Point Blank DS

This is one of those games that makes you look really silly if you happen to be playing in public--a good or a bad thing, depending on your viewpoint, but fun either way. Gone is the I ightgun from this classic point-and-shoot series; in its place, the stylus has never been more crucial. Gameplay here consists solely of tapping the touch screen as precisely and speedily as possible, whether you're hitting a bunch of bad guys but avoiding the hostages, shooting ducks in a pond, setting off fireworks, or performing some other such nonsensically fun task of the 40 or so on offer. The game rates your accuracy and speed for each stage, awaking you a score that goes onto the leaderboard--a very fun component when you're sharing a cartridge with your mortal foes. Multiplayer pits two fast hands in direct competition, and it's satisfying to see where your opponent is hitting the screen and their stats at the end. The tap-tap-tap doesn't exactly capture the same novelty of the old games' lightgun, though. It also makes this version initially much easier, though the harder difficulty levels quickly balance this out

Though I absolutely adore the Point Blank series, the DS version failed to fulfill its mission: translating the unique light-gun experience to the touch screen in an effective manner. Sure, capping birds and cardboard criminals is as easy as tapping the screen, but part--more like most--of the fun of the series was grading your skills with a gun. Using the stylus for shooting not only makes the game too easy, but people with big mitts will likely have to contort their hands in order to see all the action. This is not to say the game isn't worth a shot, though--multiplayer is a blast. Still, you're better off hunting down the originals.

As much as I loved Point Blank in the arcade, the idea of swapping out a lightgun for a stylus seemed pretty stupid. While something is lost in the translation, the irreverent goofiness and addictive gameplay remain pleasantly intact Precision shooting is actually tougher here than you might expect, simply because everything is so tiny. It's honestly one of the least technically impressive games I've seen on the system to date--those 10-year-old recycled graphics are really showing their age--but the game is so fast paced that you barely have time to notice. Besides, the fact that the game includes an entire mode dedicated to making fun of Brain Age is just awesome.