Sonic the Hedgehog with his unnatural addiction for speed is a favourite of many. The thrill of running around with the adorable hedgehog at blinding speed cannot be described in words. Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis symbolises nothing but speed. The game on DS Lite however is hugely limited by lack of speed.

This aspect is balanced to a certain extent by passable graphics. Levels are also short and interesting. But nothing can actually compensate for the lack of speed in a character that is loved by millions only for this aspect.

As you play you find various platforms and environments popping up and this is another problem with the game. Certain times, you are lost as to where you are supposed to jump as platforms just disappear and the console is unable to draw it in the background. The music too is not as effective as the original version. Indeed, like nearly every remake of the Sega classic, including even recent games like Sonic Unleashed Wii, something seems to fall short from the original. One saving grace, however, comes in the form of Sonic’s ability to spin dash. Spin Dash enables Sonic to roll into a ball and from the stop position, rev up a spin attack in no time. With a little more effort by the developers, this game could have been offered better on the hand held Nintendo DS.

Sonic the Hedgehog is still a favourite with gamers after fifteen years. It is quite sad to see a wonderful possibility turned to a fiasco due to unimpressive mechanics and lack of features. Sonic on the DS Lite is not the loveable Sonic we know so well. With no speed, Sonic is in fact a character with no essence.

If you love the bizarre then Bleach – the dark souls is for you. This game from Sega takes you through a world of Soul Reapers. Dialogues are ridiculously random and the story is pretty much disjointed. However, this game is sure to appeal to the hard core fighting game fans that are sure to love the versatile combat and an extensive range of characters.

There is no clear introduction to the story or the characters and as you start the game, you feel that you are just thrown into the haphazard scenes. Reapers pop up out of nowhere to fight you just because you abuse someone or they are drunk. Lack of depth in the story is adequately made up for with the excellent graphics in Bleach - Dark Souls DS. The effects for supercharged attacks are awesome and the animations are fantastic. A wide view of the action is provided with the help of a strategic scaling when the camera zooms out.

Settings are impressive with excellent back drops which create the right ambience. Fast beating tunes and great sound effects are combined together to make up for any other flaws. Controls are user friendly. There are three buttons with which you can attack namely the heavy, medium and light. With the help of the D Pad it is possible to dash along with the double tap, double jump and crouch. Guarding and line jumping is possible with the help of the bumpers. It is not necessary for players to remember the combos for special and super moves as it is possible to use the touch screen control too.

Training mode teaches you how to use different skills for battling. For those fans of fighter games, this should be quite an interesting game on your Nintendo DS.

Gamers are smart people, aren’t they? If you are confident about your wits and are ready to take a challenge, then you must try your hands on Brain Assist. This new DS game, developed by SEGA is based on a complete puzzle theme.

The second half of the game’s name probably points out its five female assistants, who help you in improving your mental abilities. You will have to go through some mental diagnostics, which include playing with numbers on the keypad. Apart from this, you will also get to dig into other challenges like Spot the Difference. You will get to see two identical pictures and you have to click ‘different’ if you find them dissimilar and ‘same’ if they look alike. As Brain Assist proceeds, these discrepancies will become too minute to be judged in a fraction of seconds. This is where you actually get to test your brain’s dynamic ability.

You might find it difficult to run through the 10 minigames in the initial attempts but you will definitely gain confidence once you are through with them for one or two times. There are mainly two tests that include eight games in total. You will be required to solve 10 problems per game within the specified time. As the rule of gaming goes, some games are quite simple and can be quickly completed, while others demand real concentration and presence of mind. The Hexagonal Colors is one such example that cannot be solved without drawing a mental colour palette. Interesting? As you know, it will get difficult with more attempts but that’s the fun.

All in all, Brain Assist is a straight and fun-filled game. It is also not wrong to call it charming because it does include some delightful characters, lively music and vibrant colours.

Sega fans have long been starved for more material, and even more so for successful material. Now SEGA Superstars Tennis finally offers anyone with a SEGA obsession their own chance to play as beloved characters like Sonic or Tails, in Tennis on the Nintendo DS Lite. The game is literally dripping with SEGA nostalgia and is the closest thing available to a SEGA version of Super Smash Bros. How, however, is the gameplay? Despite an AI which chronically cheats, the gameplay is quite solid and very similar to Virtua Tennis, made by the same developers. The video review from X-PLay offers a great look at many long lost characters in action and exemplifies how the game is perfect for all SEGA fans. The DS lite version looks outstanding graphically and includes multiplayer with both single-card and multi-card play.