First, a little background on my affiliation with handhelds. I haven't had one since the Game Boy Color. Back when Pokemon was cool. Back when I was a little (or at least, more little than I am now) kid. Since then, I haven't bought myself a handheld. Why? I find them a waste of money. Why buy some small little screen that has the capacity to do graphics from three generations ago, when you can spend that money on something for your next generation console, play it on an HDTV, with surround sound, and the impeccable Xbox 360 controller? What's the use?

Of course, I've played every handheld since, in one form or another, including the DS, while camping out for my Xbox 360. I enjoyed multiplayer Mario Kart DS, winning most all the rounds. It was a pleasant experience. Of course, I had been bored for seven or so hours, and I had seven or so left to go. But, recently, as most of you know, the DS Lite was released in America.

When shots of this handheld first came out, the redesign of the DS, I was very attracted by the sleek and stylish look, but thought nothing of it, as I found the library to be lame, and the idea of buying a handheld a waste. Then, I saw myself some New Super Mario Bros. videos. I'm a huge Mario fanatic. I love the guy. Of course, at a young age, I made a foolish mistake, selling my SNES/NES, PlayStation, and N64, thus loosing my Mario playability on the SNES/NES. I am, eventually, going to rebuy all my classic items (love you, eBay), but until then, I saw my opportunity to forgive myself with NSMB... It looked fun, new, and classic.

And this leads me to my review of the Nintendo DS Lite, New Super Mario Bros., Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Mario Kart DS, and Advance Wars. My return to the Handheld Kingdom...

I'm not going to go into too much detail about the DS Lite itself. This is coming from someone who had only played the original DS while camping out for his 360, so for improvements, I'm blind on that subject. As for how I like it, I find it refreshingly comfortable and easy to use.

The sleek design looks good, and plays good. The dual screens are bright, the volume control is conveniently located and easy to use, the power button is accessible but not in the way, the directional pad is just the right size, and the axyb buttons are well-built.

All in all, the actual handheld is a solid piece of... screens and buttons.

Now, the interface. It's very purdy. Pictochat is fun to use, even though I've no one to Pictochat with. The setup is easy and fast. Overall, I don't think it could be majorly improved in any way, it seems very convenient, and its efficiency and ease of use remind me of that of the Xbox 360 dashbaord.

So, how do I like the DS in terms of just being a handheld? It's easy and comfortable to use, and I got used to it in about an hour. Now that right there, is gold.

Now, for games... I'm going to do mini-reviews on them, just to give you a taste of my opinions.

New Super Mario Bros.:

I love the Mario games. They're just classic masterpieces to me. The formula never gets old. The platforming is solid. And New Super Mario Bros. delivers. The graphics are purdy for a Mario game, and the animations and such never fail to please. The controls are classic Mario, and everything is easy to get used to right off the bat, especially for veteran Mario persons.

The gameplay is the classic formula, with some new twists and slides, smoothed out into a great experience. You can figure out how to kill anything, pass a level, etc. relatively easily, and the game doesn't provide too much of a challenge, although this isn't such a bad thing, since it is a Mario game. The Worlds are fun to play through, and with the vast enemy variety, it never gets old. Sliding through levels of ice, dodging Koopas and Goombas in castles, bouncing up and down on platforms, and jumping on enemies heads, it's just so beautiful...

For fans of Mario, this is a must buy. For not-so-fans, this is a must buy if you have a DS.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time:

I've only gotten so far in M&L:PiT, but it's an extremely fun action RPG. As you play through as Mario, Luigi, Baby Mario, and Baby Luigi, the different tactics and gameplay tricks you have to use are simple yet exciting, and sometimes challenging to master. As you get through the game, you get different Bros. Items you can use, either with two or all four characters, and as you use them, you must hit the corresponding button of the character involved at that second with the item. It's fun and simple, yet geniusly difficult to master at times, especially certain items that are highly involved if you have all four characters with you.

The story has some hilarity to it as you go along, the characters saying and doing funny things, and the story is pretty neat. It's definitely a great action RPG, and if you have a DS, I recommend it.

Mario Kart DS:

It's Mario Kart, except on the DS. Need I say more? Buy it.

Advance Wars:

Probably one of the most addicting games I've ever played, I've neglected studying for my finals this week, just because of this game. It's an amazing turn-based strategy game. Using either the stylus or the axyb buttons + directional pad, you control an army as Commanding Officers with special powers. The different COs have a wide range of abilities, and your choice on when to use them comes into play very often.

Moving around units on the board, you have a wide range of options, ranging from anything such as mechs to infantry, tanks to anti-air, Megatanks to these Pipeline things, as well as choppers and planes, fighters and bombers, battleships and submarines, and a couple other types of units. The different abilities really make a difference during battle. Certain troops have certain weaknesses and strengths, and it really comes into play when the battle gets tense. Dual screen battles are also extremely fun, sending units to a CPU controlled top screen, and gaining bonuses on the AI's success.

One of the highlights was when I was saving up for a Megatank, and the enemy had my tanks flanked at a bridge and island, while my fighter and bomber were getting chased around by anti-air, at the same time having to deal with tanks rolling near my base, I was getting destroyed. By the next turn, I had my Megatank, as well as my Super Power that increased the strength of my units, and I was using two COs, so I also had a second turn and power that inreased the speed of my units. Using my Megatank and my remaining stragglers, I managed to turn the entire game around, my Megatank wiping out their tanks and infantry, leading my infantry to capture their headquarters.

As you can tell, I love this game. It's highly addicting and great fun to play. Any fans of strategy games should buy Advance Wars. It just has some feel to it that not even a full-sized PC RTS can give you.

So... has my love for handhelds rushed back to me?

Yes and no. I love my DS Lite now. The games I have are great, fun, and creative. The handheld itself is very comfortable to hold. The battery lasts just about forever and a half. The dual screens are actually useful (something which I doubted just about... forever!) and the picture is bright and clear.

It definitely surprised me. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. In fact, I expected regret on the entire purchase. Yet I have no regret. The DS Lite has shocked me with its playability, fun factor, and its entire package.

This may be a victory for handhelds, but this isn't my full conversion. As much fun as my Lite is, I still am reluctant to buy DS games when I could use the money for Xbox 360 items. I love my DS, but consoles/PC games still win my appeal 99%, with the DS Lite barely scratching the surface...

If you are on the fence, buy one. If you're on the other side, then try to borrow a friend's first. It's a hit-or-miss device. You don't want to make a mistake on this one.

Back to studying for my finals...