Solatorobo: Red the Hunter (DS) Retro Review

I generally like to do at least five reviews a month for SuperPhillip Central. Considering we're already more than halfway through the month, and this is the first review of September, I have my work cut out for me! No worries, though, friends! Maybe it'll be a quality and not quantity type of month. To kick things off, here's a review of a niche Nintendo DS game, Solatorobo: Red the Hunter. Is it a fun game or a dog-gone shame?

Finish off the dog days of summer with this canine and cat adventure.

The Nintendo DS saw a lot of innovative and interesting games during its lifespan. Heck, some games, albeit very minor, still release for this most popular and bestselling handheld of all time. Japan absolutely adored the Nintendo DS, and it showed with all of the releases by developers and publishers of the region at the time. Namco Bandai was one of many Japanese publishers that put forth a ton of effort to make a killing on the system. One of the later examples of a niche game that came out for the Nintendo DS, most notably using some Nintendo DSi functionality such as the camera, was Solatorobo: Red the Hunter. What was more crazy-- a dog controlling a mech suit, or dogs and cats living together in peace? While I figure out this question, you can see if Solatorobo is a worthy Nintendo DS title to look into.

Solatorobo: Red the Hunter is set in a world high above the clouds upon a myriad of floating islands. It's somewhat similar to the Dreamcast's Skies of Arcadia's setting, though instead of human sky pirates, Solatorobo has bipedal, speaking cats and dogs as its population. Red Savarin is an amnesiac canine who has since has made a career out of being a hunter, accepting quests from townspeople from all over the set of islands and doing his best to complete them. Accompanied by Chocolat via electronic communication on missions, she serves as Red's adoptive sister and helps out with giving him information during missions.

The settings look marvelous in Solatorobo.

The story deals with an armada of cats whose leader is obsessed with power and conquering the world. Typical megalomaniac stuff, sure, but the story remains intriguing from beginning to end. The story throws some curve balls, with the biggest being that the game is probably twice as long as you'd expect. The dialogue itself is quite well written, bringing some humorous moments throughout its 15-20 hour story.

Throughout Solatorobo, Red finds himself reaching a wide variety of island locations. It's here that the story progresses. Every type of mission in the game, whether story or optional, requires Red to accept it at a quest center. Each major island, also serving as a bustling burg, has one of these. Many times you'll have to complete several side quests to earn enough quest points to be able to accept the next story mission .This aspect of the game might be a bit disappointing and frustrating to those players who just want to get through and enjoy the story. Unfortunately, side quests must be taken to advance the story. These are tasks that have some complication to them like rescuing workers from a mine to simpler objectives such as carrying crates from one location to another.

I can't wait to bomb some Dodongos!
Wait. That isn't one of the quests? Aw, man...

Outside of the typical quests, there are some missions and tasks in Solatorobo that use a 3D perspective in them. These quests and activities include races through windy tubes in the sky and miniature island-to-island travel. The former once allowed players worldwide to take on one another via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. This is obviously no longer available to players since the Wi-Fi Connection went offline a while ago, but this game still has more than enough content to justify checking it out regardless.

Jet through the sky in these adrenaline-inducing races.

Solatorobo plays quite differently than most action-RPGs similar to it. For one, combat is performed while Red is inside his mech, the Dahak, equipped with two long robotic arms. These arms are able to grab and throw objects and enemies. You can chuck one enemy into another to dish out damage to more than one foe at once, but you can also repeatedly chuck, grab in midair, and throw the same enemy more than once to initiate a cool looking and cool feeling combo.

Grab, toss, chuck, throw, and lift your way to victory!

As the rules of an action-RPG would dictate, and it very much works this way in Solatorobo, as Red defeats enemies, he earns experiences points that when enough have been accumulated, he gains levels, making him stronger in combat as well as upping his maximum health. Red's mech armor can also be upgraded through purchasing parts at various shops with Solatorobo's in-game currency known as "rings", Parts, made up of Tetris-like shapes, can be fit into slots to give Red's mech different abilities like increased health, attack, defense, and decreased time it takes to lift up an enemy in battle. You can gain more slots for Red to utilize by finding "P. Crystals" that are hidden in treasure chests and found in sparkling locations on the ground throughout the areas of Solatorobo.

Spend more P. Crystals to create more space to insert more parts.

Solatorobo gives you new abilities to unleash on foes as the game progresses. By the end of the game, Red can swing enemies around in a dizzying display, launch projectiles, grab and throw projectiles, and even turn into a powerful being. I won't describe exactly what being this is, as to not spoil things for you guys.

This game has plenty to like about it, but there are also some issues. The biggest of which being that while battles feel fun at first, combat can become a bit repetitive, especially with weaker enemies. Boss battles are usually quite entertaining, thankfully. However, all battles, boss or not, are very easy. In general, Solatorobo is a very easy game to complete. The challenge level is not very high. Thus, you might not receive a lot of satisfaction from completing a chapter or beating an important boss fight.

Boss fights are the best part of Solatorobo's combat.

On many occasions throughout Solatorobo, Red will need to hop out of his mech and leave it behind in order to enter areas that only he can fit through. This allows him to do things that him in his mech couldn't do together, such as scaling ladders, swimming, pulling switches or activating buttons, and shocking foes into immobilization with his patented stun gun. Thus, Red isn't truly defensive while out of his mech, but he can't defeat foes all the same.

Solatorobo is a good looking Nintendo DS game all things considered. Obviously as someone who has been playing a lot of Nintendo 3DS games with much more improved graphics, going back to a 3D title on the Nintendo DS, which didn't do 3D the best or with a lot of justice, can be a bit jarring. However, if there is a list of games that look admirable in visual quality on the Nintendo DS, Solatorobo: Red the Hunter is indeed one of them. Sound-wise, the music isn't of the best quality, but the compositions are serviceable enough. I say "serviceable" because I struggle to recall any of the themes from the game, but they are hardly what I'd consider bad.

Red will teach you to "bug" him! (Man, I feel ill from that bad pun...
Thankfully, I can rest after this review is over.)

Solatorobo: Red the Hunter is yet another example on the Nintendo DS of a game that defies conventions and offers a rewarding and interesting experience because of it. It's by no means perfect-- forcing the player to go through side quests to continue the story is a bit of pitiful way of adding longevity to the game, combat can become repetitive, and the difficulty could pose a greater challenge to players than it currently does. However, Red the Hunter is a highly competent yet niche Nintendo DS exclusive worthy of a place in most libraries.

