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'42 All-Time Classics (nintendo DS)'. (EAN 0045496735555)

Nintendo's plans to get the whole world playing on DS are continuing with the launch of a new title packed full of classic card and board games for the whole family.

This latest release does exactly what it says on the box, with 42 classic games. Now when I say "classic" I don't mean Pac-Man & Super mario, but classic card games (like poker and Texas Hold 'em), board games (such as chess and backgammon) and pub sports (from darts to snooker) onto one DS cartridge.

While you can play all of the games alone and track your progress as a player through extensive stats, the greater appeal lies in the multiplayer modes. Wireless networking caters for up to eight people in a room, as well as enabling you to hook up to Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection to challenge people from around the country - or the world.

Indeed, being fairly slow by nature, most of these games don't suffer from lag or connection glitches, however far-flung your opponent.

You can even send each other messages while you play using Pictochat, opening the way for some sly digital bluffing!

This game reminds me of the Mario Party games on the gamecube, insofar as they are truly great in mulit-player mode, but a little dull when played alone. So if you plan on playing with your friends, it's indespensible; if you'll be going at it alone, there's a fair amount to do but you may lose patience with the scoring and lack of single-player variety.

Thanks Nintendo for providing great games which appeal to an older and more mature audience!

If you are more of an oldie gamer you may well appreciate playing popular card games such as rummy and solitaire, popular board games such as chess, backgammon and also more sporting games such as bowling and darts.

It isn't just the fact that here we have 42 games on one single cartridge which is on the ultra-portable DS system but also the fact that there are several other clever modes including:

Mission Mode: Complete some very challenging pre-set missions (such as score 3 bullseyes in darts in just 10 tries, complete the memory game in less than 3 mins) to unlock cute little icons you can use to display against your name. Ok, I'm not that bothered about the icons, but the difficulty of the missions is something that will keep you going for a long time.

Stamp Mode: This is really fantastic. You start playing through all the games on Easy mode in a pre-set order. Winning, coming second or third determines how many 'stamps' you get against that game. Get three stamps and you move to the next game and so on. It will take you a good long time to work through this - but very worth it as you unlock all the games which are not immediately available to you at the start in Freeplay mode. Once you have done the easy setting, you go through medium and hard settings. This is the mode I have enjoyed the most due to the variety and the challenge of it all.

Freeplay mode: Play any game which you have unlocked in Stamp mode. Basically pick your favourite games and play. Hubby loves bowling, solitaire and darts while I love rummy, chess and most of the card games.

Multiplayer: play against your family, friends or even gamers worldwide with the DS WiFi capabilities.

It is a very fun game providing card and board games are your cup of tea. So it probably won't appeal to most kids who enjoy their fast-paced action games but many adults and even non-gamers (like my hubby) can pick this up and be entertained with it.

I should also mention that the touch screen of the DS is perfect for games like these where you simply click on items on the screen or drag items. Makes the control system very intuitive. Full rules are included with every game.

I think it is absolutely excellent value for money!

This game is best played as a multiplayer, DS to DS or Wifi. Some of the games are fun on your own like Bowling or Darts but even these two are best played WiFi style!

WiFi connection is fast and you are ranked against other players which is fun to see where you are in the world!

I would have prefered the graphics to be a little more cartooney and some of the card games I find complicated, good job the game works everything out for me! There are plenty of other games like Chess and Chequers if you aren't into cards.