Introduction: Most gamers probably know Luc Besson from his Hollywood Blockbusters such as Leon and The Fifth Element so it was a bit of a surprise when Arthur and the Invisibles was trailered last year with his name against it. There is a logical reason for this: he wrote the original story. In fact the four volume work has sold close to a million copies to date and been translated into more than 20 languages. The movie was a different story though and most cinemas only held onto it for a couple of weeks despite its stellar cast and cutting edge technology. Clearly this doesn't bode well for potential game sales but that doesn't mean that there isn't a hidden gem in the NDS case.

GamePlay: Unlike the GBA version, which is something of a traditional platformer, the DS outing is a collection of mini-games with a bonus 'virtual pet' but we'll talk more about that later. The mini-games themselves are divided into different sections named after characters from the film. These are generally quite random with each section getting progressively more difficult both in terms of how many games you must complete to move on and the degree of difficulty or time allowed. You are given a number of lifelines with each section but these simply allow you to have another go rather than cancel out a particular stage so, in other words, 10 mini-games means just that. Each challenge is preceded with a very short description of what the challenge requires. This could be anything from 'imitate' where you must replicate the on-screen sounds, colours and movements etc to 'take off' which has you blowing into the microphone in order to reunite one fluffy with another. There really is an impressive range of games here so don't expect to fly though them. Even after playing this for hours there are still some games I have no clue how to beat. Each section finishes with a 'boss' that is a little more difficult and longer than the other challenges and on completion of this you'll receive a prize so you can enter the game's other mode.

The other mode is, of course, the 'virtual pet', which is best described as a cotton wool ball with wings. This must be tended to with everything from fuel to entertainment but due to its lack of personality it's difficult to really become attached to 'fluffy' or whatever you decide to call it. That's pretty much it other than a shallow multiplayer, which requires two copies of the game, so there's little point in really looking into it.

Control: Absolutely all touch screen so there's nothing happening here.

Graphics: Outside of the opening FMV there's little reference to the movie's plot with the majority of games simply employing static images of the main characters. It is more like shockwave title than anything approaching a DS game but you will begin to ignore this after a while. Most of film references come in the form of a slideshow (with text), which 'helps' to move the story forward in-between levels, but by this stage you'll be completely lost anyway.

Sound & Music: While music is undoubtedly down to personal taste the soundtrack here is actually quite pleasant with a mixture of atmospheric orchestrated themes and more whimsical tracks. There doesn't seem to be any real pattern to how these have been added to the various mini-games but they do seem to complement them on the whole. As for any speech from the movie, it's the same old story: silence.

Dual Screen Use: Each of the mini-games requires a very different interaction but be prepared to put both your stylus and microphone to good use.

Final Comments: Overall this DS version just feels like a Wario Ware rip off which is over far too quickly and bares little resemblance to the movie it's based on. The inclusion of the virtual pet should be a bonus but this simply feels bolted on in a last minute attempt to give the whole package some depth. Still, some of the mini-games are very enjoyable and the harder levels should give even experienced gamers a real challenge and for that reason alone, it's worth a look.

Pro: Some Complex and Challenging Mini-Games
Con: Bares Little Resemblance to the Movie, Variable Difficulties, Uninteresting Virtual Pet.
Final Score: 7.1


Reviewed by: Andrew Blanchard