[SPC Says: B-]

Rank Up! - Professor Layton series

Last Friday I reviewed the latest in the Professor Layton franchise, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask. It was the first installment on the Nintendo 3DS. With five games under his top hat now, it seems appropriate that we more closely examine the Professor Layton franchise as a whole. That's where Rank Up! comes in. I'm sure the SPC faithful already knows how this works, but for the rest of you, this segment is where I take a series of games, series, or systems and rank them from least favorite to most favorite. So get your spot of tea, and start acting more gentlemanly as we see what games I'll be ranking:

Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS)
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (DS)
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (DS)
Professor Layton and the Last Specter (DS)
Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (3DS)

The Professor Layton series started on the Nintendo DS in 2007. The games are developed by Level-5 with Nintendo publishing them in North America. A puzzle adventure franchise, Professor Layton definitely tests the mental mettle of its players while engaging them in thought-provoking stories full of charming and endearing characters.

5) Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS)

The very first Layton game is also the very first game on my list. Professor Layton and the Curious Village is by no means a weak game, so perish the thought of the title being my least favorite meaning that is not enjoyable. The "Curious Village" aspect of the game regards St. Mystere, a "mystere-ious" town where all of the denizens have an intriguingly strong fascination for puzzles. The true revelations of the town, the treasure of the Golden Apple, and much more are positively fun. In addition to the plot, the game's puzzles like figuring out which hat height and brim width out of four examples are the same, or which house the puzzle teller's vague clues point to are a joy to muddle through and solve. The Curious Village is only my least favorite as it has the least amount of enjoyable bonus content of any Layton game. That's still 10-20 hours of story and puzzles, however.

4) Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (DS)

The second game in the Professor Layton series, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box takes players on a cross-country train ride and into two uniquely different cities. The title's "Diabolical Box" refers to the Elysian Box, said to kill anyone who opens it. What is the true secret of the box? There has to be a rational explanation as there is for every Layton game mystery. The Diabolical Box introduced three new mini-games in addition to following along with the story and solving the many puzzles the game throws at you. There's giving a hefty hamster a workout, fixing a camera, and brewing several varieties of tea to a... well, T. Level-5 had said in the past that they listened to feedback from fans and critics on how puzzles relate to the story. In Diabolical Box, they were more pertinent to the plot and had some more value.

3) Professor Layton and the Last Specter (DS)

The final of the four Nintendo DS Layton games, and the first of the prequel Layton trilogy, Professor Layton and the Last Specter brought with it loads of new puzzles and a sensationally done story. The mini-games, like Luke's toy train and pet fish activities, added to the entertainment factor of the game, and added some replay value aside from the puzzles on the game card and via download. The North American and Japanese versions of the game (sorry, European pals...) possessed an entirely different activity for players, separate from the Last Specter part of the game. It was called Professor Layton's London Life, a life-simulation essentially, somewhat similar to that found in Animal Crossing. The fun came from dressing up your avatar character, performing tasks for NPCs (the exact same ones found in past and present Layton games), gaining money to purchase new clothes and furniture for your home, and gaining wealth and happiness. If you're European, you might not rate Last Specter so highly, as the omission of London Life takes away a myriad of gameplay hours. For everyone else, Last Specter is without a doubt the game with the greatest longevity in the Layton franchise.

2) Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (3DS)

The first 3DS Layton and the latest game in the franchise, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask was a splendid first offering for Nintendo 3DS owners. Rather than have the characters in 2D, everyone was in a full 3D polygonal being. Another addition to the series was the exclusion of being forced to tap obsessive compulsively at every pixel of every new screen for puzzles and hint coins. Instead, you could drag a magnifying glass around the screen, and when it turned orange, that's when you could tap the screen to uncover something notable. The puzzles made full use of the 3DS system's features, from the stereoscopic 3D to the Circle Pad, to the gyro functions. Outside of the approximately 150 puzzles already on the game card, Nintendo and Level-5 promise one downloadable puzzle for an entire year. That would get any puzzle-solving aficionado breathing heavily at the thought of all those puzzles! Throw in some enjoyable mini-games like teaching an old rabbit new tricks, getting a toy robot through a maze unscathed, and ordering objects on store shelves, and you have one of the most packed Layton games yet.

1) Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (DS)

The third Layton game that released and the most recent game in the Layton chronology, Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (aka The Last Time Travel) takes Layton and Luke to seemingly London in the future. Impossible, you say? Perhaps, but the mystery of time travel is fully explored and an entertaining ride from title sequence to ending credits. The ending is one of the most touching I as a 20+ year gamer have ever experienced, and it nearly moved me to tears. Alongside the 150+ puzzles already in the game there are plenty of downloadable puzzles to discover the tricky answers to, as well as three new mini-games to add to the longevity of this Layton. One had you playing with Luke's toy car, another had you situating a specific amount of ropes to help a parrot reach the goal, and finally a picture book relied heavily on context clues to figure out the proper solution. From its endearing and unforgettable story (again, the conclusion is just impeccably done) to its numerable amounts of puzzles to solve, Professor Layton and the Unwound Future is my choice for best Layton game.

===

I have solved the puzzle as to which Professor Layton games are my favorite. Now it's your turn. What Layton titles are your most loved? And if you haven't touched the series of yet, what is stopping you? Let your opinion be known in the comments section!

The 50 Best Nintendo DS Games - Part Five

Amidst all of this Nintendo Wii U coverage, I have something that I hope doesn't get lost in the shuffle. Why, it's the fifth and final set of ten of The 50 Best Nintendo DS Games. We've gone through forty of the top titles of what I consider to be the greatest handheld of all time. Now, we have reached the home stretch. It's all smooth sailing from here. If one of your favorite DS games has yet to be listed, perhaps it will be a part of these final ten games! As a reminder, no non-North American releases will be represented on this list. There are great games that missed a North American release date, and seeing as the majority of DS systems out there aren't region-locked, be sure to track some down, too. With that out of the way, let's get to the final ten!

