Pokemon still reigns in the world of Nintendo games. Pokemon has arrived yet again with Pokemon Platinum in Japan. Pokemon along with Pearl’s and Diamond’s Sinnoh region and the galactic team have arrived yet again. Contrary to the older games, this game focuses on Giratina the Ghost/Dragon in the form of a demon caterpillar, as the new Pokemon. The focus is no longer on Palia and Dialga.

There are quite a few interesting character form additions in the Pokemon Platinum. For example, Rotom the electric ghost can now transform into a host of outdoor and household appliances. Fans should be delighted with the landmower Pokemon too. Interface is similar to the earlier Pokemon Pearl and Diamond version, though with new animation and sprites, sharper colours and attacks that have been fine tuned. Not all movement magic is left to Pokemon. Trainers come into the picture and get into the act before releasing the monsters into the battlefield.

Nintendo’s exciting new characters include Handsome the secret agent who claims to be elite. He is engaged in tacking and putting the team Galactic out of action. Sinnoh is now a cold place and characters are covered in winter clothing.

The most exciting addition to the game is of course the Torn World dungeon. This place is equipped with 3D elevators to enable the characters to move around. This creative dungeon with its trippy aesthetics is sure to provide nail biting thrill to players. Return of the Emerald Battle Frontier in Pokemon Platinum brings cheer to the fans. Players can have a lot of exciting fun finishing quests and moving on in this latest edition of the Pokemon series.

You must have heard of the GBA version of The Urbz: Sims in the City, haven’t you? The same adventurous and engaging Sims game is now available for your favourite handheld, the DS, and is waiting for you to discover its distinctiveness. The most appealing features of this amazingly interesting game include a set of eight mini-games, five virtual pets, as many as 26 locations and an exclusive Splicer Island.

The adventure role-playing game centers on an exciting gameplay that takes you to the city of Miniopolis, where you come across the denizens while striving to fulfill your ‘motives’. You can play as a boy or a girl and enjoy the freedom of customising your character however you please in the Urbz - Sims in the City. Enter the new life by naming your character…. move ahead with the tale that is based on a ‘rags-to-riches’ theme. As a virtual character you loose your menial job and your efforts to get it back creates a bigger trouble. Now, that’s how the fun begins. So you struggle to earn some bucks and even manage to do that after facing some real tough times. What next? Think what everyone needs live comfortable urban life. Yes, you are right (if you though it’s a home), your sim character needs a home. Hence, you buy an apartment and look forward to have a socially active lifestyle.

You develop your self image and do all that a person needs to do as an urbanite. The colored onscreen bars clearly demonstrate your target motives that can be reached by using the appropriate objects. Isn’t it much like the contemporary urban life? Well, the game is probably inspired from the never ending tasks of today’s life. Hence, you must take care to accomplish every motive before it goes too low.

So if the gameplay sounds good to you, load the game to your handheld to live a life in the sim’s style.

A lot of people love to maintain an aquarium at home but have you ever imagined of including whales and sharks in it? Of course not! But believe me I’m not talking nonsense because you can actually control these big fish with a new DS game.

The Fantasy Aquarium, developed by Ertain and published by Mercury Games offers an amazing platform for creating a personalized fish tank. You can choose your favourites in Fantasy Aquarium from a choice of more than 30 fishes and decorate the aquarium in your way. It’s amazing to control these aquatic animals while controlling it in the way you want to. Adorn the backdrops, unlock additional props and enhance the fun with your handheld’s Wi-Fi feature….Do you think that there is nothing more to do with Fantasy aquarium? There is actually a lot to capture your attention for hours. You have to take care of your fish and also look after the water temperature, sanity, and size of the aquarium. Also don’t forget to feed your fish and be careful about creating a perfect environment.

The simulation game seems to attract several gamers, from different age groups. It actually allows you to have a close look at the life of these attractive water animals and get a feel of the life under water. Let your fishes live in a health tank while allowing them to enter your friends aquarium.

So pick up your favourite fish and control its life in the Fantasy Aquarium with your DS Lite.

Populous is one of the most intriguing stories to have been launched in the late nineties and, going by its immense popularity, it was only natural that the story would finally end up on the Nintendo DS. The story, with its theme based on the Bullfrog god sim, virtually created a stir with its release, and paved the way for a whole new genre of strategy gaming. But what’s disheartening is that, despite the best efforts of the manufacturers, the game does not look at all at home on the handheld platform, and is only a pale shadow of what it could be.

