So, Phoenix Wright. It released on WiiWare this past Monday, and it was graciously given to me by none other than Jonathan Holmes. I've owned 4 DSs in the past, and didn't keep getting rid of them because they broke -- I was just indecisive. Throughout that entire time, I had never played even one single Phoenix Wright game. I knew a lot about it, I was interested, but I never actually picked it up. After playing the Wii version all week, I've decided my life was empty and meaningless up to this point.

Phoenix Wright is awesome. It's very much unlike a game I'd normally play -- I'm usually all for real-time, action, fast-paced stuff, while this series is very slow, very text-heavy, and actually has very little gameplay aside from choosing what to say and when to present evidence. But I'll be damned if I haven't smiled the entire time I've played. The comedy, the style, the use of the word Butz... It's all so well-put together and just an all-around great time. I can't believe I've missed out on this stuff all this time.

The DS games translated pretty well to the TV screen -- The bottom screen is emulated and enlarged, and you use the D-pad to look around and to select menu options. I find it a bit weird that they didn't just add pointer support to simulate the stylus, but this control scheme still works well. It doesn't even look terrible blown up -- The visuals are actually fairly well-done, even enlarged the way they are.

The best part is that from what I understand, the Wii version will actually include every one of the DS games after Episode 5 gets released later this year (for a freaking dollar -- I kind of wonder why it wasn't just included as one game). $11 for a series? I'm completely fine with this. If you guys haven't played any of these games (and I'm sure I'm in the minority here), you have to grab this. It'll be the best downloadable game you'll get for a long time.

Thank you, Jonathan, for introducing me to this awesome series. I may have to consider grabbing another DS just to play the spinoff games starring the other attorneys.