"Surprisingly Addictive"

I think its fair to say this is another sleeper hit for the DS. I've been watching the game but wasn't really sure if it was worth a purchase for some simple games. But the 8 players online peaked my interest even more. I thought the games wouldn't have lasting appeal, but I clocked in 5 hours online on just 2 of the 42 games. This was surprisingly addictive.

At the main menu screen there are 2 choices. Single Player. Multiplayer. Single Player contains Free Play, Stamp and Mission. Free Play lets you play any of the 42 games (4 of them are locked). You can change rule sets and add how many CPU bots you want and even choose different designs (which have to be unlocked).

Stamp mode is a progressive single player game. This is also how you unlock the other 4 games and stamps for chatting. You play each game and try to earn stamps. 3 stamps lets you move on to the next game. The amount of stamps depends on what place you finish. This is the best way to learn all the games. Each game explains how its played by pressing the rule button which is always available to you, which is a nice touch since you can bring up the rules while you play. The rules even include some animation to help you understand further.

Mission mode gives you specific tasks to complete. For example get 500 chips in Blackjack. Or get 3 bulls eyes in darts. You can pick any game you want to try and complete. Completing a mission unlocks icons you can use that are placed next to your name. The mission difficulties range from very easy, to practically impossible. Though when you finally do complete a difficult mission it actually feels rewarding. Plus it encourages you to keep playing and learning the games.

Multiplayer is where the most fun is. You can play Locally. Either with multi-card or single-card download. Unfortunately there is no pass-around mode. Which is a shame because this would of been perfect for this type of game. Then there's WFC online mode. I've played my fair share of online DS games, and this pretty much trumps (pun intended) all the other games in fun factor. Depending on which game you can play against 2 to 8 people. Yes 8 people can play online at once. By exchanging friend codes you can host a room. Chatting is done by pictochat, which now includes color. There's no keyboard. But I find writing to be much faster compared to other WFC games like Metroid or Animal Crossing. Another nice touch is even if you're playing a game, you can keep the door open for other people to join in. I've lost track of time (which is also shown on the top right of the screen) while playing these games online. You can really spend a few hours pass by and not even notice it.

The 42 games fall under 8 groups. Cards are basic, intermediate, advance. Basic, advance board games. Then variety, action and single player. This is the type of game that has something for everyone. A lot of the games fall under different names. For example Grid Attack is basically Battleship. And Last Card Plus is played like UNO. The CPU AI is pretty good. I haven't found anything unfair or unbalance about the games. Some people complain that Texas Hold'em has no All-in option, but it wouldn't make any sense since people can still bet even when they're in the negatives. Another plus is the CPU make their moves lightning fast.

The graphics do their job well. They're simplistic and easy to read. Eventually you can change the look of your games by unlocking more designs. Some board game pieces might seem too small to pick up at first. But you eventually get used to it. The music has a jazz lounge type feel to it. It may get repetitive quickly since you'll be playing the same game over and over, but it can be switched off. There's also another music choice to be unlocked.

Controlling is all done with the stylus. The action games take more skill with the stylus. Darts are thrown depending on how lightly or hard you flick the stylus towards the board. Bowling is done the same way as darts, but actually needs more precise aiming. Takeover and Billiards depend on how hard you hit the other ball or chips. Balance has you taking blocks and stacking them. Depending on where you touch the block it can either go vertical or horizontal, or even lopsided which will change your plan of placement.

The replay value of this game is incredibly high. Not only are there many games, but every game (besides a few) let you change rule settings. The mission mode alone can keep you going for a long time. The biggest draw was the online mode. This is an instant buy.

9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/16/06