MY VIEW
Games: 'Rayman DS'

By Jeffrey Davis
Special to The Advertiser

The Verdict: THE RATINGS 5 — Outstanding: Add it to your collection now. A must-have. 4 — Great: Buy it or rent it — definitely play it. 3 — Good: Worth playing despite some flaws. 2 — Fair: Unless you're a fan of the license or series, don't bother. 1 — Poor: You'd have more fun playing Pong.

Console: Nintendo DS

Developer/publisher: Ubisoft

Genre: Action/adventure platformer

Number of players: 1

ESRB: E, for everyone

The premise: Robo-Pirates from outer space, led by Admiral Razorbeard, have conquered the world of the Teensies. The Robo-Pirates destroy the heart of the world, scattering its energy into 1,000 yellow lums, which bring about negative events and disturb the planet's harmony. In the midst of battle, the main character, a planet protector named Rayman, loses his powers, is captured by Razorbeard and taken to the pirates' headquarters, the Buccaneer. He manages to escape with help from his friends, and sets out to restore the heart of the world and the planet's harmony.

Gameplay: Rayman lives in a 3-D world filled with puzzles, danger and humor. Further exploration is possible by collecting lums, opening doors, doing certain tasks and saving a trapped protector. For example, after saving a Teensie, a warp is opened to the Island of Doors, a nexus for visiting different areas. Fighting is done in third-person by throwing energy spheres at your foes, and an item called "the power fist" allows you to charge up your shots. During a battle, you can lock on to an enemy and move sideways to avoid their shots.

The good/bad: The ability to look at the world in first-person helps when playing in a 3-D environment. On the third-level swamp, the water-skiing portion is an interesting idea and runs smoothly. The characters are cartoony, animated, crack jokes and move along the story.

But there are headache-inducing camera spins and graphics that look incomplete, dark and choppy. The constant battle for good camera angles and lack of camera control gets old real fast. The controls are not as responsive as they should be, which is bad news in platform games. There should be a map for the areas you visit; getting lost or missing something eats up valuable time. A lack of safe spots, spoken-language options, new content and no button configurations try a gamer's patience.

Tips: When confronting an enemy, make sure the enemy becomes solid before firing again. If you can't find all the lums in one area, come back later; you may not have the item you need. Be sure to look around in first-person so you don't get lost. Try to find a camera angle you can live with before tackling any of the harder jumps. Use the barrels and clear the way to other areas.

My take: This is one of 20 launch games that are supposed to show off the potential of this new dual-screen game system. However, it feels like a rushed port of a Nintendo 64 game compressed onto a small screen, but with graphics that belong on a big screen. The video game companies need to give older gamers (series' fans) a reason to come back — such as modes, characters, events, levels and other things not on previous versions. At its heart, it is still a decent Rayman game — just not on the DS. Play it if you are a big fan of the series, otherwise skip it.

Jeffrey Davis of Honolulu is a video game enthusiast. Do you have a game or CD you want to review? Reach Island Life assistant editor Dave Dondoneau at ddondoneau@honoluluadvertiser.com.