned to incorporate interesting minipuzzles, and gym leaders, important trainers, and even the Elite Four have all had their Pokemon lineups adjusted to reflect the expanded Pokedex. You're now able to retackle gym leaders and the Elite Four, and both groups feature more-advanced Pokemon for your rematches, which keeps you on your toes and offers a more lasting challenge. New, special trainers appear in Pokemon centers for entertaining combat practice, and their fights can also be repeated.

And so your Pokemon adventure begins. Again.

The new Battle Frontier, in which you'll tackle your most difficult foes for rare prizes, is the game's most impressive and addictive feature. It's been tweaked since its Pokemon Emerald debut to house five battle facilities, such as the popular Battle Tower, and plenty of new restrictions to test your mettle, including back-to-back battles and sharp limits that curtail your Pokemon usage. The Wi-Fi Club, which enables you to battle registered friends via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, now uses a clearer visual interface and lets you and a friend go through the Battle Frontier together, pairing up against trainers from all over the world--another of the game's most enjoyable elements. If you ever grow weary of Wi-Fi battles or the Battle Frontier, you can visit the new Distortion World, wherein you have to traverse floating platforms and endure deliberately confusing camera perspectives en route to an exciting battle with the famed Giratina's new origin form.

Trading, the other half of Pokemon, is just as fun and addictive as catching your own creatures. The Global Trade Station, renamed the Global Terminal, has been slightly expanded to better facilitate trades over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, which enables you to trade without meeting other players. A neat new e-mail feature exclusive to Platinum will contact your Wii account when a Pokemon that you've listed for trade has been accepted, saving you time that you'd ordinarily spend rechecking your listings on the DS. The terminal has also received a new Battle Videos feature with which you can take advantage of the new Vs Recorder and submit videos of you battling against friends or in the Battle Frontier. You can upload videos for ranking and share them with friends, which is great for those times when you wished a friend could have witnessed your astounding victory or hilarious defeat.

It's unsurprising that the game looks much the same as its immediate predecessors, though there have been some slight graphical improvements. Pokemon animations have been somewhat refined and perform flashy moves shortened for brevity; however, the text speed is still too slow even on the fastest setting, which can make battles tedious regardless of whether or not you turn off attack animations. Colorful environments feature several redesigned areas, and you can now clearly see footprints and bike tracks as you scurry along pretty seaside beaches. Unfortunately, battle screens are still rather barren and Pokemon cries feel very outdated.

Visit the new Distortion World to battle the legendary Giratina's new form.

Though most of Platinum's content is recycled from the Diamond and Pearl games, the Battle Frontier and numerous tweaks applied to even the smallest of elements manage to make it feel fresh. Pokemon Platinum's rich gameplay and extensive replayability create a highly satisfying adventure that's well worth taking for newcomers and Pokemaniacs alike.
By Shiva Stella, GameSpot

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Review

At first glance, Chinatown Wars could be mistaken for a return to the Grand Theft Auto series' humble 2D beginnings. The action is viewed from a more or less top-down perspective, and of course you still spend much of your time driving stolen cars and causing trouble with firearms. But the similarities between this superb Nintendo DS game and its '90s progenitors pretty much end there. Chinatown Wars actually has more in common with GTAs III and IV than it does with earlier games, and, remarkably, it even adds to and improves on the formula that made those games so successful. That's a bold statement for sure, but Chinatown Wars really is that good.

Liberty City is almost as impressive on the DS as it is in GTAIV.

Set in the same instantly recognizable Liberty City as GTAIV (minus one island), Chinatown Wars tells the story of a power struggle within the Triad gangs from the perspective of Huang Lee, whose crime-boss father has recently been murdered. Huang flies to Liberty from Hong Kong to avenge his father, and predictably becomes embroiled in the war between those hoping to step into the dead man's shoes. As Huang, you advance the story--which should take you about nine hours to play through--by undertaking missions for a number of different characters within the Triad organization, as well as for one or two people outside of it. Many of these missions involve the usual mix of driving fast, killing people, and not getting caught by the cops, but there are plenty of varied and memorable missions as well, a number of which put the touch screen to great use.

