Introduction: For the uninitiated, Uno is a game played with a specially printed deck that was produced in 1971 by Merle Robbins and later became a Mattel product. Its genius was that it took a game (Mau Mau) that could be played with normal cards and applied it to their custom deck. Uno achieved what other re-imaginings of card games have failed to do. It effectively supplanted the use of playing cards with its own deck for this particular game. Its four colour symbols became a cultural icon in their own right. They are so ingrained in the childhood psyche of many people that they now hold their own in a variety of settings, from Xbox Live Arcade to the good old DS. It is this acceptability that enables them to apply their iconography to other electronic games and offer a series of different packs of Uno games.

GamePlay: Let's get to the game itself. In the large family of card games, Uno falls into the part of the tree we know as the Crazy Eights. These are games where two or more players aim to discard their pile by matching rank or suit with the top card of the discard pile. Generally, any number of cards of the same rank may be played consecutively. The first player to get rid of all their cards is the winner.

Uno 52 is something like a cross between Uno and Poker, played with real cards. Basically, play progresses by each player dumping a card in the centre of the table and swapping them to a 5-card hand on the side. At the end of the game the player who has managed to loose all their cards and the player with the best poker hand divide the winnings between them.

Unlike other Uno games on the DS this is the only game and play mode that is offered this time around. This is obviously a risky tactic for the developer as if you don't like poker, or Uno, then this game doesn't have very much to offer you. They are obviously hoping that the poker element of the game will tap into those twenty somethings that are currently becoming increasingly addicted to Texas Hold 'em. If this works it should serve to broaden the market for the game and increase sales no end.

Control: There are a host of options for each game, which enable to you to tweak Gameplay to your preferred variant. Additionally, you can choose to include computer players with varying levels of artificial intelligence. If you play with more than one human player you simply pass the DS to the next person at the right time. The game ensures that your cards are hidden until you get the game back.

Graphics: Graphically the game holds its own. The card layout is clear and easy to read. Shuffling and pickup animations make it clear what is happening each round, and where cards are being distributed. The Uno icons are all well represented here, in what makes are a very colourful game.

Sound & Music: The game includes some nice little spot effects and music that help the play along. A particularly liked the shuffling and dealing samples, which really made it feel more like a real card game. That said, the sound obviously doesn't have a big impact on games of this nature.

Dual Screen Use: The DS's two screens are put to good use, and in particular the touch screen makes this a much more tactile and enjoyable title than the similar game we have reviewed on the GBA. The menus and game play can all be controlled by the stylus which is good to see. This is much more than the GBA title expanded onto the two screens of the DS. Although there is no single cart multiplayer mode you can have a lot of fun with the wireless multiplayer if you have some friends with the same game.

Final Comments: Overall this is a well conceived game that works well on the DS. If you like Uno and Poker then this combination will no doubt appeal to you. The down side is obviously if you don't like the Uno 52 game format; there are no other games or options to fall back on. Whilst not offering quite as good value as the other Uno games, this is still a fun little game.

Pro: Well conceived and executed game.
Con: Only one game on the cart.
Final Score: 6.5

Reviewed by: Douglas Andrews