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn

It was a long wait between Golden Sun: The Lost Age and Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. That lengthy period of time made the wait for the game unbearable and they hype for the third installment to be impossible to satisfy fans. While I did enjoy Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, I do not hold it up to be in the same league as both Game Boy Advance prequels. However, both Golden Sun prior to Dark Dawn were in an echelon of RPGs that were quite high in my opinion, so it's sort of hard to achieve that level of greatness. Regardless, what we got with this sole DS installment was an incredibly capable RPG with wondrous puzzle elements. In the case of exploration, the tradition of using magic (Psynergy) outside of battles to solve said puzzles was a fascinating approach to things, and a cool tradition of the Golden Sun series. One of the main problems people have with Dark Dawn is that for the majority of the game, the battles were relatively easy. I can recall only having a real tough go of it with the final boss, and that was a sharp increase in difficulty from past battles. Regardless, what the sum of all of these parts equaled was a superb role-playing game with lots to admire and enjoy.

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime

An action-adventure game and a spinoff of the Dragon Quest JRPG series, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime pits players into the form of a Slime named Rocket as he ventures around the wilderness, defeating foes, helping out fellow Slimes, and shipping back important items and objects to his hometown of Boingburg. Rocket Slime consists of two types of gameplay. The first has Rocket moving around outside Boingburg in search of Slimes and objects to send back to his hometown. Slimes sent back to Boingburg reward Rocket with new items and town functionality. The other type of gameplay has Rocket and his tank doing battle with an opponent and his tank. The goal here is to insert ammunition into one of two cannons and fire them at your foe. However, your adversary is doing the same thing. If two objects crash into each other in midair, they fall to the ground. Things can get overwhelming in a jiffy as you multitask between inserting ammunition to fire, protect your tank from being invaded, and coming up with a plan to enter your opponent's tank. In all honesty, Dragon Quest Heroes was my first introduction to the Dragon Quest series. It made me interested in acquiring as many games from the franchise as possible, even if I sadly don't have the time to play them.

Contra 4

Even though this DS entry is named Contra 4, it was actually the eleventh installment of the franchise. The numbering structure was meant to make it the sequel to the NES and SNES Contra games. It also celebrated the 20th anniversary of the franchise in 2007. WayForward, the minds behind Shantae and Mighty Switch Force, were the force behind Contra 4. The game was a wonderful homage to classic Contra games, offering familiar stage and enemy types, the old school means of upgrading weapons, and other clever touches. There were three difficulties to play through, though the Easy mode did not give the player full access to the game's ending or final levels. In addition to the campaign, there was a Challenge Mode, where players completed various levels with the goal of accomplishing certain tasks. Unfortunately, Contra 4 never made it into PAL territories, including Europe and Australia. However, PAL DS owners could thankfully import the game and play it on their systems thanks to no region-locking. While the game is certainly challenging, Contra 4 gives off a brilliant sense of nostalgia and old school game design philosophy -- and I mean that in a positive way.

Dragon Ball: Origins

Before I get into admiring this game, there was some confusion regarding the tagline of my review for Dragon Ball: Origins. If you carefully examine the box art of Origins, you can see Puar (the green cat-like creature) seemingly looking up the skirt of the blue-haired girl, Bulma. Nonetheless, this first Dragon Ball game for the DS featured controls similar to both DS Zelda games. But unlike those two titles, Dragon Ball: Origins allowed the player to move around with the d-pad. I remember being incredibly impressed by the graphics of the game, the 3D models especially. I appreciated the charm and gameplay Origins possessed, and there was quite a bit of humor as well. One particular scene shows Bulma lifting up her skirt, exposing herself completely. However, the space between the two screens of the DS obstruct the player's view of this. Humorous moments like these run rampant throughout the game. Even as someone with a passing interest on the lore of the Dragon Ball universe, I found myself really enjoying Dragon Ball: Origins. A sequel would be released on the same system a year or so later.

Kirby Super Star Ultra

What I think is the ultimate version of the Super Nintendo classic, Kirby Super Star, the Nintendo DS system's Kirby Super Star Ultra contains all of the content of its original game plus several new additions. You still have Spring Breeze to breeze through, Dyna Blade to defeat, the Gourmet Race to run, The Great Cave Offensive to mount, the Revenge of Meta Knight to face the titular character's fury with, Milky Way Wishes to explore the vastness of space, and The Arena to get your inner gladiator on with. Adding to the bargain collection are Revenge of the King, a more challenging Spring Breeze; Meta Knight Ultra, where Meta Knight takes over for Kirby and plays through several of the collection's titles; Helper to Hero, where several helper characters take the lead; and The True Arena, where every boss in the collection is faced one by one. The value of this package is absolutely immense. While I prefer Kirby: Canvas Curse for its pure innovation and interesting gameplay more, Kirby Super Star Ultra is definitely a Kirby game to track down for DS owners.

Super Mario 64 DS

One of the most influential 3D games in gaming ran and jumped onto the Nintendo DS game scene right at the new system's launch, Super Mario 64 DS. It was not a mere port, but instead it was a fully realized remake with thirty bonus power stars to track down, noticeably improved visuals, new playable characters, and several new (but bite-size) levels to partake in. On the matter of new playable characters, players started off with newcomer Yoshi before unlocking new characters like Mario, Luigi, and Wario throughout the game. Each character had their own unique abilities to shake things up and make switching between characters important for the player's success. Also included in Super Mario 64 DS were several multiplayer modes and a sampling of touch screen-centric mini-games. Now that the little caveat of having to use the d-pad to control Mario and friends in a 3D space has been remedied by simply playing the game on the Nintendo 3DS, I consider the DS game to a terrific supplement for the Nintendo 64 original.

Sonic Rush Adventure

Expanding on the ideas of Sonic Rush, Sonic Rush Adventure adds some... well, this is too obvious... adventure elements into the game. Rather than simply going from one act or zone to the next, players spend time traveling to each zone via waterbike, sailboat, hovercraft, and submarine. Some might call this padding, but I consider it to be something to add some more longevity to the game. Each of the four aforementioned ways to traverse in or on the water control through different methods, spicing up things. There are two playable characters in Sonic Rush Adventure, the needless to say one because it's so apparent, Sonic, and Blaze the Cat, returning from her debut in Sonic Rush. There are seven or so zones in Sonic Rush Adventure for both characters to play through, and each character has their own set of emeralds to gather. Sonic obtains his through winning races against Johnny, one of the antagonists of the game, while Blaze needs to complete a series of missions to gather hers. Only through obtaining all fourteen emeralds can the player try out the final story elements. Sonic Rush Adventure contains a large amount of high speed platforming fun that shows that Sonic still has some semblance of a groove.

Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger is without a doubt one of the most cherished RPGs in the history of gaming. It offered such a change of pace from other rivaling RPGs of that time period. Rather than run around in dungeons and randomly get into a battle, players moved around maps and could see enemies and decide if they wanted to run into them to battle them. And instead of encounters taking place on a separate battle screen, they took place within the same field/dungeon map. If you've played and/or owned the Super Nintendo version of the game, you might be wondering what is the point of getting the DS version. That is a competent question without a doubt. A fair reason to own this version is the sheer portability of it. Fighting against Magnus aboard the bus to work, or venturing through a fantastical forest while waiting in between classes made for some fun. But most importantly, the DS version brought to the table all of the content of the PlayStation 1 disc, such as anime cutscenes, but it left out the long loading times. A new translation for the game was made specifically for the DS version, as well as dual screen capabilities, showing a map on the bottom screen that fills itself in as you run about, and several new arena challenges. Is it the definitive version of Chrono Trigger? You bet your sweet Lucca it is.

Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver

Remaking a large amount of Pokemon fans' favorite Pokemon games, Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver brought the land of Johto to Nintendo DS players worldwide. The game is so legendary  because after you have become a great Pokemon master in Johto, you most likely think your adventure is just about to wrap up when it has only just begun. The entire land from Pokemon versions Red, Blue, and Yellow, Kohto, makes it reappearance for players to traverse, capturing more Pokemon, obtaining more badges, and challenging more trainers. Both versions of this remake of the second generation of Pokemon games contained a Pokewalker within the box. One could grow their Pokemon simply by walking. Trading and battling between Pokemon was also a notable feature within the two games, offering Wi-Fi functionality. Besides the obvious new addition of improved visuals, the other new elements of Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver compared to its Game Boy originals make these two games a must have for any aspiring Pokemon master.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Also available on iOS devices (though I do not know if that version has all of the content of the DS game, so please let me know), Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective takes adventure gaming to supernatural heights as players take the role of a spirit named Sissel. Switching between the Land of the Living and the world infested with ghosts allows Sissel to manipulate people's actions and environment and allow him to possess different objects within his reach to give him access to new areas and proceed through the game's levels. While in the Land of the Living, time moves normally, but in the ghost world, time slows to a stop. Sure, there is a lot of trial-and-error involved in the gameplay, but once you get the feel of things and figure out the solution to a given level, a smile will beam from your face. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is exactly the kind of game that I enjoy seeing on handhelds and smartphones. It simply seems sensationally suitable for those types of platforms. If you like puzzling adventure games outside of the norm, Ghost Trick just might do the... trick.

===

And there you have it. That concludes the fifty best Nintendo DS games currently available on the market. We've laughed, we've cried, and perhaps we've even learned a thing or two along the way. I hope this list has encouraged you to seek out some DS games that you might not have thought about before. As for me, all this list did was make me want to replay a bunch of these titles!

Next Thursday will mark the start of a brand-new 50 Best list. This time around we will be focusing on the Wii, as the Wii U's release approaches. It will be five straight Thursdays of Wii gaming goodness, a console whose library is so often ignored. We'll catch you here later!

Top Ten Final Fantasy Soundtracks

Time to continue the celebration of 25 years of Final Fantasy. You read my opinion on the Best of Final Fantasy Music (best dungeon themes, battle themes, boss themes, character themes, world map themes, airship themes, etc.) and my thoughts on Theatrhythm Final Fantasy. Now, it's time to read my opinion on what I consider to be the most magnificent Final Fantasy soundtracks of the series's 25 year history. From mainline games to spinoffs, this list has the best covered with selected tracks for you to sample and enjoy. So sit back, relax, and get ready to feel waves of unbridled nostalgia.

10) Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (Wii)

We start off with one of the more recent additions to the Final Fantasy universe, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers for the Nintendo Wii. This game actually replaced Final Fantasy X in the eleventh hour on this list. I await your letters, but hopefully after hearing the samples provided you'll see why I went this direction. Using a wide range of musical styles, the soundtrack is quite compelling, sometimes soothing, sometimes energizing, and always fun to listen to. There's the opening track in Kuule Taa Unelmain, Ephemeron, also performed by Donna Burke, then you have Selkie Guild, a refreshing song to stroll around the countryside in Lett Highlands, a theme used for battle, something out of The Dukes of Hazzard in Catch and Throw, the particularly moving Althea's Waltz, and the beach-bumming fun of Girls, We Have to Win. The soundtrack is a veritable smorgasbord of musical genres, fitting for number ten on this list.

9) Final Fantasy XIII (PS3, 360)

The final game may be severely disappointing but the soundtrack is far from that verdict. It is remarkable. Composed by Masashi Hamauzu, Final Fantasy XIII's soundtrack is a cornucopia of sensational songs. There's one of the best traditional battle themes in the franchise's illustrious history in Blinded By Light, a brilliant boss theme in Saber's Edge, my favorite Chocobo theme of all in Pulse de Chocobo, nice area themes like The Sunleth Waterscape, gentle character themes like Serah's and Lightning's. Whatever kind of mood you are in there is certainly a track from Final Fantasy XIII that will fit it.

8) Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (DS)

Composed primarily by Hitoshi Sakimoto, Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift is a playful yet at the same time serious soundtrack for the Nintendo DS tactical RPG game. It features themes from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance as well as some from Final Fantasy XII. At one point the music is touching as can be, while others  get you invigorated and ready for battle, Final Fantasy Tactics A2's music is lovely. Tracks like Green Wind, Crossing Over the Hill (aka Ozmone Plains in Final Fantasy XII), Gathering Allies, Summer Vacation, and more all add up to a particularly enjoyed Final Fantasy soundtrack of mine.

7) Final Fantasy VIII (PS1)

Considered by a good portion of Final Fantasy fans as a black sheep installment of the franchise, Final Fantasy VIII contains a substantial amount of incredible music within its four disc set. Right away from the opening you know that you're in for an impactful ride with Liberi Fatali. The boss battle theme Force Your Way, normal battle theme Don't Be Afraid, and final boss theme The Extreme certainly paint a powerful picture as well. Don't forget The Landing either. Then there's a touching track like Love Grows and the spirited Waltz for the Moon for the romance between Squall and Rinoa. Final Fantasy VIII may not be universally liked, but it certainly delivers when it comes to wonderful music. But who would doubt that when Nobuo Uematsu is at the helm?

6) Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (GCN)

Composed almost solely by Kumi Tanikoa, the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles soundtrack is one that invokes memories of Renaissance and medieval times with its interesting choice of musical instruments like the recorder. It is a perfect fit for the rustic world the game presents players. From songs that deliver a rich sense of ambiance and wonder like Into the Gloomy Darkness to songs that portray a vibrant rural community like A Gentle Wind Blows, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles has such an under-appreciated soundtrack. It truly is magnificent and unlike many soundtracks in the series. Other terrific tracks include: Magi is Everything, Daemon's Court, Amidatti, And Eleonor Too, and When the Northern Sky is Clear.

5) Final Fantasy IV (SNES)

Before it was well known as Final Fantasy IV in the West, it was known as Final Fantasy II. The game was the first Final Fantasy to be created in 16-bits, and it was made all the better for it, from graphics to our focus, sound. Nobuo Uematsu once again showed why he is one of the best when it comes to composing for video games with tracks like the Main Theme of Final Fantasy IV, Battle 1, a bombastic boss theme in Battle 2, one of the great dungeon themes of all time in Into the Darkness, Mt. Ordeals, the moving Troian Beauty, and how could anyone forget Battle with the Four Fiends? Those tracks just scratch the surface of the impressive amount of unforgettable themes heard within the reaches of Baron, Damcyan, and Troia.

4) Final Fantasy VII (PS1)

The first Final Fantasy game to leave a Nintendo system, but more importantly, enter 3D, Final Fantasy VII sports a marvelous memorable soundtrack. The new direction the series took, casting aside medieval themes and technology of yore, going with a futuristic approach, allowed for new musical styles and sounds. It features one of the most cherished final boss themes in RPG history, One-Winged Angel, possesses touching character songs like Aerith's Theme, the Opening ~ Bombing Mission theme that puts the player right into the action, more ethereal tunes like J-E-N-O-V-A, one of the great RPG airship themes, borrowing Final Fantasy VII's Main Theme, in Highwind Takes to the Skies, and even a marching tune thrown in for good measure in Rufus' Welcoming Ceremony. I don't have the same kind of nostalgia for Final Fantasy VII as most people, but I still find the soundtrack to be incredibly good.

3) Final Fantasy IX (PS1)

My favorite of the mainline Final Fantasy soundtracks on the PlayStation 1, Final Fantasy IX invokes memories of old school games in the franchise, and it has the music to back that stance up. Cid's Theme gives a marvelous march that plays in Lindblum's castle. Then we get medieval with Freija's Theme which is played in The Gizamulke's Grotto dungeon. I'd be amiss if I didn't mention the intense boss theme, Kuja's Theme, The Airship, Hildagaldy, The Dark Messenger, and Beyond the Door. I list Final Fantasy IX's soundtrack so high because of the sheer amount of quality tracks that permeate throughout the soundtrack set's multiple discs. It's the type of soundtrack that I can enjoy as someone who is a casual Final Fantasy player but can admire thrilling music.

2) Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1)

One of the most stirring soundtracks I have ever had the pleasure of listening is made even more spectacular by hearing the music played throughout the duration of the game. Yes, this is the fabulous Final Fantasy Tactics soundtrack from the best Final Fantasy spinoff in existence. The duo of Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata combined their compositional mastery and crafted one hell of a score for the game. Tense battle situations get even more unsettling as themes like Antipyretic, Trisection, Battle on the Bridge, Apoplexy, and Decisive Battle. But don't think that it's all struggle and intensity with the music. No, there's plenty of heart-tugging themes such as Ovelia's Theme (one of my favorite tracks of the game), Overlia's Worries, and Chapel, as well as jaunty themes like Pub and Tutorial to behold.

1) Final Fantasy VI (SNES)

And here we have it, the best of the best in Final Fantasy soundtracks. Coming from one of my favorite entries in the series, Final Fantasy VI possesses the greatest bevy of terrific tunes, memorable melodies, and powerful tracks. We have Terra, the world map theme of the World of Balance, the chaotic boss battle theme of The Decisive Battle, the truly haunting sounds of The Phantom Forest, the homely sounds of Kids Run Through the City Corner, the massively moving Aria De Mezzo Carattere, the riotous The Fierce Battle, and the airship theme of the World of Ruin, Searching for Friends. Then you have what I consider to be the best final boss battle theme in video game history, Dancing Mad. The many layers the song contains and how it segues into each movement makes for a wonderful theme. What all of these musical songs and elements make together is one of most celebrated, enduring, and impactful video game soundtracks of all time. It is just one of the reasons why Final Fantasy VI is so cherished by both fans of the franchise and simply those who adore superb RPGs.

===

The Final Fantasy series comprises a large amount of my love for video game music. It is what got me interested in composition, and made me enjoy listening to other genres of music that I might not have otherwise tried. It's the fantastic minds of the composers behind the franchise's games that have in part made Final Fantasy such a cherished brand.

As with most of my lists, I'm sure you won't agree with my order. Perhaps you won't even agree with my omissions of Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XII. That's just fine as well. If those are some of your favorites, what are your most liked tracks from those games, then?

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem (DS) Guest Review

Do you know how difficult it can be to come up with a tagline for a review? I mean, seriously. One time I had this really good one for Rhythm Heaven Fever. It was "I got a fever, and the only prescription is more Rhythm Heaven." But you know what happened? Those jerkwads at GameTrailers used that exact line in their review for the game. Then I was up a creek without a paddle and had to come up with a new one that would be nowhere near as apt as my old idea. Regardless, my brother had some trouble with coming up with a tagline for Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem. He finally did, and I find it to be incredibly clever. Here's his review!

The Mini Faces of Mayhem

The Mario vs. Donkey Kong has provided some fun entertainment over the years. The GBA game was in fact one of the first reviews on SuperPhillip Central! While that particular game played out more like a sequel to the 1994 Donkey Kong title on the Game Boy, recent iterations of the series have focused on the Minis, the little toys that Mario tried to get back from Donkey Kong in the GBA game. This time around, the simian gets a little steamed when he’s shafted out of receiving a Mini of his own at the grand opening of Mario’s newest theme park and decides to make off with Pauline once again. Since Mario can’t really get his move on in such tight spaces, he sends the Minis in to do the hero thing for him. If you’ve played the other DS titles in the series, this may sound like standard fare at the fair. Does Nintendo change up things for this third offering, or is this one ride you should skip out on?