For the most part, Chinatown Wars plays just like any other GTA game, which is an achievement in itself. Basic controls for movement and car-jacking are mapped to the same button positions that they are on other platforms. The uncomplicated on-foot and vehicle controls are largely the same (sprint becomes accelerate, shoot is still shoot), so even those of you with no prior GTA experience should have no trouble picking them up quickly. There are some great options to make the game even more user-friendly as well, such as autotargeting for drive-by shootings and a subtle steering assist that automatically straightens up your vehicle so that it's parallel with the road that you're on. There's even an option to superimpose GPS directions directly onto the street, which works a lot better than having to look down at the map on the bottom screen.

One downside to Chinatown Wars being so uncompromising in its attempt to replicate the GTA experience is that, because the DS has fewer buttons than other systems, you're occasionally required to use the touch screen at inopportune times. It's not a big problem, but despite the fact that it's implemented well, having to use the touch screen to both switch between weapons and to throw projectile weapons such as grenades, Molotov cocktails, and flashbangs is a little unwieldy. It's unfortunate, because elsewhere in the game the touch screen really adds to the experience, with minigames that let you take a more hands-on approach to tasks that otherwise wouldn't be interactive at all. For example, when you attempt to steal a parked car, there's a good chance that you'll have to complete one of three minigames to get it started: rotating a screwdriver in the ignition, entering an immobilizer PIN, or unscrewing a panel on the steering column and hot-wiring. More imaginative touch-screen minigames include making your own Molotov cocktails at the gas station, tattooing gang recruits, searching Dumpsters for weapons and discarded food, and using a salvage boat's sonar to search for drug shipments lost at sea, to name but a few. What all of these minigames have in common is that they're quick, fun, rarely challenging enough to halt your progress, and are mandatory only once.

Story missions are also mandatory only once, but Chinatown Wars is the first game in the series to let you replay any mission that you've beaten previously in an attempt to achieve a higher score or a faster time. Another great addition for missions is the "trip skip" option that, if you choose to retry an eligible mission immediately after failing it, lets you bypass the road trip at the start of the mission and get right back into the action that killed you on your last attempt. None of the missions are so difficult that you should fail them more than once or twice, but this is a welcome feature nonetheless, and one that will hopefully be implemented in other GTA games down the road.

There are dozens of different vehicles, and they all handle differently.

When you're not carrying out missions handed to you by central characters and by random pedestrians that you encounter, there are an impressive number of other things to do in Liberty City, some old, some new. For example, stealing a cop car, an ambulance, a cab (you can hail these by whistling into the mic if you really want to), a fire truck, or a noodle delivery van will give you the option to make some money impersonating those vehicles' rightful owners. And if you successfully steal a delivery van that's being used to transport drugs or weapons and get it back to one of your secluded safe houses, you get to keep its contents. Weapons can be tricky to obtain this way because the Ammu-Nation drivers are invariably well armed. But stealing drugs is far less challenging, and if you get them for free then making a profit is inevitable when you meet with any of the 80 dealers who, once you find them, can be traded with to make relatively easy money. That's provided that there are no police in the immediate vicinity, because they'll either spook the dealer before you can make the deal or wait for you to close it and then move in to make arrests. Interacting with a dealer in any way adds him to your GPS system's database for future reference, so anytime you see a telltale blue dot on your map, it's well worth a quick detour to check it out.

Other things to look out for in Liberty City include parked vehicles that initiate checkpoint races and delivery missions when you climb into them, unique stunt jumps that are set up so that you can crash through billboards, a go-kart race track, and 100 security cameras that can be destroyed using grenades or Molotovs. Chinatown Wars also sees the welcome return of Rampage missions, which are against-the-clock killing sprees that challenge you to kill a certain number of enemies using a specific weapon, sometimes with an AI-controlled henchman or two at your side.


