Facts are few and far between only at that point–there wasn’t a release date announced–but the demonstration do function a number of screenshots and focus on makes of the conditions and character models, that we have embedded beneath for the viewing pleasure.

Cavern Tale has already garnered an audience because of successful variations on both laptop computer and also the WiiWare support, but the Three dimensional function may be enough in order to persuade actually old fans in order to revisit the title when this produces on the 3DS.

The original rivalry has been revived and it’s up to the player to help Mario save Pauline from the clutches of Donkey Kong once again. The mustachioed plumber usually has played the role of the hero in the past and once again takes the spotlight with his army of mini-Marios. In my case, I’d rather play the role of Donkey Kong snatching the damsel away and keeping Mario away, but alas, that isn’t what is offered in Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem.

What Mini-Land Mayhem does well is continue to introduce new puzzle-solving elements in succession throughout the stages. Starting out with the red girders and eventually learning how to implement blue ladders, the obstacles are often easy to solve and overcome. At the very least, they are satisfying, so figuring out that one green pipe needed to be deactivated while another needed to be active for mini-Toad to reach his exit door was a worthwhile experience.

In total, there are eight levels with eight levels within them before a boss battle (against Donkey Kong, of course) is met. Each level has collectibles such as letters that spell out mini-Mario to unlock a mini-game, gold coins, and a few useable items such as hammers to hit Circus Kong (toy Donkey Kong) and other gorilla robots out of the way. Once the Normal Mode is complete and Donkey Kong is defeated at the top of an observation wheel, the Plus Mode is unlocked and players will play through the same levels again but this time they must have the mini-characters (Mario, Toad, Pauline, Donkey Kong, Princess Peach) enter the exit door in the correct order.

It’s safe to say that Mini-Land Mayhem has replay value in surplus. Special and Expert Levels can be unlocked with 10 more stages each to play and players are eligible to create their own levels through Construction Mode. The Normal Mode takes anywhere from 4-5 hours to complete depending on the skill level of the player, but it’s nowhere near as challenging as the Plus Mode or the Special and Expert Levels. It’s required to earn trophies to unlock the Expert Levels and to earn the trophies, players earn points in each stage based on the game score, time bonus and collection bonus. If players reach the goal score, they’ll earn themselves a trophy. Simple, but it’ll take a good 10 hours to earn all the trophies.

Thankfully, the controls are intuitive due to how basic they are. Tap a mini-Mario to kick-start him on his path towards the exit, drag a line between two red rivets to create a red girder or two blue rivets for a blue ladder. There’s nothing too complicated that mucks up the overall experience, but then again, it never goes above and beyond conventional puzzle standards to stand out. Want a purple conveyor to go in a different direction? Tap the arrow and, voila, it’s done.  Need to clear the path of a shy guy that stands in the way? Grab the hammer and get a whacking.

The most attractive feature of Mini-Land Mayhem happens to be the online sharing of levels. The single-player campaign does a serviceable job, but the online is where the game exceeds expectations. While it does take some time to understand what’s possible and what isn’t, the Construction Zone elevates the title to a worthy recommendation for players who want to try out their hand at creating levels. Players are eligible to save up to 160 levels to their game card, so Nintendo has provided a great chance to share expertly crafted levels with friends.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem is a quality puzzler, especially when considering the lackluster year the genre is having. The more challenging aspects take a bit to get to, but when players do reach the Plus Mode and Special Levels, it’s worth every second.

So when I say that Dragon Quest IX is the series’ most drastically different installment yet, it really doesn’t mean that much. Its primary innovation — portable, four-player co-operative play — is something made popular recently by another Japanese megahit, the PSP Monster Hunter titles. In fact, there’s a lot of Monster Hunter influence evident throughout the game. But taking a cue from other proven hits isn’t a bad thing — especially when you can work their concepts into a completely different style of game well, as DQIX does.

When you start Dragon Quest IX, you get to create a character to your own specifications, akin to an MMORPG. It’s then revealed that you’re are already a demigod, living in a realm high in the clouds and tasked with helping the mortals below, working to earn affection and open the path to where the Almighty resides. That is, before your heavenly kingdom implodes, sending you careening to the earth below sans many of your supernatural powers. It’s up to you to solve the mystery behind the destruction of your homeland, and quell the chaos brewing in the mortal realm.

What will immediately strike you about DQIX are the visuals. It’s by far the best-looking DS game on the market, but it also shows the system’s age. Character models and backdrops look fantastic, but frame drops and slowdown during heavy action is aggravatingly common. The music is up to the usual high standards of the DQ franchise, as well, with themes both familiar and new cropping up throughout the game.