If you’ve ever played the DS titles in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series, you’ll know that the action is almost all controlled by the stylus. With it, you can activate your Minis and try to get them to the exit door in each and every one of the game’s eight main worlds or Attractions as the game likes to call them. The main difference between this and March of the Minis is that once you’ve activated your Minis, you will no longer be in control of them. How are you supposed to guide those little guys around when they’re completely out of your direct control? You control them indirectly, of course!

You see, Mini-Land Mayhem focuses more on you using the terrain to help your toys reach the goal rather than just guiding and stopping the Minis around manually. You start off learning how to use girders as walkways for the toys. These girders are held in place by two bolts. With one tap of your stylus on a bolt, the girder will disappear back into your collection, giving you a few extra construction pieces to place down a girder in a different place. To do that, all you have to do is draw a line from one bolt to the other to create a new path for your Minis to walk about on. As you’re going about guiding the Minis through a level, there are coins, a Mario token, and a card to pick up. Picking up all of these in a level will give your Minis a perfect score bonus at the end and hopefully a trophy to boot. The tokens and trophies unlock special levels once you’ve collected enough of them while the cards will unlock minigames that I’ll get into later.

It’s not all just learning how to use girders as the game will also throw in springs, conveyors, ladders, pipes, and cannons that you’ll have to use in tandem as you go along. The first levels of each Attraction generally try to get you familiar with what you’ll be focusing on for the rest of the levels while subsequent levels will increase the challenge of how to get your Minis to the goal without losing one in the process. The thing about this game is that if you lose one Mini, you’ll have to replay the stage once again. It’s all or nothing. The same applies if you get one Mini to the exit and fail to get another there quickly enough. Once one goes through, you have six seconds to get another Mini to the goal before it locks you out and you’re staring at the retry screen. Some later levels can be extremely strict with this limit as Minis will be placed all over and getting them to the goal will require a good deal of thinking, timing, and maybe a little luck to go along with it!

There is an exception to that timed door rule, and that comes in the fourth level of every Attraction. Here, you won’t just be in control of Mario Minis. You’ll have to free and bring a Toad, Peach, Donkey Kong, and even Pauline Mini to their own respective doors, thankfully without a time limit, to complete the stage. Other themed levels include having to deal with a Circus or Capture Kong in each seventh level that will try to prevent you from getting to the door while the eighth and final level of each Attraction has one Mini carrying a key that will have to get to the exit door first to unlock the door and help you exit the stage. Once you’ve beaten all eight levels, you’ll gain access to a boss fight with that dastardly Donkey Kong.

These fights play out in vertical levels similar to the old style Donkey Kong fights you’re used to. Just like in the main stages of the game, you’ll have to guide your minis up to Donkey Kong and have them climb ladders, walls, or whatever three times to put him down for the count. As you’re trying to do that, Donkey will drop barrels or enemies to try and take out your Minis in one fell swoop. Even worse, when this monkey gets really mad, he can destroy positions on the map where you can place bolts, limiting where your Minis can walk. It can get a little frustrating at times after collecting both the level card and token only to be forced to wait things out as you can’t create the right path to defeat Donkey Kong.

Once you have taken down the ape, you’ll both unlock that Attraction’s stage parts to use in the game’s construction mode and be sent off to the next Attraction, but you can quickly go back and play the previous Attraction’s minigame if you’ve collected all of the nine cards along the way. These minigames are nothing more than trying to drop specific Minis into their own color-coordinated boxes or ones that have point multipliers depending on which setup the game gives you. Either way, you’ll have to make sure to avoid the dark boxes that will take points away from you. Beat the high score, and you’ll earn yourself three more Mario tokens.

I mentioned that there were bonus levels in the game, and yes, these ones are much more difficult than most of what the main game has to offer. The Mario tokens will unlock the twenty levels that the special world has to offer. These areas are unique in that you don’t get a chance to survey your surroundings before starting. Once you tap the screen to go, all of the Minis in the level will start up on their own. To say things get a bit hectic here would be an understatement. Moreover, collecting enough trophies will give you a chance to play the extra levels. These ten stages are huge in length compared to what you’ll deal with in the main story, and even to this point, I have yet to complete all of them.

The content doesn’t stop there, either, as the game has a harder difficulty setting once you’ve completed it in Plus mode. While the levels are the same in layout, you’ll be given different Minis other than Mario to play around with again. The catch is that you now have to get the Minis to the exit door or doors in a specific order. I found this part of the game to be much more fun than the main mode as it required some ingenuity at times to get everyone to the exit in the proper order. If you’re one that thinks the game is too easy, trust me when I say that this mode will give you the challenge you were looking for. If you’re on the other side of the fence and are struggling too much with it, then that’s all right, too. Borrowing the idea from New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Mini Guides will become available if a stage is giving you too much trouble. While I chose not to use them in my run through the game, it’s nice to see that the option is there for those that can’t figure out that one stage.

So there you have it. Add up the boss and minigame levels along with Plus mode, and you’re looking at 222 stages this game has to offer. The construction mode gives creative minds the chance to make and upload their own levels online, but I more than had my fill with the game itself. Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem offers a surprisingly deep amount of content once you get through its easy initial offerings to create a title that I eventually warmed up to more and more throughout my time with it. If you're one of the players out there craving a challenge, you might get a little bit bothered by having to work your way through nearly half of the whole package to get there, but the end result is a somewhat thrilling ride that can be enjoyed by all ages.

[Overall: 7.5/10]

Monster Tale (DS) Review

Time for the third review of June, halfway through the month. No worries, however, as I have many more planned for the first month of summer. Today we are turning our attention towards Monster Tale, a game not spoken of much by the mainstream. Does Monster Tale deserve some more attention? Read this review to find out.

A Whale of a Tale

DreamRift is setting themselves up to be the 2D platformer extraordinaire when it comes to Nintendo handhelds. Their first project, Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure was well received (though many claimed it was mightily hard), and their next project is a "dream" come true for them, working on Disney Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion for the Nintendo 3DS. In between both projects, however, is a rarely trumpeted title with loads of charm, Monster Tale. It is a Metroid-style game in one part and a pet-raising simulator in the other part. Do both parts equal a lovely bedtime story?

