Mazes of Fate DS can, with all due respect, be described as a somewhat mediocre 3D version of the more popular and well animated Game Boy Advance game of the same name. The story is also more or less the same. It is just that now there are four more additional characters to choose from instead of the original three. The game, which is basically a dungeon crawler, starts with the story of gods and humans. The gods are unhappy that the humans have started neglecting them and plan on replacing them with a more submissive species.

The game is in a first-person perspective where you traverse through dungeons looking for keys, fighting monsters, picking up dropped potions, armour, and gold coins. One positive aspect of the game is that, unlike Orcs and Elves, where dungeons were pretty straightforward, Mazes of Fate is just a maze. You are provided with many choices that make it easy to navigate through the dungeons. The game is also unlike its earlier counter part in the sense that your character can run and hide mid way through the battle if it gets wounded. The pointing system is another intriguing part of the game. You should thrive in this game if you properly choose the characters suitable for learning magic, and decide early on who should be a lock picker or a secret finder. Take the game in strides; it will help you in combating the many challenges that lay ahead.

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure is a musical role-playing game, based on the theme of love and friendship. The cute game has been brought to the Nintendo DS by NIS America, which is a subsidiary of Nippon Ichi. The game casts the player as a young girl named Cornet, who is in love with a prince. Cornet is a peasant girl and she is extremely infatuated with this prince, whom she has never actually seen but met in her dreams. Now, the “adventure factor” in this love tale is added as Cornet possesses special powers, which help her to rescue her prince charming from a wicked witch.

Cornet is not an ordinary girl. She is special because of her ability to communicate with puppets. That’s why she is accompanied by many dolls, including one named Kururu, in her journey to win the heart of her love. Kururu is both a doll and Cornet’s best friend, and he assists her throughout her adventure in the game. The gameplay proceeds further with the presence of a detailed map on the topmost screen, which serves as a guide to simplify the floor plans.

The best part of Rhapsody is its pleasing and charming presentation, which look amazing with the 2D sprites and colourful ambience.The game comes from the makers of Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness, and the animation is very similar. This visual ecstasy is definitely enhanced by the sweet and melodious musical effects. The Japanese melodies are clear and engaging, adding up to the fun. So if you cannot wait to experience the thrill of stealing a handsome prince’s heart, quickly get Rhapsody to enter the world of Cornet.

Time Hollow, A new game by Konami, is an entertaining adventure game based on the point-and-click style of the DS Lite. The game centres around a schoolboy named Ethan Kairos, who has lost his family. The player plays as Ethan, who is desperately looking for his parents who suddenly vanished on his 17th birthday.

Now the only helpful thing this young boy has is his hollow pen, which can actually change everything that happened in the past. Moreover, there are some flashbacks to assist you in identifying missing persons. In his quest to find his lost family, players use the hollow pen to figure out the connection between the past and the present. You will have to talk to other characters, solve puzzles and collect clues, making this game something of an adventure title along the lines of Myst. The most important object in the game remains the hollow pen, which lets Ethan solve the problems of the past. The DS Lite style essentially assumes the role of the all important hollow pen and controls this mysterious truth revealing object.

The gameplay in Time Hollow often involves some clever puzzles, which will truly test your brains. Another outstanding and exciting factor is the role of the pen in “digging” the universe to look into the past. Overall, Time Hollow is an entertaining and engrossing game, with great graphics from the AIC studio along with many interesting characters. So what are you waiting for? Grab the game and use the magical pen to communicate with the past.

Revived by Taito, “Kage Densetsu: The Legend of Kage 2” is a ninja action game on the DS screen. So what makes Taito rejuvenate a game that dates back to 1985? It is of course the action and thrill factor inherent in the game, which will be adored by this new generation of gamers just as much as the last generation. If you are amongst the ones who love adventure both in real life and in the games you play, then Kage Densetsu is meant for you (not to be confused with Dragonball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu). In this game you will control the ninja called Kage, who can perform various action hero moves.