Incidentally, weapons are in plentiful supply, and can be ordered from Ammu-Nation's Web site using your in-game PDA. There are more than 20 different weapons to play with in Chinatown Wars, including everything from fists, flashbangs, and flamethrowers to swords, shotguns, and sniper rifles. Most weapons fall into either the ranged (lock on and hit A), melee (lock on and hit A), or thrown (determine range and direction with touch screen) classes as far as controls go, and all perform their jobs admirably. The sniper rifle is unique in that it comes into play only in specific missions, must be assembled via a touch-screen minigame before use, and turns the entire top screen into a crosshair. Proximity mines that you drop at your feet are also a fun addition to the GTA arsenal, though they remain armed for only a few seconds before they explode without provocation. The most powerful weapons become readily available only toward the end of the game, which is just as well because as soon as you get your hands on a flamethrower or an armful of flashbangs, they make subsequent missions much easier.


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Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Review

This isn't just a DS version of GTA; this is a fantastic game that advances the series by introducing a number of great new features.
The Good

* Doesn't feel like a compromise compared to other GTA games
* Improves upon previous games with new features
* The massive Liberty City from GTAIV is instantly recognizable
* Intuitive controls make great use of touch screen
* Lengthy story, loads of optional activities, and fun multiplayer modes.

The Bad

* Multiplayer supports only two people
* Camera doesn't always afford you a clear view of action.

With so many readily available weapons, the Liberty City Police Department is an ever-present danger, and they're quick to give chase if they witness you doing anything untoward. Similarly to previous GTA games, a rating of between one and six stars lets you know how badly the police want to get their hands on you. The more trouble you cause the higher your rating, and the higher your rating the more cops will come after you. With a one-star rating, you rarely have more than one or two patrol cars on your case, but by the time you get up to the maximum six stars, you can expect roadblocks, search helicopters, and riot vans.

Traditionally, getting away from the police in a GTA game has involved outrunning them, finding a secluded spot to lay low, or ducking into a Pay 'n Spray auto shop to give your car a makeover. You could fight the police if you really wanted to, but your aggression would generally just anger them more. In Chinatown Wars, you have an additional option that turns the old system on its head to some degree, and the resulting car chases are better than those in any previous game as a result. The new system is simple but immensely satisfying; if you have a three-star wanted rating, destroying three cop cars will knock it down to a two-star rating, and so on. You can destroy the cop cars either by crashing into them at great speed or by racing around and narrowly missing environmental obstacles in the hope that they'll make a mistake and crash themselves. The key thing to remember is that you have to destroy the cop cars without actually killing the cops inside, so stepping out of your vehicle with a rocket launcher isn't the way to play on this occasion.

Wrecking police cars to escape from them makes cop chases more fun than ever.

The in-game camera does a superb job of following you around for the most part, and you can reposition it behind yourself at any time with a quick tap of the left shoulder button, but it seems unavoidable that your view will still be obscured from time to time. There are a lot of tall buildings in some neighborhoods that get in the way when the camera is slow to reposition itself, and good luck if you're involved in a gunfight while surrounded by trees--you won't be able to see much of anything. The verticality of Liberty City's architecture adds to its already impressive sense of scale, but occasionally it gets in the way of the gameplay.

On the subject of gameplay, taking advantage of the local multiplayer support for two people in Chinatown Wars is arguably even more fun than playing through the story. Support for more players or via Wi-Fi would be welcome, of course, but there's a great selection of modes here that are a blast in spite of the low player count. There are races that almost always involve you destroying one another's vehicles or ditching them when you find a faster vehicle, especially if you opt for the Death Race variant and set the default vehicles as tanks. There's a Stash Dash mode in which you rush across the city and fight for the controls of a delivery van, after which you attempt to make deliveries while your opponent does anything they can to stop you. And there's a surprisingly fun one-on-one deathmatch mode called Liberty City Survivor that's action-packed from start to finish because police are watching your every move and are quick to join the fray the moment you give them an excuse to. Defend the Base mode challenges you to work together and prevent a number of targets that are coming under fire from being destroyed for a period of time, and Gang Bang is an objective-based game in which you're each accompanied by a number of henchmen and take turns to attack and defend your respective assets. Gang Bang games can take a long time because the winner not only needs to destroy a series of objectives, but must also plant a bomb that takes several seconds--an eternity when you're unable to defend yourself--to arm. There's a small problem in Gang Bang mode that results in characters sometimes wearing the colors of the opposing team rather than their own, but--like all of the multiplayer modes--it's still a lot of fun if players are evenly matched.

