Indigo Prophecy:

This game is awesome. Play it if you haven't and you have a ps2. You can find this game for around $15 shipped on ebay, or for 17.99 used locally. I really enjoy playing games that make you play differently than most games, and this is one of those gems. You play as both a murderer and the cops investigating the murder trying to both cover up the crime and uncover it in the different chapters. The game plays very much like an interactive movie that never gets boring. Many small details are included so that almost anything that comes to mind you can do. Investigating the bathroom with your female partner? Why not use the urinal, you have to pee from all that coffee you just drank. It's scenes like that that make the game so memorable. It surprises you at numerous turns. The only downside to this game is that the controls are a little shaky at times and the story gets a tad ridiculous. I found myself getting stuck in corners trying to move out of them when the camera angle changed unexpectedly but the analog recognition did not. Also, the game is fairly short. I finished the game in about 8 hours and I thought I was very thorough with exploring all the possibilities. There is a ton of replay value with the multiple endings, so it's worth playing a few times. Another nice bonus is that you can replay individual chapters instead of replaying the entire game. With 44 chapters, this lets you pick your favorite or most robust chapters and explore everything. Quantic Dreams is also working on a next gen title called Heavy Rain that I am really looking forward to after playing this game.

New Super Mario Bros.:

Returning to sidescrolling paradise, I definitely enjoyed playing through the New Super Mario Bros.on the DS. The new abilities aren't that great, but playing a beautiful new sidescroller was just so fun. Flavor from every previous Mario platformer works its way into the 8 different worlds of this game along with some new mechanics that really pull it all together. I beat the game relatively quickly, but two of the worlds are optional, so I'm now going back through to play those. To complete the game 100%, I estimate it would take 15-20 hours. After that, there is a really fun Mario vs. Luigi mode that I've tested out, along with 20+ mini games to play wirelessly with up to four players. I've played both these modes two player and they are definitely worth it if you have a friend with a DS and you only need one cartridge to play multiplayer. I am disappointed that the multiplayer is not over wifi however and I don't know why they didn't make it possible. The other beef I have with this game is the TV advertising. They show the giant mushroom growth, which is pretty fun in the game, but you never really use it in the actual game. I think there are only 3-4 set ? blocks that have this gigantic mushroom, and it is never really required to use to beat a level. Some levels, blowing yourself up isn't even viable, as you can be too big to actually move anywhere and advance in the level. This was disappointing because it's a cool powerup that feels really underutilized. The new blue shell powerup pretty much sucks and I haven't found a single good use for it yet. Anytime I use it, I end up flying across the screen to my death down some pit. Despite these somewhat flawed new powerups, this is still a must-have for any DS owner that likes the old school Mario platformers.

Note: views and opinions expressed in this article are the author's and are not necessarily those of Wolverine Soft.