Note: Before owning the DS my previous portable experience was confined almost entirely to repetitiously playing Pokemon Red with my Gameboy Pocket on long road trips and plane flights.

Six months ago I received a DS Lite from my younger sister, who used it almost exclusively as a portable study device during high school. After graduating, she saw no further need to use it and figured that I would appreciate it. I was extremely grateful, and since receiving the DS from her I have purchased Bangai-O Spirits, New Super Mario Bros and Scribblenauts.



Bangai-O Spirits is about worth what I paid for it, five dollars. I have fooled around with it, but I generally find it to be unenjoyable and extremely difficult. It’s a classic case of do not formulate an opinion or expectation of a game on its cover art. I would be surprised if I ever inserted it back into my DS.

Scribbenauts, I purchased despite the less than stellar reviews. I suppose I fell hard for that E3 coverage. The game is fun for about half an hour at a time tops, after that I feel as though it is less of a contiguous game and more of an assortment of creativity and logic based puzzles. I thought I was playing the latest Gameboy, not filling out the crosswords and Sudoku in the back of the newspaper.



If I ever have ten spare minutes at home, I will gladly sit down and beat the original Super Mario Bros for the umpteenth time. I absolutely adore the original side-scrolling Mario titles, and couldn’t care less about his 3D outings. However, despite how it appears to be designed for people just like myself, New Super Mario Bros has not won me over. It is an entertaining and retro game, but just does not manage to give me that classic feeling. Perhaps, I am suffering from nostalgia, or retro-goggles, but NSMB just does not give me anywhere near the enjoyment that any single game on my Super Mario All Stars Cartridge provides. Furthermore, the difficult is pretty hit or miss. NSMB either feels incredibly easy or unfair, never threatening to be legitimately challenging.

I find the DS entertaining for short bursts when I have nothing else to do and am either travelling or waiting some place away from home. It is not dissimilar to reading a magazine or doodling in a boring lecture. I would not normally do these things given the opportunity to do something else, but it is entertaining enough given the alternatives. I do not feel as though I could spend hours at home plugging away at Ace Attorney, like my friends that made me envy the system, or even the way I do regularly with my Wii or PS3. I am left begging the question, is portable gaming just not for me or am I just looking for fun on the system in all the wrong places?