In addition to local multiplayer support, Chinatown Wars offers Wi-Fi functionality that doesn't involve head-to-head gameplay, but is still pretty neat in its own right. After exchanging friend codes with other players, you can send messages to each other in-game, trade weapons and other items, and even exchange GPS locations that you've marked as favorites. If you connect to the Rockstar Social Club, you can also upload your in-game stats to the site's leaderboards and, purportedly, unlock bonus missions that unfortunately were not available for us to check out at the time of this review.

Hot-wiring cars is one of the many minigames you play on the touch screen.

It's hard to imagine anyone with even passing interest in Chinatown Wars not having a great time with it, but what's even more impressive than the open-world gameplay is the quality of its presentation. Technically, no other DS game even comes close to achieving what Chinatown Wars has by squeezing GTAIV's Liberty City onto the system. And that feat is made all the more impressive by the clean, black-outlined art style and staggering level of detail that's evident on every inch of the map. Cutscenes are impressive in a different way; they're not animated or voiced, but the quality of the stylized illustrations is uniformly high, and the series' dark and self-referential humor is evident in practically every line of conversation.

Chinatown Wars' audio also does very little wrong. Five radio stations offer instrumental rock, electronic, dub, hip-hop, and jazz tracks that either complement or serve as perfect counterpoints to the action depending on which you listen to. Furthermore, every item in the city appears to have a believable sound effect associated with it, whether it be the shattering of glass when you destroy a bus stop, the squelch of a pedestrian becoming a roadkill statistic, the satisfying spin of a minigun, or something as mundane as the thud of a traffic cone being displaced.

Assassin's Creed II: Discovery Review

It's hard to imagine how the freestyle climbing and satisfying stealth kills of the Assassin's Creed series could be successfully translated into a 2D platformer, yet developer Griptonite has done exactly that. Fantastic animations and fast-paced running and leaping make Discovery both fun to watch and fun to play, and familiar visual and audio touches will make franchise fans feel right at home. Nevertheless, Ezio's first handheld adventure is somewhat of a missed opportunity. The last few levels are stale rather than stimulating, and the story fades away just when things start to get interesting. But even if Discovery isn't all it could have been, its enjoyable mix of sneaking, jumping, and dramatic kills is entertaining for the few hours that it lasts.

Run, jump, and kill: a classic combo.

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The most essential difference between Discovery and its cousins is that while every game in the franchise has thus far been rendered in 3D, this one sticks to two dimensions. Given the troubles apparent in the other handheld Assassin's Creed games, this was a smart move. Rather than being shoehorned as is onto a platform that can't replicate them properly, the series' signature features have been rearranged to suit the DS, and the results are solid. Ezio still leaps fluidly and scales tall towers, and in a nod to Sonic the Hedgehog, he picks up speed as he runs, which enables him to leap across wider chasms. Unfortunately, the snappy platforming takes a back seat to stealth and combat in the second half of the game, but there are multiple chances for you to build up speed and zoom across the rooftops in the earlier levels. As long as you don't mistime your jumps and plummet to your death (or leap onto a lower ledge and have to do the sequence all over again), there's a bit of sprightly fun to be had as you sprint your way toward the next objective.

Assassin's Creed's combat mechanics have also been faithfully interpreted. If an enemy's back is turned toward you, you can slink up and assassinate him in a single move. The camera zooms in, Ezio plunges his blade into his foe, and the victim slips to the ground. When face-to-face with your target, you can slash, block, and counter. Standard attacks don't feel quite right; you can't string your swings together into combos, and Ezio appears to sheathe his sword after every swipe. But timing-based counterkills are enormously satisfying and are treated with the same cinematic flair as stealth kills. The satisfaction is almost entirely due to the terrific animations that accompany these deadly moves. Not only do they resemble those seen in Discovery's console counterparts, but they're fantastically slick on their own terms. Watching Ezio leap onto an archer during a high-profile assassination or plunge his sword into a Templar during a well-timed counter is always a treat.

