"A mellow game that is both creative and fun."

Lost in Blue is part of a game series called Survival Kids. It was never released in the US before, but now we get a taste of this nice little adventure.

GRAPHICS 9/10

The Graphics on this DS game resemble early N64 games, but it comes out looking very nice in the end. Everything is smoothed out in 3-D environments, and it actually looks pretty nice for the DS.

The overworld part of the game, the part were you are running around, is entirely in 3-D, and looks pretty good. Mushrooms, logs, coconuts...they are all plainly visible and look great.

The other portion is in 2-D anime type drawings. This is only a small part of the game, like when you are talking to Skye or uprooting potatos.

BOTTOM LINEOverall, the graphics work and look smooth and great.

SOUND 7/10

There is very little music in this game, and is usually one track of mellow music that just plays over and over. This is a pretty mellow game, and fits well, but it would of been better if other areas had different tunes and such.

Besides the music, mostly you will be hearing chipping birds and rushing water.

BOTTOM LINE Not much in the music department, but there are some decent SFX and Skye and Keith actually have some VA, but mostly nothing more than "Oh!"

GAMEPLAY 9/10

They did a very good job with the gameplay on LiB.

First off, I really liked the way you had to build fires. You have to press L and R in rythem to make your hands move back and forth, creating friction and heat. Then, when the log starts to smoke, you have to blow into the microfone to stoke the fire, just like you do in real life!

The stylus is also used in number of ways, from catching fish to bow hunting, even making furniture and unearthing shells and plants.

The top screen is also a big help, as it displays Kieth and Skye's health and stats, a map, and an overall island map for you.

The gameplay is mostly around 2 things: Trying to survive, and exploring the island, in hopes of finding a way off it.

The first element can be fun and annoying. Hunting with traps and bows and such is pretty fun, and gathering enough to drink and eat can be pretty fun. But the funs stops when you have to constantly do this, thus making exploring the island very hard.

This is because your stats(Stanima, Hunger, and Thirst) drop WAY to quickly. I mean, Kieth looks like a pretty healthy kid, but simple things like running or pushing a log will severly drain his stanima. I began to find that before I could get a chance to do some major exploring, I had to spend 2-3 days just eating enough and sleeping to make sure my HP and Stats were full before adventuring.

And many of the places you explore are a long way from your home cave, and just the round trip will tax your stats.

BOTTOMLINE I was very impressed with how they used the DS's unique features, but wished some of the gameplay wasn't overally tedious.

STORY NA

There is no real story to this game. You just get shipwrecked and have to survive. But, since this is a type of game were the story doesn't effect gameplay, I decided not to include this score and not dock and points from the overall score.

Also, there is no Control section of this game: the controls are basic and easy to use. No need for a whole section over them.

REPLAY VALUE 8/10

This game does offer harder modes at the end, and a chance to play as Skye! So you will indeed be playing this game again. It is a fairly long game, too. This isn't a game I think I would start playing again immediantly after I beat it, but it has enough entertainment to make you want to do it again.

OVERALL 8/10(not an average)

I highly recommend this game for the DS. It's something different and it makes for a mellow, relaxing game after stressful rounds of games like Castlevania, TC: UtK, and AW:DS.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/12/05