But you could make a HD, next-gen Dragon Quest and it would still be as staunchly traditional an RPG as you could get: Turn-based menu-driven battles, “do X, kill Y, then proceed to location Z” gameplay and story flow, a party of nondescript user-created characters with no real dialogue or story impact, and some simple skill- and class-building trees to create your ideal team. And like the classic RPGs of old, the game takes a while to get moving: It’s pretty dull to just mash slimes for the first few hours, but once you get the ability to form a bigger party, things start to pick up considerably. Unfortunately, waiting for good things to open up is kind of par for the course here, as it takes a considerable amount of game time (15-20 hours) before you’re able to fully explore the class system. These elements aren’t quite as aggravating as, say, waiting for all of your combat options to open up inFinal Fantasy XIII, but they still feel like annoying “carrot-on-stick” gimmicks to keep you artificially hooked until the game’s world becomes more open.

What makes DQIX interesting is the much-vaunted multiplayer aspect. You can invite friends to join your party or join a friend’s party (consisting of up to four players) and go out to dungeon-romp and monster-mash as a team. Individual players can engage in exploration and battle as teams or solo, and a handy “call to arms” feature lets the host instantly summon all the players in the game to their side no matter where in the world they are. Multiplayer combat moves surprisingly fast — unless one player simply can’t make up their mind on what attack to use, you won’t be bored waiting for everyone to choose their strategy. There are very few risks involved in joining a friend’s game even if you are severely underlevelled: The penalty of losing half your money upon death is negated, you’ll earn double EXP from battles, and if they’re further in the story than you are, you’ll have a chance to get some much better gear. There are issues, however: Multiplayer is local only, meaning that you’ll need to convince your friends/coworkers to buy the game and gather together for play sessions. (You need to be in close proximity, too, since you’ll be discussing battle tactics with each other.) Emphasis on multiplayer is so strong that it can be difficult to go through the game solo — the game expects you to level more quickly by regularly taking advantage of the co-op double EXP bonus. If you don’t plan to play with buddies anytime during your adventure, you’ll have to do some serious level-grinding from time to time.

Dragon Quest IX is like a classic car that’s been recently restored: There might be some new stuff under the hood and additional bells and whistles, but it’s still the same vehicle from years ago. That’s not entirely a bad thing. Dragon Quest’s appeal lies in its sense of warm, welcoming familiarity. It’s refreshingly free of the pretension and overwrought cinematics of much of the current JRPG crop, instead presenting a lighthearted, charming adventure romp akin to what made the original Chrono Trigger such a beloved classic. The cartoonlike setting, clever banter, and delightfully goofy-looking monsters and characters give the DQ titles a distinct atmosphere and appeal, and that appeal is of the big reasons why the series continues to thrive.

PROS: Fun and well-designed multiplayer, superb visuals and music, charming setting and world design, excellent localization.
CONS: Slow going at several points, quite grind-heavy at times, may leave those not interested in multiplayer out in the cold.

Testing ones blood-sugar level–done by literally procuring a sample of blood from your finger–isn’t a pleasant prospect for most, not to mention the many children affected with diabetes. Bayer is hoping to make the procedure a bit easier on kids in America, as the pharmaceutical company has announced that its blood sugar-testing device, the Didget, is now available in the U.S. via CVS and Walgreens’ online pharmacies for $75–though that price may vary depending on your health plan.

Children will be able to quickly perform and receive results for their blood sugar levels using the Didget, and will earn points that can be transferred to the Nintendo DS via the Game Boy Advance cartridge slot included in pre-DSi models to earn new content in a game that comes with the testing device called Knock ‘Em Downs: World’s Fair. The points earned from tests can also be used by children to customize their own web pages on Bayer’s Didget World online community.

Pokémon fans with a copy of Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum have 12 more days to get in on GameStop’s Pikachu-colored Pichu giveaway.

The promotional freebie lets players add the level 30 Pichu to their Pokédex at GameStops across American (and in Puerto Rico) when they bring in their Game Cards and DS consoles. The Pikachu-colored Pichu comes with attacks like Charge and Endure, and special moves Volt Tackle and Endeavor. Also, he comes with the Held Item Everstone and his Poké Ball is actually the Cherish Ball – a special item only distributed at Pokémon events.

Obtaining Pichu provides gamers with a sneak peek at the upcoming Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver games. By trading the freebie into one of the new games, players get to meet Spiky-eared Pichu from the movie, Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life.

