Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

Nintendo. Say this word and what do you think of? Super Mario? Platform games? Family fun and general other fluffiness? We thought as much. So you can understand why so many eyebrows were raised when Rockstar announced they were bringing their highly controversial Grand Theft Auto series to the DS.

So many questions were thrown up. Would GTA really work on the DS? Would Rockstar be capable of pulling it off? But more importantly, would it actually be any good? The answer to all of these questions is an undisputed, yes.

It is clear from the start that so much thought and attention to detail has been invested in this game. You start out as a character called Huang Lee, a young oriental lad who is travelling to the mean streets of Liberty City to continue a family tradition but at the same time exact revenge.

Huang's Father, a coke dealing gangster boss was brutally murdered and in order to carry on family tradition, Huang sets out to pass on Yu Jian, a legendary sword that has been in the family for generations, to the next in line. Wu 'Kenny' Lee, Huang's Uncle awaits delivery of Yu Jian, which he wants to become Triad boss of Liberty City. Upon arrival at the airport however, Huang does not get the most welcome of receptions and is shot at, being left for dead.

This is where the story really starts and you are thrown into the rough and tough world of Grand Theft Auto. The story cut-scenes are played out with the use of art style frames. There is little animation and speech of the characters is displayed in the form of text. They work really well and add to the mood of the game throughout. The DS copes admirably with this style of graphics and it utilises its capabilities to great effect. These scenes are displayed on both the top and bottom screens of the DS, and when used together provide a great visual effect. Playing this game on the DSi takes better advantage of this however; with its bigger screens capable of better graphical output.