It's raining arrows. Hallelujah!

Levels come in three different flavors: regular, speed, and stealth. You may complete regular missions in any way you like, taking enemies straight on, climbing around them, or sneaking up on them for a silent kill. In speed missions, you have limited time to get from one location to another, so it's best to avoid encounters altogether. (Not to mention, you're often besieged by a flurry of arrows as you rush to your destination). Stealth missions limit the number of times you can be caught, forcing you to sneak about to the best of your abilities. The mission types offer a nice variety, but the levels themselves weren't built with the greatest care. You'll make blind jumps from time to time, sometimes landing in a cartful of hay you didn't know was there; you'll pull levers but the game won't show you what door the lever just opened; and some stealth missions feature speed-run portions that seem out of place, given how careful you must be not to get caught. The level design flaws culminate in the final missions, in which you navigate walls and platforms that feel randomly placed, only to pull a lever and backtrack your way through areas you've already seen--and possibly with new foes spawned in them.

The levels would have felt more comfortable if Discovery's minimap were helpful, but the map is essentially enemy radar that reflects only the area immediately around Ezio. Free-running in certain levels would have been a lot more fun with a map that helped you anticipate enemies in your path, and finding the best route to your objectives in the more convoluted levels would have similarly benefited. Yet in spite of some issues with navigation, you'll occasionally perform a sequence of slick moves, often accidentally. You might leap onto a platform just behind a guard and then slide your blade into him before he turns around and becomes aware of your presence. Or perhaps you'll scale a wall and find a guard standing just above you, practically waiting for you to grab him and throw him to his death. Some of these moments occur without planning, but the smooth kills make them extra sweet.

Never turn your back on a guy in a robe.

The adventure isn't very long--five hours or so--but it's entertaining while it lasts, partially because it stars Ezio, the charming hero of Assassin's Creed II. The story relies too much on your investment in the franchise's Assassins-versus-Templars construct, but things get more interesting when talk turns to Christopher Columbus and the Spanish monarchs that finance his journey. Impressively, every line of dialogue is voiced, and while not every minor character is voiced as well as Ezio, the full voicing goes a long way toward keeping you interested. Sadly, the story is over just as it gets going, and the credits roll without any real sense of payoff.

In spite of its flaws, Assassin's Creed II: Discovery does a good job of bringing the Assassin's Creed vibe to a handheld platform. The scope is condensed but the spirit remains, thanks to fluid combat animations, familiar sound effects, and little touches, like cowering citizens, that pay homage to the vibrant cities of the console games. It's got its share of quirks, but Discovery is the first right step toward fitting a world of secret assassins and crazy conspiracies in your pocket.
By Kevin VanOrd, GameSpot

The long-running Megami Tensei franchise has seen many incarnations, from the stylish detective adventures of Raidou Kuzunoha to the school-sim-slash-dungeon-crawlers action of the recent Persona games. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, the latest game in the stygian series, is, like many of its predecessors, an odd concoction of mechanisms from a variety of genres. But despite the seemingly disparate styles of gameplay it contains, Devil Survivor is a superb role-playing experience with a surprisingly mutable storyline that hardened veterans and series neophytes alike can enjoy.

Battle is a combination of tactical RPG movement and first-person RPG combat.

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In the midst of a hot Tokyo summer, the city is plunged into chaos when a series of mysterious accidents force the government to lock everything down under quarantine. With the military preventing any entry or exit, the people trapped inside are left defenseless against the demonic forces that have begun to run rampant--all except for you. Armed with customized portable computers called COMPs received from your reclusive hacker cousin, you and your friends have gained the ability to summon demons of your own. But even with your newfound powers, escaping Tokyo and surviving what may be the end of the world are going to take time--time that you don't have much of.