Nevertheless, the Populous for the DS is still very much a linear god game where you are supposed to take on the mantel of one of five good elemental deities that are responsible for the well being of the town. The twist to the tale is that there is a demon who is on the threshold of building a similar community of followers on the other side of the map, and who might disrupt the serenity of your town. Your role is a bit like that of a landscaper, similar to Sim City, where a majority of your world-building efforts are confined to the levelling terrain so that worshippers become your devotees and pay due respect to you by building ever more elaborate homes. The trick here is that more houses lead to more happiness, improved health, and other benefits. You must be careful and astute enough to enhance the all-round development of your man folk as that will help you to successfully drive away the evil forces sent by the demon.

The gameplay of the game is rather solid and you have to basically maintain a balance between three tasks: while scouting through the terrain keep altering your moves so as to provide yourself the best possible building opportunities; ensure the health of the worshippers; and finally give space to the worshippers to build a divine power, called psyche energy, in their homes.

There are many a games where you are flooded with various creatures like rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, and even horses, which frequently play a major part of the storyline or gameplay. The Zoo Vet: Endangered Animals is one game that animal lovers should give a try and that stands out from other animal games by offering many interesting and never before seen species. Moreover, each creature presents a different challenge that should also keep you guessing and in suspense.

The gameplay consist penguins and pandas, elephants and eagles, et al. Then, there is a crocodile as well which appears to be with a specific purpose. Zoo Vet is also available in a computer version, although the DS variant is equally engaging if not more so. You will be taken aback to find that you are assigned the role of a new animal doctor who is given the sensitive task of preserving the exotic but endangered species that are found in the land. Your curiosity levels take a hike as you won’t discover any normal household dogs or cats, and the experience that you feel after treating the animals is unlike what you get in your local pet store. The feeling that you get finds a close analogy to something you see on the Discovery channel.

The unambiguous strength of Zoo Vet lies in its diversity and you invariably get a high each time you treat and heal an animal. The treatment part is really intense and satisfying as such as the gameplay imaginatively and clearly guides you through the various steps. You can even try and treat the animals on your own accord, but in case you are faced with an insurmountable situation you can always find help close at hand.

My Baby Boy for the DS can certainly teach parents in practice a thing or two about parenting. The game displays how a typical new born baby cries, screams, urinates and defecates. The scheme has been kept blue for a Baby boy, whereas it is pink for his female counterpart. The gender is chosen as a boy by default, unless the gamer has a change of mind at the last moment. The game gives the gamer leverage to choose the eye colour and nationality of the baby and also the right to name the boy. During the game, the gamer will eventually meet a doctor and a nurse named George and Clara, who assist the gamer while the baby grows up. The game’s design contains many rooms which the gamer can use to take care of the baby.

Using the map icon will help the user in getting access to the bathroom, kitchen, dressing room, changing room, storeroom etc. The other areas of My Baby Boy keep getting unlocked as the baby keeps growing. The wiping gel can be used to wipe out the child’s feces and is supposed to be dragged to the trash can once used. The baby’s legs need to be lifted to change diapers. Completing two tasks in a month is imperative to keep progressing in the game. These tasks help the bay boy to better his speech and motor skills. The baby ages by a month when the bars for the tasks in a month become full and with time, his eating habits will also undergo change. The flow of the game is well timed and the baby slowly learns how to follow the commands directed at him. The commands have to be passed through the microphone. All in all, the game is a must for all those who enjoy parenting, whether they are recent parents or are in the family way.

Puzzle games are ideal for testing your brainpower. If you enjoy solving these wacky but extremely interesting puzzles on your handheld, then check out Slingo Quest. Yeah, this is the new game published by MumboJumbo and developed by Mac Play. As the name suggests, it is an out of ordinary puzzle game. The puzzle factor is linked with the latter part of the game’s name but are you not interested in knowing the origin of Slingo?