Monster Tale tells the... well, tale of a young schoolgirl named Ellie. It seems fate has a destiny with her name on it as she awakens from her nighttime slumber and heads to the nearby forest. There she stumbles upon a large band, which she wraps around her wrist. Suddenly, she is transported into a world of monsters where she meets a hatched from an egg creature. The monster grows quite fond of Ellie immediately, so she allows it to follow her, naming it Chomp. Little do the two know what evils in the background are occurring. Between several kids wanting to use monsters to take over the real world to getting back to Ellie's own world, the team of Ellie and Chomp have plenty on things to do on their proverbial plates.

Monster Tale's gameplay foundation makes it very much inspired by games like Metroid and later Castlevania games, but while the top screen is relegated to the action adventure mayhem of the game, the bottom screen is devoted to Chomp's nesting area. By having Ellie collect items such as food and accessories dropped by defeated enemies or found in different areas, Chomp goes to town on them, gaining him valuable experience points. Once enough experience has been gained, he will grow a level. Though, I do wish the game wouldn't interrupt you and pause the game every time Chomp grows. It seemingly never forgets to manage to stop you dead in your tracks at precarious positions, such as being in the middle of a battle with various dangerous foes.

Ellie and Chomp, a match made in heaven.

Chomp can earn new abilities from gaining levels. These can be mapped to the L and R buttons. While one move slams Chomp into a foe, another can turn the creature into an anvil to be dropped onto baddies. When Chomp reaches certain level requirements, he can branch off and evolve into different forms. Each form learns its own individual moves, gains its own stats such as stamina, defense, intelligence, and agility, and helps Ellie out in numerous ways. There are 30 or so particular forms for Chomp to take on, and mastering all of them will take a lot of time to do (it's quite the grind to say the least).

Like Chomp, Ellie can learn a lot of special moves via unique statues strewn about the various lands in the game. She almost resembles a female Mega Man X as she gains the abilities to jump up walls (as well as slide down them) and charge her Band Blaster a la X's X buster. But that the limit to Ellie's learned abilities. She can be educated as to acquire information on how to melee attack, leading to learning a devastating five hit melee combo, smash downward from the air, dash, be immune to poisonous air, and even fire off a chain of Band Blasts.

When the odds aren't in your favor,
call in Chomp as an equalizer.

With a typical Metroid-style game, you learn new abilities to enter previously impossible to enter areas. This holds true with Monster Tale, but it's just that Metroid does it better. With Monster Tale, it seems like you are constantly being told to backtrack through huge portions of the world map just to reach this one room you couldn't access before. Then the process happens again. The amount of annoying backtracking in Monster Tale is insane, and it's poor planning or artificially extending the playing time that is the culprit here. Thankfully, the game has a helpful map that always highlights the area and room you need to reach next.

Chomp isn't just entrusted to the bottom screen either. At any time with the X button he can be summoned to the top screen to dish out damage to delinquent enemies as well as hit switches that are on the top screen (there are also times where Chomp will need to help Ellie out by hitting switches on the bottom screen). As long as the Pet Meter has some iota of health in it, Chomp can stay on the top screen. The Pet Meter slowly drains as Chomp on Ellie's screen, and goes down faster if Chomp is hurt by a foe, but it recharges while he's on the bottom screen.

While Chomp is on the bottom screen
the Pet Meter will slowly recharge.

In some instances, like the boss fights, you must keep watching both the top and bottom screen as battles encompass both. Perhaps a boss drops a nasty surprise on the bottom screen that Chomp must destroy before it causes trouble for Ellie on the top screen, or perhaps one of the dragon heads of a boss lowers itself to the bottom screen where only Chomp can go to town on it. There are some very creative uses of both screens of the Nintendo DS on display here.

The boss battles are some of the more
spirited parts of Monster Tale.

Aside from items for Chomp to eat or play with, enemies also drop money when they are defeated-- Money in the form of coins, jewels, and pearls. These can be used at a certain helpful monster's shop for upgrades for Ellie such as more health, less energy consumption, and more powerful melee and/or Band Buster attacks. There are also upgrades for Ellie's health as well as extra slots for Chomp (for boosts to attack, agility, elemental damage, etc.) placed in out-of-the-way locations for Ellie to nab.

Acquiring a 100% completion rate requires the player to purchase all of the items in the store (there's multiple locations set everywhere) as well as level up all of Chomp's forms. Considering how time-consuming and mind-numbing this is as well as how lame the actual 100% completion rate prize is (it's a quick ending picture), most players will just be content with beating the game, which will take anywhere between 5-7 hours. Those who were put off by Henry Hatsworth's difficulty should find Monster Tale to be a welcomed change of pace challenge-wise. The game is relatively on the easy side save for some rough spots near the end.

There's no "I" in team,
but there is an "I" in pain.

Monster Tale is full of vivid and vibrant color in the environments, backgrounds, enemy design, and character models. Everything looks and feels incredibly smooth and pleasant. What I like most about the environment design is the plethora of types there are-- autumn forests, ruins, aqueducts, factories, monster nightclubs (yes, monster nightclubs), icy wastelands, haunted areas, and regal castles. The music is without a doubt catchy as well, with plenty of pieces that will get engraved into your mind-- partly because you'll be revisiting areas so darned often. There's even a modest sampling of voice work. Most dialogue is text, but some are accompanied by off-hand one-liners.

Monster Tale ends up being a respectable game in the vein of Metroid, but it ultimately falls somewhat short. The overwhelming amount of backtracking back and forth between areas is a tad too much, and the monster-raising mechanics could go into a little more depth and be less of a grinding experience. Other than that, Monster Tale comes off as a highly overlooked and under-appreciated gem in the cavalcade of 3DS titles that fell through the cracks and went under a lot of people's radars. For something with high amounts of allure in both gameplay and presentation, Monster Tale might be worth a read... er... play.

[SuperPhillip Says: 7.5/10]

Report Card - Nintendo DS

My Report Card segment took an extended holiday, but it has returned. This time we are examining the Nintendo DS line of handhelds. One of the best-selling systems of all time, did the DS deserve all of its sales? Let's find out by looking at the hardware, software, features, and online-- but not in that order.

