Gaming on the Go: X Men DS A review...

Well, it's been a while since I contributed to this most hallowed of sites, whilst the illustrious Gnome has been hard at work regaling us with all sorts of handheld goodies.

I've felt guilty about that, so it's time I unloaded a bit of DS shite on yer collective asses....

Now if I'm completely honest (and I never am...) The DS has always been a bit of a sideline for me... My main love is for the Dreamcast and the Saturn... and this holidays, I had been awaiting an import Dreamcast Light Gun game to add to my extensive DC stash... Death Crimson OX...

It arrived on December 20th and I left it under the tree, unopened, unwrapped and ready for me to enjoy on Christmas Day...

In the meantime, I went shopping for my kids, to facilitate the gifts that Santa is meant to bring... Now me and the youngest own a DS... he has enjoyed Nintendogs almost exclusively as his game of choice.
Me? I've largely used mine as a conduit for GBA games which really hasn't explored the potential of this next gen handheld... Although I am increasingly a Nintendo fanboy these days...

As part of the extensive range of presents that I bought for my kids, one bargain that I procured for the young'un was 'X Men DS' (along with Nintendo 'Cats' and some 'Spongebob' DS game). Whilst top range DS titles still retail in the UK for £30, this baby retailed at a poultry £7.98 brand new.... Awlright!!!

OK! Bargain! he likes the X Men, would think Santa had delivered him a top range present, and for once, my credit card would have a bit of welcome relief. Result!

Now films of comics don't always crossover well... Batman? Check! Spiderman? Check!
Hulk? Piss poor... Daredevil? Pur-lease!!! (Well it's got Ben Affleck in it...) But the X Men
series pulled off the 'comic to movie' transition rather well... With it's stellar cast (Patrick Stewart, Ian Mc Kellan, Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman)
Plus delicious eye candy...

...And the sensitive juxtaposition of the intolerance/bigotry of Nazi Germany vs. the intolerance/bigotry toward the new breed of mutant... It did a good job!

Similarly, games based on films, haven't always fared so well... And in particular the 'X Men' games franchise on other gaming consoles, has received a bit of a critical panning...

But being Christmas and all, and wanting to share in the gaming experience of my youngest, at some point on Christmas Day, I popped 'X Men' into my DS and gave it a go....

REVELATION! My much coveted import Dreamcast title has received little attention whilst 'X Men DS' has kept me hooked for three days.

A lovely RPG this sees you playing as a variety of mutants... Iceman, Wolverine, Magneto, Night Crawler etc. each battling foes with their unique abilities... You have to infiltrate a variety of settings, battling a number of tricky foes.

Most of the action takes place on the lower touch screen, the upper screen being reserved for displaying 'mutant energy' and 'health' bars. Both of these can be upgraded/replenished, by defeating enemies, and additional points and power can be gained for doing this with skill and speed...

The great thing for me about this game has been the revelation of the touch screen/stylus gameplay. The console's D Pad and buttons are reserved for moving the characters. Attacks necessitate targeting foes and weapons with the stylus on the touch screen.

Fucking great! Playing this game, has massively opened up the innovative gameplay potential of the DS for me. It has shown me the superiority of the DS over the admittedly wonderful PSP...

Now if I had chosen to write this particular review a few hours ago, it might have had something of a different flavour... I was very frustrated that I kept on dying on a particularly difficult level... And at this point I usually give up on games leaving them uncompleted...

But perseverance, and spanking the second bosses arse, (at which point I took a break to write this review) has left me simply LOVING this title... And the Nintendo DS...