So if you haven’t tried your hands on Slingo as yet, go through this write-up to reveal the game’s details. If you can recall the original game, you must have linked it to the new game. I’m talking about Slingo Quest’s original platform as it is a follow-up of the classical theme and includes your favorites: Slots and Bingo. Well, now you know from where ‘Slingo’ comes? You are right…the equation of Slots + Bingo makes Slingo. It is a follow up but that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t got newness. In fact, there is a big new attraction and that includes the Multi- Card Slingo, Pirate’s Fortune Slingo and Seven by Seven Slingo. Want more? You actually have a lot to explore. So discover the new quest format while enjoying the 60 different levels of fun in the Slingo style. Hone your gaming skills and get to know more about the Slingo Vision, Devil Protection, and Multipliers. There is even more that you can enjoy with….so go on and lift all the new power ups in Slingo Quest.

Also don’t forget to try your hands on Bounce Slingos and don’t even hesitate to look into the Pirate’s Fortune. If earning bonus rewards is a part of your expectations, you can do that with Slingo Stamps and Stars.

Anybody who likes dogs will definitely love to tame one like Bolt. Yes, I’m talking about the same superhero that amazed us with her brave acts in the movie. Isn’t it amazing to see the same superpowers on the DS screens? I know, you are too keen to know more about the game. So let me tell you that you can expect to see the ideal canine companion in the same spirits. Bolt, as you can anticipate, acts intelligently and obediently while performing your most loved acts like shooting lasers and doing all that you can expect from a superdog.

Divided in different parts, the action game invites you to play as Bolt and Penny. Although both the roles are amazingly interesting, you may like to play as Bolt, who can incapacitate the enemies and make several great moves. Penny, as a role can be your second preference as she is more of a brainy character. However, the game gives you the liberty of playing as Bolt and Penny by turn. So you don’t have to miss anything to get something. Whatever you choose first, make sure to make the best use of your handheld’s buttons except for the mini games that depend on the touch screen control. There is also an act of hacking computers in the mini games and you can do that when you are playing as Penny. So you can jump and attack the opponents while utilizing your special abilities as a unique character.

Interestingly, when you defeat an enemy, you get to use a part of his energy. The energy bits dropped by the beaten foes can be picked up as an addition to your three chief abilities: armor, energy and damage. Sounds great?

What are you waiting for, load the game and see hoe good you are at controlling these tremendously powered characters.

The Need For Speed Undercover is a great car racing title that offers the game lovers a whole new platform for burning their tyres. The EA game has been launched for various consoles including the DS Lite.

The racing game offers lots of options to the NFS fans. As expected, it has got different types of action packed races and missions. The events are split into different categories named Hot Car, Cost to State, Highway Battle and Scramble. In the Hot Car round you have to ride a stolen car to a safe house without getting caught by the cops. The Cost to State round in Need for Speed - Undercover requires you to knock down the telephone booths and stop signs so that it has an adverse effect on the state’s budget. During the Highway Battle you are on the inter-state roads with an aim to overtake your opponent at any cost. Finally, the Scramble requires you to ditch your undercover guise, grab a Porsche police cruiser and arrest the bad guys.

Apart from such events you will also find some standard sprint and circuit races are also included. As far as the graphics and cinematic are concerned the game offers detailed environments and texture but the cut scenes or supporting videos are not present. Instead, you will see some still photographs with the dialog box to understand the conversations.

We’ve all known scrabble to produce some unheard of and strange words, like ‘Quixotry’ or ‘Vrow’, that we swear aren’t really part of the English language; but everyone has heard of the latest words coming from DS Scrabble that are causing uproar. A mother, Mrs. Carrington, is furious after the computer beat her 8 year old son, Ethan, in DS scrabble by using such clever words as ‘tits’, ‘shit’, ‘toke’ and finally ‘fuckers’.

It gets better, since DS Scrabble is obviously an educational game as well, definitions are included for all the words: the plural noun ‘fuckers’ is defined as ‘a slang term for chavs’, while ‘toke’ was appropriately defined as ‘a draw on a cannabis cigarette’. This was clearly not the educational value the mother who purchased DS Scrabble for her 8 year old son was looking for.

Searching for someone to blame over this scandal, the concerned mother quickly contacted the shop where she bought the game from, Asda, who then referred her to Nintendo. Nintendo refused to accept any liability for the situation and then passed her on to the game’s publisher Ubisoft, who then referred her to the Pan European Game Information video game rating company, which had rated DS Scrabble as appropriate for everyone aged 3 and older. Of course, she has not heard back from them since emailing three months ago, and we wonder whether any action will be taken. For his part, Ethan mentioned that he still loves Scrabble and was disappointed his mum said he couldn’t play it anymore because of the inappropriate words.