Hardware

There have been four major models of the DS: the original bulky DS, the DS Lite, the DSi, and the DSi XL. The original DS wasn't very pleasing to the eyes, and the power button was in a precarious location. With the DS Lite (which will now be initialed as DSL), turning on or off the system was moved to the right side. You just moved the slider to turn it on or off (with you needing to push the slider for a longer time to turn it off). The start and select buttons moved from over the face buttons to underneath them and near the lower right side of the touch screen. Instead of being rectangular in shape, they were circular in shape. One of the things I really love about the DSL and its future successors was that the system had a matte finish on the inside. This meant that fingerprints wouldn't show up and make your handheld's insides look absolutely messy. This is something I am flabbergasted that the Nintendo 3DS does not have. Regardless, all isn't well with the DSL. Many models of the system had issues with the hinges where they could crack, leaving the portable unplayable. I haven't encountered this manufacturing fault myself, but it is important to make note of.

Meanwhile, the DSi once again moved the power button, but this time to the lower left side of the bottom screen. A low resolution camera was added for friends and family to take pictures, but as stated, the quality of the photos left much to be desired. With the advent of the DSi XL, the whole build of the system was increased in size to show off a bigger screen and for use for people with bigger hands. The hinge problem that plagued the DSL seemed to have gone away. If not for the hinge chaos, the hardware would be graded higher than a...

Grade: B

Features

Depending on which build of the DS you get, you have different features at your disposal. I personally enjoy the features provided by the original DS and DSL the most. All models give you Pictochat, a fun drawing/messaging app that is for local players with two or more DS systems, as well as the ability to perform Download Play, allowing two or more players with their own systems to dabble in multiplayer with one another. Some games require all players to have a game card while others like Mario Party DS only need one game card and up to four DS systems.

The main draw for me of the vanilla DS and DSL is the backwards compatibility with Game Boy Advance games. There is a slot on the bottom of the DS and DSL to play every GBA game under the sun. That boosts the library available to DS and DSL owners sevenfold.

Meanwhile, for DSi (XL) owners, you have an entire shop filled with downloadable games of varying prices at your every aching whim. You have games like Pictobits, Aura Aura Climber, Bomberman Blitz, Cave Story, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again, Rayman, Shantae: Risky's Revenge, UNO, Metal Torrent, Mighty Flip Champs! and many more to choose from. DSi (XL) owners also get to play around with the built-in camera to take photos of friends, family, nature, and other oddities. If only the DSi and DSi XL offered the option of being able to play GBA games, it would be the ultimate handheld.

Grade: B

Online

The DS was Nintendo's first try with online... and it most definitely shows. Each game required players to acquire a much dreaded twelve digit friend code to share with other players if they wanted to enter a match with them. You can't add a friend unless they have added you in return, and there is no easy way to tell if they've added you except for hopping online and hoping. With Nintendo's poor online this meant that patches were impossible to implement (patches wouldn't show up until Nintendo's next mainline handheld, the 3DS), so hackers who glitched games and cheated were free to run amok. Combine these problems with occasionally atrocious netcode, and you have a losing formula in the online space. You can tell that Nintendo went in kicking and screaming towards online. Thankfully, Nintendo has greatly improved in the online arena, and the Wii U should show what they have learned. That said, the DS' online gets a...

Grade: F

First-party Exclusives

Nintendo brought a fair majority of their biggest IPs to their ultra-popular portable. For traditional 2D platforming you had games like the return to form of Mario in New Super Mario Bros., the sequel to the SNES classic Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island in Yoshi's Island DS, for the first time in the West, The Legendary Starfy, multiple Kirby games like the innovative Kirby Canvas Curse, Kirby: Squeak Squad, Kirby Super Star Ultra, and Kirby Mass Attack, and for the first time ever in a starring role, Princess Peach in Super Princess Peach. Other series got their due time such as Metroid Prime Hunters, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, WarioWare: D.I.Y. and Touched, Pokemon Black/White, Mario Kart DS (the best in the series), Tetris DS, Star Fox Command, Advance Wars: Dual Strike and Days of Ruin, Animal Crossing: Wild World, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, a new Fire Emblem and Golden Sun, and many more. Nintendo even brought forth some new franchises to stimulate the casual market like a publishing deal with Level 5 for Professor Layton, Brain Age, Picross 3D and Picross DS, Planet Puzzle League, Elite Beat Agents, Clubhouse Games, 100 Classic Books, and Nintendogs. Nintendo created new gaming experiences with old and new IPs that really utilized the features of the DS with terrific success.

Grade: A

Third-party Exclusives

Third-parties spent a lot of their time slowly warming up to the Nintendo DS. The support was at a snail's pace at the beginning of the system's life, but as the handheld took off in Japan and then shortly thereafter in other parts of the world, third-parties jumped onto the bandwagon and began producing, publishing, and developing some stellar hits. We had three Castlevanias of the classic so-called "Metroidvania" design, two Sonic games in Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure, multiple Dragon Quest remakes and a huge exclusive in Dragon Quest IX (which sent message boards in a terrible tizzy), a load of Final Fantasy games such as remakes of III and IV, Contra 4, Phantasy Star 0, Resident Evil: Deadly Silence, a port of Chrono Trigger, Okamiden-- the sequel to the brilliant Okami, several Mega Man games, and two original Kingdom Hearts entries. There were even new IPs such as Radiant Historia, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, Solatorobo: Red the Hunter, Jump Superstars, Soul Bubbles, The World Ends With You, Meteos (from the mind of Masahiro Sakurai of Smash Bros. fame) Nanostray and its sequel, and Drawn to Life. Japan supported the platform more than the West, but you'd be hard pressed to find a better lineup of third-party offerings on any other handheld.

Grade: A

Overall

My Nintendo DS Lite still holds a special place in my closet, and unlike when people say they've placed a system in their closet, I still play my DS Lite. How else can I play Game Boy Advance classics without hooking up the ol' GameCube and Game Boy Player? That notwithstanding, even without the GBA backwards compatibility, there is an abundance of tremendous titles awaiting any DS owner, and now with the 3DS that can play most DS games, the library gets another chance to shine. It is not only one of the best handheld libraries in gaming history (it might even be considered the best), but it is one of the best libraries handheld or console in gaming history. Design flaws aside, the system is one of my favorites which I will always have numerous cherished memories of.

Overall Grade: A-
(not an average)

===

What would your grades of the Nintendo DS family of systems be? Did you enjoy this edition of Report Card? I hope you did as I enjoyed writing it. Share your thoughts and memories of the DS in the comments section.