She's Back
Lara Croft has had a pretty rocky video game career. Her first few games were well received by fans, and she gained a sort of celebrity status with fans. A couple of sub-par games and kooky live-action movies later, it was almost thought that Lara's archeological stint was nearing its end, but with the recently released Tomb Raider Legend on the big consoles and PC, it looks like Lara's back on the rebound. Can her run through the smaller handheld consoles keep her going? If her DS game is any indication, probably not!

On the Go Raiding
In Tomb Rader Legend on the Nintendo DS, Lara's up to her old tricks again. Searching for rare archeological finds and digs, fighting off rivals, thugs, and other enemies, solving jumping puzzles, and avoiding traps. The game is in full 3-D so most of the Lara Croft action you know and love from the bigger consoles is present here as well. Shimmy across cliff ledges, swing on vines, and other acrobatics. Ride on vehicles like a motorcycle and battle enemies while on the go. Even though Legend is in 3-D, a lot of the time you go from left to right, though you can still walk in and out of the background like a 3-D game.

Touching Moments
All the action is viewed on the top screen of the DS, while most of the time, the bottom screen just houses Lara's inventory. Select health items and weapons by touching them on the screen. Use the control pad and buttons to move and jump. Sometimes the action shifts to the bottom screen; when Lara takes a plunge in deep waters, she'll appear swimming on the touch screen and players can control her with the stylus. When enemies approach, gun-toting Lara pulls out her weapons to shoot the bad guys. The enemies appear on the bottom screen and you must tap them to shoot, Point Blank DS style. Unlock mini-games, concept art, and other extras, and buy and trade items with friends using the DS' wireless capabilities.

Portable Problems
The cut-scene animated graphics are amazing, and look the same as the big consoles, and the music and audio is equally as impressive and appropriate, as if you are really exploring ruins and well, raiding tombs. And while the play controls are decent and easy to understand, it's the graphics, surprisingly, that really ruin the game. Polygons are blurry and muddy, which makes it hard to judge perspective when jumping (or even just walking). You'll be having jumping problems because of this even on the very first level. Just trying to find footholds without falling can be difficult at times.

While the DS version of Tomb Raider Legend crams in all the Lara Croft action from the big console games, the muddy, blurry visuals that affect gameplay keep this on-the-go tomb raiding adventure from being fun. Hey, I made it through this whole DS game review without cracking one single 'touch Lara' joke. Hot dog! Personal goal achieved.

- klonoa