Released in Europe as Professor Kawashima’s Brain Training, this is, once again, a completely different software offering from Nintendo. Brain Age is part game and part genuine mental exercise and a massively successful title back in Japan where non-games are always welcomed. Brain Age keeps track of your performance progress on a chart, with the idea being that you ‘play’ the game at least once a day, thereby training your brain and gradually becoming better and better at the game’s tasks, which include memory, drawing, arithmetic, and other brain-bending calculations.

What we have here is one of those notorious rhythm games that garner either a love or hate following; in this instance players must press certain buttons in time with the onscreen musical prompts. The problem here is that Daigasso Band Brothers isn’t out in the US or Europe as of yet and stands as a Japanese-only release. That said, the Japanese version is easily playable anyway and doesn’t require extensive knowledge of the Japanese language.

Ok so it should be amazing because it’s innovative and that’s always a welcome addition to any game catalogue. Sadly, I thought this was a big waste of time. Yes, it sounds great, but it’s just so boring that I wished I hadn’t spent any money on it. Oh well, some will love it, but not me. This certainly isn’t a game, it’s more like a goldfish bowl with music.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for many years, or perhaps you’re new to gaming, you will have heard of—or played—a Mario Kart title. Before its handheld release, many wondered if the tiny DS could handle the (N64’s) popular racing franchise and bring the same fluid and fun playability to the handheld market. In short, Nintendo brought gamers not only a great single-player racing title, but also a WiFi-capable racing title on a handheld. However, the downside to Mario Kart DS resides in the way the WiFi component works, as cheats drops out upon losing, and friends need to pre-arrange races to fill all available slots. Both of which are a little dissatisfying when it comes to online play. That said, if you can get past these minor niggles, the WiFi races are still a lot of fun—though it is worth arranging to play with friends beforehand (via MSN for example). Single-player mode offers unlockable features and, more importantly, addictive, fun, and frantically cute kart racing.

Wow. This is a must have for any DS owner. It looks even more amazing on the DS Lite, which let’s face it is worthy of some whooping and hollering. It’s already so beautiful and such a complete joy to play that getting this on a brighter screen will make most gamers grin from ear to ear. Yes, yes, yes. Own it or you’re just pretending to be a gamer.

Like your FPS (First-Person Shooter) titles? Got a DS? Well, what are you waiting for? If you don’t already own Metroid Prime: Hunters, then you should, so get out and buy it! The detailing in this title is simply mind-blowing, the fluid way the touchscreen control blends with the DS’s face button controls is amazing—it all just feels so right. Add to this some sublime and lag-free WiFi gaming and you’re on to a winner.