CASTLEVANIA: DAWN OF SORROW --------- (++)


Quality Index: 9.0 (MASTERPIECE)

Gamestats Score: 9.1
IGN Score: 9.3
Gamespy Score: 9.0
Gamespot Score: 8.9
Metacritic Score: 8.9

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (commonly abbreviated DoS) is the title of a video game for the Nintendo DS handheld game console, part of Konami's popular Castlevania franchise. The game was first released in August 2005 in Japan. It should be noted that "Dawn of Sorrow" is a play on "DS", the system that this game has been released on, (a subtitling structure that has been used for other games released for the system). This game is known in Japan as Demon Castle Dracula: Cross of the Blue Moon (悪魔城ドラキュラ 蒼月の十字架 Akumajō Dracula: Sōgetsu no Jūjika). The subtitle is also based on "Aria of Sorrow", known as "Minuet of Dawn" in Japan.

The game is a direct sequel to Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, with Soma Cruz as its protagonist; other characters from Aria of Sorrow also appear in the game, including Genya Arikado and Julius Belmont. It takes place one year after Aria of Sorrow and deals with an enigmatic cult (unrelated to the cult led by Aria of Sorrow antagonist Graham Jones) who seeks to kill Soma and revive the dark power of Dracula sleeping inside him, as a sort of retribution for Soma 'denying his destiny' in becoming the Dark Lord incarnate in the previous game. In the cult's mind, Dracula represents the ultimate evil that must exist for there to be an ultimate good, and with the Dark Lord sealed, that can't happen. Instead of running from this new threat, however, Soma decides to take the initiative and confront his foes head-on, eventually discovering a castle and monsters similar to those owned by Dracula, supposedly constructed by the cult as the scene for the ritual required to sacrifice Soma and revive the vampire lord.

The game also features most of Aria of Sorrow's main gameplay, including the "Enemy Soul system" (Soma's ability to absorb enemies' souls and use their powers). This time Soma can upgrade most abilities by acquiring multiple copies of the same soul. New to the series is the "Magic Seal" system, which makes use of the system's touch screen. Using a finger or stylus, the player must draw an intricate symbol or "seal" on the touch screen to trap defeated boss enemies. If the seal is not drawn correctly, the boss can regenerate energy and continue to fight. The touch screen can also be used to break certain blocks, navigate menus, and control certain familiars.

MARIO & LUIGI: PARTNERS IN TIME ---------- (+)



Quality Index: 8.8 (EXCELLENT)

Gamestats Score: 8.8
IGN Score: 9.0
Gamespy Score: 9.0
Gamespot Score: 8.9
Metacritic Score: 8.6

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time is a role playing video game developed by AlphaDream for the Nintendo DS system. It is the sequel to Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and the fifth game in the Mario RPG series. Its graphics and general style greatly resemble those of its predecessor.

In the introductory sequence, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi are on their way to a playdate with Baby Peach when they come upon Baby Bowser trying to kidnap the princess. However, after defeating the future Koopa King (who refers himself as Prince at this point of time) the castle becomes besieged by UFOs.

Back in the present, news has spread that E. Gadd has invented a time machine, powered by the Cobalt Star, and Princess Peach is using it to visit the past. But when the time machine returns, it is occupied not by the princess, but an alien creature. Thankfully, the Mario Brothers were around to defeat the alien. After beating the alien, the brothers come upon a time hole, a rift in the time/space continuum connecting the present with the past. Both brothers end up in the past, along with the sentient suitcase Stuffwell, where they meet up with more of the alien forces, now attacking HolliJolli village. The brothers do well against the invaders, but a UFO overhead blasts the brothers with a giant energy orb, incapacitating them...

NEED FOR SPEED UNDERGROUND 2 ---------- (-)

Quality Index: 6.8 (WEAK)

Gamestats Score: 7.3
IGN Score: 7.0
Gamespy Score: 6.0
Gamespot Score: 7.2
Metacritic Score: 6.5

The world of late-night illegal street racing comes to the Nintendo DS with EA Games’ NEED FOR SPEED UNDERGROUND 2. The game includes a variety of cars, tracks, and upgrades plus all of the exciting night racing NEED FOR SPEED fans have come to expect from the UNDERGROUND series.

