actionloop DS

Nintendo's Touch! Generations series powers ahead with yet another top quality DS title to appeal to kids of all ages. Actionloop is a fast paced 'action puzzler' in which players have to clear multi-coloured gemstones as they roll along looping tracks. The game is Tetris-simple and promises to be as addictive as that previous groundbreaking puzzler. Players will need no prior 'gaming knowledge' to get into Actionloop, and no doubt become hopelessly hooked. They merely require some thumbs, a brain, a smidgeon of skill and a damn quick reaction-time. This of course is the beauty of Nintendo's Touch! Generations philosophy, with each game in the series teaching both gamers and non-gamers alike that simple, one-more-go gameplay is universal and knows no barriers. The basic premise is this - players use the DS's stylus to flick gemstones as they roll along the tracks. Players need to create a combination of a minimum of three same-coloured stones in order to make them magically disappear. Yes, we've heard it before in countless puzzle titles, but you just know that when this simple mechanic is executed well, as it is here, you'll still be feeling those little pangs of pleasure each time you clear a bunch of gems in a wonderful chain explosion of happiness and joy. Actionloop boasts four main modes - Challenge, Quest, Checkmate and Versus - spanning both single and multiplayer. The single player Challenge Mode is fairly straightforward stuff, with the player required to clear as many gems as they can flick together before they reach the end of the track. The more gems you clear, the higher level you reach and the faster the stones roll. Simple, genius, joy! What's more, after each ten levels you'll encounter a 'pusher rocket' which, if hit with a gemstone, clears all the space in front of it, providing vital space on the track. Quest Mode presents you with a staged task to eliminate a set number of gemstones off the track, and clear the stage, thus unlocking the next quest. Depending on your level of s