The Pikachu-colored Pichu giveaway event ends February 14.

Spirit Tracks, the latest portable Zelda title, continues the tradition of taking full advantage of its respective platform: You’ll find yourself scribbling on the DS’ touchscreen with the stylus, playing a flute by blowing into the mic, and attacking enemies by smacking them on the touch screen. The game also offers up a deep experience, and while the sense of overall challenge is minimal, there are a number of engaging and fun tasks such as rabbit collection and train improvements waiting to be unearthed. Traveling around the world in the locomotive is also a unique and novel solution to the problem of long-distance movement, and it’s particularly well handled, a good thing considering it’s the major distinguishing “feature” that helps separate Spirit Tracks from the other titles.

It’s a quirky, eccentric, yet utterly enjoyable game but it also suffers from a few issues that keep it from reaching the high bar set by other Zelda titles. For one, the initial pacing is rather poor. The first two hours are dedicated to introducing the world’s backstory — the game’s world is inhabited by people who have been fending off a demon using railroad tracks — and this requires a ton of reading, a problem which is exacerbated by the DS’ relatively small screens. To add to those early pacing problems, players are handcuffed by the limited set of actions at their disposal, specifically during the train-driving portions. While this is all in line with the genre convention of gradually rewarding progress, Spirit Tracks would have benefited from a much more compelling intro to counteract the slow narrative.

When the game does start to pickup, it plays very similarly to The Phantom Hourglass and while this isn’t necessarily a problem — Phantom Hourglass was a great title, after all — it would have been nice to see more innovation applied to the overall gameplay; aside from the unique modes of transportation, there really isn’t much to differentiate the two. I also noticed a very kid-friendly vibe to the title — an idea that solidified when I dispatched a smilely flower monster with a leaf pinwhee — and while it fits the overall spirit of the game (excuse the pun), it might also alienate older gamers who may have grown up with Zelda but whose tastes have matured past the cute and the cuddly.

And yet, while it isn’t perfect, Spirit Tracks does enough things right that you won’t regret persevering through the initial sluggishness. Once the game picks up momentum and speed, it packs a locomotive sized punch, one that doesn’t reinvent the wheel but still manages to do the storied franchise proud.

PROS: Makes good use of the DS’ capabilities; offers a deep experience with plenty to do
CONS: Game drags in the early going; doesn’t innovate much beyond Phantom Hourglass

FFCC: Ring of Fates Bosses

After all events of the Library, return to there and clear the enemies in the first area to reveal the warp point. This warp point leads to the room where you can fight the bosses in “Ring of Fates”. Just put the book onto the bookstand to enter the fight.

Hard Mode

Beat the game once to unlock the Hard difficulty level.

Very Hard Mode

Beat the game on Hard Mode to unlock Very Hard Mode.

Replay the Final Dungeon

After the ending of the game, back to the gate and examine the “stuff”, leave the place, and you will see the final dungeon is available again.

Secret Dungeon

Beat the main game. After the ending of the game, back to the world map and the secret dungeon will be unlocked at the lower right of the map.

Complete the Hard mode to unlock the following equipments in the shop, selling at 1,000,000 gils per item.

Hairpin of Affection — Beat the Hard mode
Layle’s Goggles — Beat the Hard mode
Layle’s Jacket — Beat the Hard mode
Parallel World Garb — Beat the Hard mode
Robot Body — Beat the Hard mode
Robot Head — Beat the Hard mode

Assassin (Female Selke)
Appears on Hard or Very Hard only, world map, near Desert Ruins, must be in Multiplayer and have an extensive friends list.

Female Yuke
Must be at the end of the game on normal, talk and she hides out in the world map, on a patch of brown. Cast a spell where she is and talk to her.

Gerald (Male Clavat)
Appears on Hard or Very Hard only, world map near forest, must have 1,000 kills.

Male Yuke
Appears near the end of the game on normal, must have every scratch card.

Nun (Female Clavat)
After completing Library 3 on Normal or Hard, find her in Library 1 and talk to her to unlock a quest. Complete the quest Monster Mash 2 and talk to her.

Penguin (Female Lilty)
Appears on any Difficulty, in front of the Library, must be on Very Hard to recruit.

Red Mage (Male Selke)
Appears on any Difficulty, in front of the library, pay 5,000 Gil.

Rid Dek (Male Lilty)
Have over 100 hours gameplay. Find this character in the Town, in front of the Adventurer’s Guild.