Players start the career mode of the game by selecting one of two cars, both of which need some work. Only by winning races and points, however, will players be able to upgrade their cars or purchase new ones. New cars are unlocked, as well, so racers will always have a few new options. Visual upgrades are also unlocked, giving players the option of changing a car’s paint job, equipping custom rims, and adding other visual options that don’t affect the car’s statistics.

In addition to the career mode, the game also includes standard racing and a challenge mode. Here, players will participate in a number of challenges, including beating the clock, knockout races that eliminate the last place car each lap, and own the zone, where racers speed through zones to claim the fastest time and, thus, ownership of the zone.

There’s also a drag racing mode that tests a player’s ability to shift and avoid obstacles while at high speed. Racing gamers and fans of the NEED FOR SPEED series who have been waiting for the series to hit the DS need wait no longer. NEED FOR SPEED UNDERGROUND 2 is sure to satisfy their night-racing craving.

PAC-PIX ---------- (0)

Quality Index: 7.3 (PASSABLE)

Gamestats Score: 7.8
IGN Score: 8.0
Gamespy Score: 6.0
Gamespot Score: 6.9
Metacritic Score: 7.1

Pac-Pix is a video game starring one of the most recognizable characters in the industry, Pac-Man, for the Nintendo DS. Pac-Pix deviates from the original Pac-Man formula of being chased around a maze by Ghost monsters, and instead reverses the roles where Pac-Man is now the hunter. Namco makes extensive use of the system's touchscreen feature, as the objective is to have the user draw a Pac-Man to devour the on-screen monsters. The user maneuvers his creation around the playing field by drawing walls, which in turn direct the Pac-Man in a new direction towards the monsters.

The game has a very precise detection system. If you do not draw a proper disc-shape in the proper order (Starting with the mouth), your creation will fail and you must start over. Like-wise, depending on what size one makes their creation, the Pac-Man will move at varying speeds.

YOSHI TOUCH & GO ---------- (0)

Quality Index: 7.6 (PASSABLE)

Gamestats Score: 7.9
IGN Score: 8.8
Gamespy Score: 7.0
Gamespot Score: 7.2
Metacritic Score: 7.3


Yoshi Touch & Go, known in Japan as Catch! Touch! Yoshi! (キャッチ!タッチ!ヨッシー!), is a video game that was developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS in 2005. The game revolves around Yoshi and Baby Mario. Its graphical style and cast of characters originate from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. The game heavily utilizes the DS's touch screen capabilities and uses the microphone as well. The stylus is used to capture enemies and items in bubbles, draw clouds that can be used as guiding walls, shoot eggs, and to make Yoshi jump. The microphone can be blown into to "blow away" all of the clouds drawn on the screen.

The challenge in the game comes from replaying the same modes over and over to get the best score possible, similar to the classic arcade games of the 1980s. Therefore, the difficulty of the game differs depending on how well the player chooses to play. The game can be fairly easy if the player chooses to get a low score, and highly difficult if they want to get a high one. Some of the skills that the game requires for high level play are reflexes, multitasking, planning ahead and grace under pressure.

The game begins with three gameplay modes: Score Attack, Marathon, and the multiplayer V.S. mode. After getting the high score in the Score Attack and Marathon modes, Time Attack and Challenge modes are unlocked, respectively. After the high score on these two modes are achieved, the mini-game "Balloon Trip" is unlocked.

THE URBZ: SIMS IN THE CITY ---------- (0)

Quality Index: 7.1 (PASSABLE)

Gamestats Score: 7.3
IGN Score: 7.0
Gamespy Score: ---
Gamespot Score: 7.3
Metacritic Score: 6.7

The Urbz: Sims in the City is a video game for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox consoles, as well as the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS portable systems. It is the third Sims game for video game consoles. The next release for consoles and handhelds was the console port of The Sims 2.

The goals of The Urbz: Sims in the City involve becoming popular with the Urbz (Sims in the game) living in nine different neighborhoods of SimCity. To achieve this, a player must buy and wear the right clothing, and learn social interactions by completing quests.

