A great approach to a great movie.
Some people may think that the DS version of Star Wars Episode III is just a port of the gameboy advance version. Actually its basicaly the same adventure and storyline with additions that'll blow you away. Star Wars fans with a Nintendo DS look no further this is the best choice for you. As you may already know the gameplay is rather quite "basic" yet really fun. You start out with either a choice between Anakin or Obi-Wan. Who destiny will you choose? Well thats all up to you as you can choose who you want to play as right when you begin.
Now the game is a side-scrolling "beat them up" kind of game. You just basically destroy groups of enemies that will sometimes gang up on you and proceed right to the next screen. This may sound quite a bit boring but the thing is that the game is just so fun you'll be hooked for sure.You'll eventually get into boss fights with tanls and duel with other jedis. Each character goes through a set of 13 levels each with some added air-craft missions. Each character has their own set of unique moves with the lightsaber and force attacks.These force attacks can be unlocked using a certain set of attribute points as you finish each level. For example Anakin will use the force choke while Obi-Wan will use the jedi mind trick. Also when you customize you do not only gain these force powers but you will also have to expand on them makeing them ultimateley stronger. Each character is fairly balanced in this way with their own set of combos for you to master.As you progress you will also gain access to special attacks which can be activated by pressing a certain combination of buttons, this is where the DS touch screen comes into affect. The touch screen will display four different special attacks for each character and instead of using the quick and easy combo you can just tap the move highlighted in the touch screen and it'll attack for you.
As you can see once you tap the specific move on the touch screen it'll attack for you.
Now for the aircraft levels. They are simply astounding and one of the main reasons why the DS version of the game really stands out from the Gameboy Advance version. The air-craft levels may be the best part of the game. Don't let the screenshots lead you into thinking that the graphics are blocky cause once they are in full motion you'll literally be satisfied with the whole game. The air-craft levels are broken up between the single missions. Some have special tasks like making your way to the jedi temple defending yourself from separtist's ships. The whole mechanic is great and works well on the DS and the AI will be a challenge.
Doing these certain missions will lead you to unlock certain ships that can be played in the multi-player modes which are another part of the game that adds a ton of replay value to the game. Multi-player is great and can be played against three other players through Wi-Fi.Or you can play against three other bots whose skill level you can adjust making them more challenging. You can also choose your settings for each match such as time, respawns, and kill limit. You will also be able to choose different maps taking place in outer space or on planets such as Bespin or Hoth. There are also many ships to use such as a Tie fighter, Jedi starfighter, or even an Arc 170 clone fighter. These ships are already unlocked from the beginning as you progress like said before in the single player missions you will also gain access to classic ships from the original trilogy such as the Millenium Falcon, the Slave 1, or even Luke's X-wing. Each ship have their own set of sheilds, hulls and weapons attribute points and even various paint schemes to choose from one containing the original color of the ship. The controls work great here and will add intense dogfights.The touch screen also adds something more to the battles as you can change from your radar to the statistics in a match. Another great feature allows you to change your the area of your sheilds whether you want it on full power n the front or in the back of the ship. You can just evenly distribute the sheilds throughout the ship. There are also some additonal power ups for your ship whether it be speed or weapon boost scattered throughout the map. You will be impressed and amused with this part of the game for a long time.
The Graphics for the single player are beautifully rendered in 2D and the charaters and enemies move really nicely. As for the 3D air-craft missions and multiplayer is really mind blowing the explosions are really unique and everything shows a great amount of detail. The framerate for both single player and multiplayer is just perfect and you won't notice any problems with any of the modes in this area of the game. Levels are made up of places seen in the film from Coruscant to Utapau. You will also see great detail in every single player level.
Sound is another fine addition to an already great game. What you will hear are scores from the movies that sounded like they were ripped off the soundtrack itself and I'm not talking aout the downgraded midi versions.
Overall the games fun single player missions and entertaining multiplayer battles will keep you coming back for more even if you do beat the game in a matter of days or less since the game isn't really that long. But the graphics and gameplay are great and you shouldn't be discouraged to pick up this title up. For a Star Wars fan or not this game like the evil General Grievous said will make a fine addition to your collection.