Mana makes a smooth transition onto the DS. The top screen is where the gameplay and story scenes take place, with the bottom screen being used in good, non-forced-in ways, most notably as a map on which the player can get a look at the locations of enemies. The stylus is only used on rare occasions, for menu functions like changing equipment and rearranging different gems the character is wearing. There's nothing wrong with that at all, as that is better than having to deal with tedious overuse of the touchscreen. On a related note, the game controls well enough.

While it starts out hard, once the player figures things out, SDDS:CoM levels out to about an easy-medium difficulty. There are some tough moments in dungeons, but their end bosses tend to be toddler-level easy; some can even be finished in 30 seconds or less. A game in such a long-running series, with so many fans being experience veterens of earlier titles--certainly not newbies--deserve more intense boss battles than that.

One of the newer and more interesting aspects to dungeons within the game is the amount of objects to interact with. Beyond the typical grass to cut, pots to break and barrels to push, players will encounter all kinds of creative new additions. (--SNIP--) Seeing how creative these props get as the game progresses, it's a shame that no actual puzzles exist in the dungeon mechanics, because puzzles built around these objects could have really added flavour and challenge to each location.

Linking up and rocking the dungeons with friends in this game is all kinds of fun, and ensures players that this game will be seeing at least sporadic action for a long time after purchase. It is sad that only local settings can be used, as a fully online option would have made sure that there was almost always somoene to play with.

Sadly, the plot is clouded by quite a few clichés. Orphaned heroes: check. Dream sequence with lost parents: check. Stylish, mysterious and imperious villain, who speaks in a great deal of kanji: check. Magical forces running wild: check. Imminent destruction of the world: check. It's all here, folks.

Technical beauty is a strong presence in this game. Visuals are crisp and bright, and everything looks perfectly Mana in terms of art. It's one of the best-looking games on the DS at this point. Short animated sequences and the character portraits are spiffy as well.

Lost bass notes and percussion magically appear once the DS' speakers are disengaged, but said bass lines are flat, repetitive, and sometimes a bit invasive. Only a select few tracks improve with headphone use, but those that do are quite stunning, particularly the opening theme, which sounds more orchestrated than some of the dungeon themes, which sound rather MIDI. Still, the tunes are solid, and catchy, and most dungeon themes are built to stand the long minutes they'll be playing.

Seiken Densetsu DS: Children of Mana is a delight to play and an honor to the Seiken Densetsu series.