Ian Lewis' Blog

I recently bought a Nintendo DS and though I've had it only about a couple weeks or so it's already become one of my favorite game systems, handheld or otherwise. The touch screen, and level of innovation in the games adds greatly to it's appeal.

So far I've picked up 3 games. One is Kanji Kentei which is a practice and learning game/software for learning Japanese characters. It follows the Kanji Kentei standarized test and includes a testing mode and practice mode. The practice mode has separate modes for testing how to write kanji, reading kanji, and stroke number/order. As you practice it saves the data on which you got right and wrong for each level and mode. The testing mode combines all three of these modes into a test which it grades and gives you a pass/fail score.

I also picked up the Kirby DS game. Somehow I really like Kirby and how you can suck in enemies and use their powers. It also has really nicely designed levels. It's a refreshing game that doesn't require a lot of time . More recently I've had less and less time I've been able and willing to give to playing games. It also has some simple but fun mini games which yo u can play with friends. One of the nice things about the DS is that you can play with others who have a DS without both of you owning the game. The person without the game can connect and temporarily download the part of the game they need to play along.

I also picked up Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin which like Dawn of Sorrow borrows a lot of gameplay aspects from the PS Symphony of the Night. Which is one of the cooler Castlevania games. So far it hasn't disappointed. I especially like the dual character aspect. And as an added bonus the game has a coop mode so you can play two player! So far I don't have anyone to play with but it seems like it would be fun.

Anyway, if you don't have a DS I strongly encourage you to get one. They are relatively cheap but are a lot of bang for the buck with all the features.