Kage begins to exhibit his powers when faced with obstacles on his way to escort Kirihime- the high priestess. Kirihime has some very special spiritual powers and thus Tokugawa, the shogun has ordered Kage to bring her to the palace. On the other hand, the demon Yojiro is also aware of Kirihime’s powers, so he kidnaps her on route after a struggle with our action hero. In his effort to defeat the demon, Kage is severely wounded, but Kirihime saves him through her powers. Furthermore, to make the game even more engrossing and interesting, another character named Chihiro is introduced. This playable ninja is Kirihime’s younger sister, who also has special powers like her sister. Kage and Chihiro come across each-other when the young lady comes to rescue Kirihime.

However, it is upon the player’s discretion to either play as Kage or Chihiro. A player is given a choice to between the two characters in the beginning: one with a flaming sword (Kage) and another with supernatural powers (Chihiro).

Dragon Ball: Origins for the Nintendo DS, developed by Namco Bandai Games, aims to portray the childhood of Goku, the hero of the Dragon Ball games. This role-playing game allows the player to control the little Goku and move him in the desired direction. The action adventure theme of the game makes it quite different from other Dragon Ball Z games, which should be of great interest for all Dragon Ball fans looking for a change. Along with offering many action moves, Dragon Ball: Origins also allows you to explore new things while using your brains in solving interesting puzzles.

For the player’s convenience, the game has been divided into different sections. One can save a particular section after completing it and return back when desired. The story begins way before games like Dragonball Z: Goku Densetsu. Instead it starts with Goku with Goku and Bulma searching for the dragon balls. Bulma is an inventor, who learns that Goku is in the hold of a dragon ball. Having an attachment with the ball, Goku calls it “grandpa” but joins with Bulma to search for the other dragon balls. Now, the real action begins when the search of dragon balls is obstructed by certain elements, such as a group of enemies. Goku can jump wherever required, but the player has to put in some effort to make a way for Bulma. While Bulma is still quite active in a fight with her gun, the majority of the fighting will be carried out by Goku.

You have to wait until November when the game is released before actually getting to experience the young Goku’s action moves. So get ready for your favorite spiky-haired hero to reveal his origins!

Line Rider 2: Unbound is a 2D racing slash puzzle game, where your primary task is to guide an adventurous little boy through a series of progressively intricate courses. It truly is a captivating game, in spite of its 2D format, and your main goal is to solve the puzzle of missing tracks, in order to eventually enable your onscreen character to cross the finish line. It is interesting to note however that, unlike in most racing games such as Diddy Kong Racing, you don’t have any direct control over the character.

The visuals are one reason why you should play thus game. The riders exhibit a great deal of visible emotion that lends this game a genuine feel. They grimace, make faces and display a surprising level of pain when confronted with a lethal accident.

During the course of the race you have to withstand physical and gravitational barriers, and basically advance solely through trial and error. The physics part of the game is especially intriguing and is also ultra sensitive. It makes you to fly wildly the moment you hit a bump on the road. The best way to tackle the puzzle is to draw a basic line, and constantly change it until you have crossed the susceptible part of the terrain. There is no basic rule confining your movements, giving you absolute freedom. This in turn increases the overall level of satisfaction once you have made a death defying jump or just managed to save your life by the thread of a rope. There is a curving tool to assist you in bending straight lines, or you can also opt to manually draw your lines. It is, however, regrettable that bending lines in your DS is a frustrating affair, because control system often fails to register your inputs.

To sum it up, you have to constantly be on your toes in this highly challenging game The challenges are only increased by the game’s open ended nature, but then again so is the fun.

In this game called N+ you play as the guide for a bell-bottom clad ninja, as he passes challenging obstacles in a bid to get to the all important exit. In the process he has to activate a swath of switches and face multiple encounters. He has a rich repertoire of moves at his disposal to confront his foes, including a wall jump, a wall slide, and the ability to sprint up and down inclines. However, he isn’t your typical sword swinging ninja like in Naruto: Ninja Council, because he completely lacks a sword, and can’t double jump either. You are faced with the difficult task of guiding the ninja through a continuous maze of cunningly laid mines and electrified blue orbs in each level. There will also be missiles and projectiles aimed at your character with pin point precision.