RAYMAN DS ---------- (-)

Quality Index: 5.8 (WEAK)

Gamestats Score: 6.5
IGN Score: 6.0
Gamespy Score: 3.0
Gamespot Score: 6.0
Metacritic Score: 5.8


Razorbeard is a pirate who captures Rayman and his friends. He leads a huge army of henchmen who are enslaving the inhabitants of Rayman's world, eventually taking Rayman himself. After Rayman and his best friend Globox escape, they track down the fairy Ly and find out that the robots have destroyed the world's core. The only way to fix the mess is to collect the Lums (the parts of the core) and find four masks that can wake up a sleeping god Pokulus, who can destroy the robots.

Rayman is not alone in the game. He is helped by the good, but sensitive Globox who has the power to perform a magic Raindance. In the final battle of Rayman 2, Rayman must fight Razorbeard, in order to free the world of the evil pirates.

Rayman 2 is a breakthough in the evolution of platforming games. Gameplay and level design of Rayman 2 is considered outstanding and original. The player is constantly faced with new challenges. The worlds are huge, giving the impression of a fairytale, magic landscape. Rayman 2 can duck, float, fly, jump, strafe, and shoot in order to defeat Razorbeard and his Henchmen.

ASPHALT URBAN GT ---------- (-)

Quality Index: 6.2 (WEAK)

Gamestats Score: 6.9
IGN Score: 5.5
Gamespy Score: 4.0
Gamespot Score: 7.5
Metacritic Score: 6.0


Asphalt Urban GT is a racing video game for the Nintendo DS and the Nokia N-Gage handheld video game consoles. It was developed by Gameloft and published by Ubisoft, and released on November 21, 2004, making it one of the DS launch titles.

It has support for wireless multiplayer with up to four opponents, and takes advantage of the DS' support for 3D graphics (while showing unacelerated N-Gage´s power to match DS´s graphics), showing the action from three camera angles. Replays are also available. The bottom screen of the DS is utilized to provide strategic tips, and player information.

The game sports nine tracks modelled after real-world locations such as Paris and New York City. The game's 23 cars are licensed from real manufacturers such as Lamborghini, Hummer, Volkswagen, and others, and can be enhanced with over 30 addons.

ROBOTS ---------- (-)

Quality Index: 5.6 (WEAK)

Gamestats Score: 5.9
IGN Score: 4.5
Gamespy Score: ---
Gamespot Score: ---
Metacritic Score: ---

Live the adventures of a genius inventor robot named Rodney Copperbottom as he moves to the big city to work for the company founded by his childhood hero. When Rodney uncovers a villain's plot to take over the city, the brave young bot, with the help of his new friends, overcomes all obstacles to realize his dreams -- and make the world a better place for all robots.

Take wild rides in fast-paced robot vehicles, upgrade your gadgets with cooler, more useful parts, and team up with your trusty Wonderbot to solve challenging puzzles, battle evil bots, and explore a highly interactive 3D universe that brings the world of Robots the Movie to life.

SUPER MARIO 64 DS ---------- (+)

Quality Index: 8.8 (EXCELLENT)

Gamestats Score: 8.8
IGN Score: 8.9
Gamespy Score: 10.0
Gamespot Score: 8.4
Metacritic Score: 8.5

Super Mario 64 DS is an enhanced remake of the 1996 Super Mario 64 and one of the launch titles for the Nintendo DS. This remake features various new characters, levels, modes of play and minigames, much of which takes advantage of the features of the DS system.


During June and July of 2005, Super Mario 64 DS was included free with the purchase of an "Electric Blue" Nintendo DS system in North America. Many retailers also honored the deal with the original "Titanium" DS


When the Nintendo DS was first revealed, Super Mario 64 DS was an early production demo, thought to be a port of the original on the Nintendo 64. It was later confirmed as a Nintendo DS release game. In its early stages, the game was called Super Mario 64x4 (hence the four player wireless part of the game).

WARIO WARE TOUCHED! ---------- (+)

Quality Index: 8.2 (EXCELLENT)

Gamestats Score: 8.3
IGN Score: 8.5
Gamespy Score: 9.0
Gamespot Score: 7.2
Metacritic Score: 8.1

WarioWare: Touched! (さわるメイドインワリオ/Sawaru Made in Wario/Hepburn-Romaji: Sawaru Meido in Wario) is a video game for the Nintendo DS. It has been regarded by game journalists as one of the games which best utilizes the features of the Nintendo DS, alongside others such as Kirby: Canvas Curse and Metroid Prime: Hunters.

