GregHowley.com

Puzzle Mashups are the new thing. At least for the Nintendo DS. First came Puzzle Quest, a puzzle/RPG mashup. Professor Layton is a puzzle/adventure mashup. Later this year we'll get LIT, a puzzle/survival horror mashup. What's next, a puzzle/RTS mashup?

Professor Layton and the Curious Village has an animation style remniscient of Curious George, which might initially lead adult players to assume that the game is geared towards a child demographic. But even using the game's built-in hints, it'd be pretty tough for most kids to solve some of these puzzles. The animation is hand-drawn and beautiful. The top screen when unused contains scenery, and although the scenery has no in-game purpose, it's a very nice effect. There are also a number of fully animated and voiced cutscenes in the game that I found very impressive.

Professor Layton and his young apprentice Luke are asked to a village to solve the mystery of the golden apple, detailed in the will of the recently deceased Baron Reinhold. Upon their arrival, Luke and Layton find that everyone in the village has an unnatural fixation on puzzles. At every corner, there's someone asking for help solving a matchstick puzzle or figuring out how to place queens on a chessboard such that none can capture another. As the game progresses, the puzzles grow more difficult and the intrigue deepens.

It's an entertaining storyline, and the puzzles are fun. Although there were maybe a half dozen in the game I simply could not solve, I was able to solve others only because of the in-game hints you can use when you find "hint coins".

The game also has a number of side-puzzles. For example, as you move through the game, you occasionally find pieces of a painting or gizmos. You can eventually arrange the painting pieces into a full picture, and assemble the gizmos into a machine that actually has a beneficial gameplay effect. All in all, it's very well done.

If you've got a DS, I'll recommend Professor Layton. Not a bad little game at all.