To add to the mentioned threats, you also have to keep track of the timer, non-compliance of which will lead to inevitable failure. While traveling through the levels, you can grab gold bricks that will extend your total time. Though these bricks are no easy prey and are usually hidden in difficult terrain. The time you accumulate is carried over from map to map in five-map sets. Once you complete the map there are animated victory celebrations and your character also undergoes a visual modification.

This portable version is really commendable as it has fantastic colourful and sharp imagery. You can, in addition, spice up the game by choosing to play the multiplayer mode. The soundtrack though, it must be said, is rather ineffective and monotonous.

Ignition Entertainment brings you a game called ‘Red Bull BC One’ with an apparent motive of also making you dance in tune with it. In this somewhat bizarre and puzzling game, digital b-boys, who are scantily clad in dresses reminiscent of the early 90’s, bust moves on the top of the screen of your Nintendo DS. What strikes us here is that instead of break dancing, you have to concentrate more on connecting dots, which in some manner is connected to your onscreen characters performance.

Using a stylus you start connecting dots on the touch screen and form shapes. These may be in the form of simple rectangles and triangles, or more elaborate patterns as the game progresses. You are bound by a time frame while connecting these dots, and each successful outline will result in a break move. You also have to meet the points quota for each match in order to proceed to the next level. It is, however, amusing that you will miss most of the show, as you have to keep staring at the bottom of the touch screen.

The game is based on one-on-one b-boy battles and is backed up with some of the funniest trash talk you will come across. It has a great soundtrack, which sometimes appears misfit in the game’s context. But at other times the game boasts some really infectious danceable hip-hop music. The only depressing part is that the game really lacks the punch and break dancing moves to properly accompany the music. Other dance games, like Elite Beat Agents, have implemented the dancing controls much more effectively. A more engaging visual would and more exciting gameplay would have added to the game’s appeal and overall level of fun.

Here is something that is sure to test your patience and that might even drive you insane. We are talking about a game called ‘Commando: Steel Disaster’, which, despite the name similarity, bears no acquaintance to Capcom’s long-running series of Commando games.

In this action-packed game, you play as the heroic Storm and are pitted against an evil mastermind Rattlesnake and his minions, who are hell bent on dominating the world. Storm is a very vibrant figure in Commando and has many interesting moves at his disposal for fending off the enemy. He can run, jump, duck, and also roll to dodge enemy fire. He starts off with a simple gun, but as the game progresses he can equip himself with more sophisticated ones. It is important to have at least one powerful weapon to outmanoeuvre the massive boss who appears at the end of each level.

The nonstop drama certainly keeps you on your toes, but there are a few very memorable moments. The enemy appears faceless and the levels are unbelievably difficult. You are also made to face the same opponents for a very long time, who seem to appear from just about everywhere. Even successfully getting through the first few levels is brutally hard. You need to have extremely fast reflexes to stand any chance. The fact that you have only one life and have to restart from the very first level if you lose is simply demoralizing. Every other game has its own way of rewarding you and also gives you multiple lives. The graphics of the game, however, are lively and vibrant and complements the characters and surrounding nicely. Still, unless you enjoy inflicting yourself with pain, it might be best to steer clear of this title.

Nowadays it’s almost become mandatory to release a game after releasing a movie, and this tactic has often produced less than quality games. Often games based on movies are rushed into development in order to come out in time for the movie, are based on weak stories, and have little in the way of entertaining gameplay. However, this doesn’t entirely seem to be the case with The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor for the Nintendo DS.

The game is all about tomb raiding and treasure-hunting action, in much the same vein as the movie. The story is about a father and son duo, who are struggling to prevent Han (an evil emperor) from conquering the world and raising his Terracotta army. This action packed thriller title provides a three dimensional view, which assists you in navigating your way around. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor involves distinct levels or stages laden with light puzzles, dangerous traps and combat. The puzzle in the first level is all about pushing the blocks and writing ancient runes while utilising a touch screen. The combat will range from fisticuffs to shootouts with firearms. You can brawl by tapping the Y button, which leads to the execution of simple combos.

Visually the game is very appealing as the characters appear quite realistic and natural. The music and sound definitely complements the situation and the graphics of this incredible creation. We doubt the game had the same budget as the movie, but it looks decent enough, and anyone who loved the movie could definitely consider purchasing the game to go with it.