You see, time in Devil Survivor is a harsh mistress that waits for no one. With utter catastrophe rumored to strike in seven days, you'll be investigating the various districts of Tokyo for possible escape routes all while trying to find ways to keep your life from being cut even shorter. Exploration is performed from a map screen menu, and you can easily chat up the locals, take a peek around, or ask your party members for input at almost any time. Though there are usually a number of potential areas to check out, story missions and battles are clearly labeled, which ensures you always know where to go next at the unfortunate cost of making every other area completely useless. It's important to prioritize your schedule, as each mission activated costs a half hour of your day, and some are available only within a certain window of opportunity. Devil Survivor does a good job of easing you into this system, but by the second day you'll have to make some hard decisions about which of the disparate storylines you want to follow. Not to go into too much detail to avoid spoilers, but your actions will not only affect which of the many endings are available to you, but a number of other powerful life and death moments along the way.

Battles play a huge part in Devil Survivor, and thanks to a unique hybrid combat system, they're both fun and highly strategic. In typical tactical role-playing-game fashion, your party of up to four characters--each supported by two summoned demons--alternately takes turns with your enemies at maneuvering around on an isometric grid. Once you're within range, you attack your foes in a first-person perspective a la Dragon Quest, where you input your actions through a menu and watch how they pan out. Demons are vulnerable to certain types of attacks depending on their type, and by exploiting these weaknesses or scoring a critical hit, you're able to follow up your initial assault with a second round.

When not actively engaging your foes, you can scout out their weaknesses to better plan your attacks, and if a battle goes south, healing spells can be cast and lost allies can be revived or replaced with benchwarmers on the fly. Though many of your battles will have the straightforward goal of eliminating all of your enemies, mission objectives have a surprising amount of variety. You'll also find yourself defending specific targets, preventing enemies from escaping, escorting civilians to safety, fighting bosses, and more. Mission lengths aren't too egregious for a portable experience, but if you do find yourself short on time, you can save mid-battle at nearly any time to continue later on.

If you're short on demons, you can always buy new ones in the Devil Auction.

Devil Survivor boasts an impressive amount of character customization, and if you ever have difficulty with a particular mission, you can always redistribute your abilities to try a different angle. As you progress through the game, you will battle new types of demons and add their powers to your skill list, which you can then assign out to any of your human characters. Skills fall into three categories--commands that can be used on the field or during combat, passive abilities that are always active, and those that are automatically activated at the start of a battle--and while up to seven can be distributed per character, you can't assign out the same one twice. Each character's stats grow differently as they level up, making them more or less effective at certain types of attacks, so it's important to make sure that their squad of demons compliments their style of combat.

From the city map, you're able to spend your hard-earned macca (the currency of the netherworld) on new servants through the Devil Auction system by bidding on their services or buying them outright. Demons level up alongside their masters in combat, but to truly unlock their potential you've got to fuse them together to create even more powerful netherworld denizens. Optimizing your army is a fun and addictive way to pass the time, and it's never been simpler thanks to a searchable fusion database that cuts chance out of the equation entirely. Furthermore, by fusing demons you can elect to pass on more desirable skills to the product of your experiments. By effectively pairing up demons with demon tamers, you can create powerhouse teams to thrash your enemies.

Fans of the Shin Megami Tensei series who have come to expect top-notch presentation in its games will no doubt be pleased with what they see and hear in Devil Survivor. The artwork is stylish and full of personality, and though some of the demons will be familiar to the Atlus faithful, there are plenty of new ones to spice things up. Character sprites are well animated, breathing a surprising amount of life into their pixels, and the battlefields do a fantastic job of showing a slowly decaying city as it falls apart. The J-rock music style that infuses Devil Survivor's soundtrack further emphasizes this sense of crawling chaos with its gritty, urban sound, and it helps to add a great deal of atmosphere to the battles and storytelling. It's a pity that there isn't any voice acting to further complement the adventure.

Exploit enemy weaknesses to get extra turns.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor is a thoroughly enjoyable role-playing game with a ton of atmosphere and style. By streamlining many of the series' trademark features and making them more accessible, Atlus has crafted a gameplay experience that longtime fans and relative newcomers alike can enjoy; by weaving multiple subplots into the overall narrative that can't all be explored in a single play-through, they've left plenty to do on subsequent replays. If you're looking for a riveting portable adventure, then look no further: Devil Survivor will take over your life and leave you begging for more.
By Lark Anderson, GameSpot