The gameplay is similar to that of WarioWare, Inc., but microgames are only played using the stylus and touchscreen. Examples of such gameplay include scratching Wario's back, cutting a rope so a cage falls on a duck and catching fish in a net. After successfully completing a number of microgames, smaller, mostly non-competitive "toys" are unlocked. These allow the gamer to use the touch-screen to achieve tasks such as playing with a yo-yo (in which one must hold the DS upside down), or building a snowman.

The game is similar across regions with the only slight variation being the game cover which is yellow for Europe



POKEMON DASH! ---------- (-)

Quality Index: 5.1 (WEAK)

Gamestats Score: 6.0
IGN Score: 5.0
Gamespy Score: 4.0
Gamespot Score: 5.2
Metacritic Score: 4.7

Pokémon Dash! is the first (and currently only) Pokémon racing game, and is also the first Pokémon game for the Nintendo DS. In Japan, Europe and Australia, it was a launch title for the DS.

Using a stylus, the player can control a Pokémon and race to the finish line. There are five main cups to compete in, as well as tournaments that put the player against a faster level of Pokémon. Each cup has five courses within its area. Pokémon Dash has many Pokémon, stages, and courses of different terrains to choose from. The player can link up to a maximum of six Nintendo DS.

Despite the use of the franchise, this spin-off has been largely ignored by gamers. The game has also obtained generally negative reviews.



SPIDER-MAN 2 ---------- (-)


Quality Index: 6.4 (WEAK)

Gamestats Score: 6.5
IGN Score: 7.5
Gamespot Score: 6.0
Gamespy Score: 6.0
Metacritic Score: 6.1


Spider-Man 2 for the Nintendo DS follows the storyline of the summer smash hit Spider-Man 2 over the course of over a dozen missions. In addition to running into the movie's main meanie Doctor Octopus, classic Spider-Man villains such as Mysterio also make an appearance. Spider-Man 2's graphics are an impressive mix of 2D and 3D. As Spider-Man swings and springs through the city, the levels rotate as they scroll, which really adds a great feeling of depth to the action. Some encounters switch the viewpoint to first person, such as the epic battle with Doc Ock on top of the runaway train. It's great fun to be able to recreate virtually all of Spider-Man's moves from the Nintendo GameCube game, from his punishing attacks to his trademark web swinging specialties. Spider-Man 2 does an excellent job of mixing traditional gameplay elements with new touch-screen action. In one boss battle, for example, you have to guide Spidey to computer terminals on the upper screen, then use the touch screen to solve puzzles by moving switches with your finger or stylus. [Nintendo]

FEEL THE MAGIC: XY/XX ---------- (0)


Quality Index: 7.6 (PASSABLE)

Gamestats Score: 7.9
IGN Score: 7.8
Gamespot Score: 7.7
Gamespy Score: 7.0
Metacritic Score: 7.5

Feel the Magic: XY/XX is a video game developed by Sonic Team and published by SEGA for the Nintendo DS. First released in North America on November 16, 2004, it was one of the system's launch titles. Its Japanese title is I Would Die For You (きみのためなら死ねる Kimi no Tame Nara Shineru), and its European title is Project Rub.

In the game, the hero must do everything he can to make a girl fall in love with him. The hero is sent through a series of performances in order to impress her. This game features a voice recognition system through both speaking and breathing. This game is similar to Wario Ware in that it is composed of several minigames that are loosely linked, as the player tries to impress the girl.

Feel the Magic is played solely with the stylus and microphone. The graphics are simple and stylized, having a 70's look to them. There are three main modes of play. 'Story' mode is the main mode which contains the minigames in chapters. 'Memories' is a mode where one can play any of the previous minigames one has beaten. A third mode called 'Maniac' is where one gets to take all the articles of clothing one earns during the game to dress up the 'host' of the game. One can poke the girl and she reacts in funny ways.

On February 2, 2006, the game won the "Best Concept" award at the 2006 Imagina Games Awards.