E3 06: DS Air Hands-On

LOS ANGELES--DS Air is an action-based jet combat game for the Nintendo DS. The demo being displayed here at E3 2006 shows off the game's mission-based nature, and it contains four missions that have you bombing targets, dogfighting with enemy jets, and so on.

Most of the game is controlled using the standard controls. The touch screen contains your radar screen, and various taps there let you select targets and set your radar's level of zoom. The action itself follows the same basic gameplay conventions that you've seen in plenty of other flight combat games. Dogfights are a simple game of slowing down, getting the target in your sights to lock on, firing a homing missile, and waiting to see if it hits. If it hits, there's a bang and it's over with. But the enemy planes can and will dodge homing missiles, so you might have to launch off another or follow up with some machine-gun fire.

The good part about DS Air's visuals is that they move very smoothly. But the models aren't very detailed and the ground doesn't look so great, either. Also, there's no explosion effect when you crash into the ground. That's just crazy!

Beyond all that, DS Air seems to control well. The touch-screen targeting works well and adds a new function to what otherwise feels like a very plain game at this point. DS Air is in the works, but no specific release time frame has been announced at this time.