Point and Click games are rarely played on any other consoles aside from the PC, however with the unique touch screen of the DS it looks like a stylus would work perfectly well as a replacement for a mouse. The first game on the DS to test how well the stylus actually does work in a point and click, or should I say touch, game is Another Code: Two Memories from the Japanese developers Cing. In the game you play as Ashley who has gone to an island with her Aunt Jessica, who raised her since she was three. She is in search of her father who she had previously believed had died, along with her mother, when she was three. And this is all happening on her thirteenth birthday. In the game she meets a ghost named D while she is exploring the island, and there are many secrets to be revealed about him, Ashley's father, his work and the Edward family who once lived on this strange island. You can see that the story in Another Code will keep you playing until you've discovered all the secrets the game has to offer and completed the game.

In the game, you view the action on the bottom screen from a bird's eye view in 3D, while on the top screen you'll see a pre-rendered image of Ashley's surroundings that changes depending on where you are and what you're looking at. These two different visual representations of the same area give you a better idea of Ashley's surroundings in the game. The pre-rendered image looks good, but it can get annoying when you can only see certain views in the game as it doesn't change constantly in time with your movement, making you feel that the game is lacking something. The top down 3D view has nice graphics, but it can be confusing at times to work out exactly what surroundings Ashley is actually in because, especially outside of the Edward's Mansion, the graphics lack detail. In the game there are quite a few cut scenes and these look very nice. They feature a hand drawn anime style which suits the whole visual look of the game very well and builds the atmosphere appropriately.

The stylus works well as a replacement for a mouse. You will soon find it even better as it is a lot easier to move around and quickly select different items while trying to find the next piece of the puzzle. In Another Code you move around either using the d-pad or using the stylus to guide Ashley around the island and the mansion. It is easier to use the d-pad to move around than the stylus as it feels more natural and is usually more accurate. However for the puzzles and trying to find things, using the touch screen and stylus is a lot faster, not to mention more precise, than having to move the cursor on the screen around with the d-pad. The game often uses the DS's functionality, with many of the puzzles needing to be solved with either the touch screen or the microphone, for example, blowing dust off a painting to reveal what it shows or throwing a ball up into a hand to open a door. Luckily the puzzles don't begin to get repetitive as very few of them are similar. However there is one puzzle in the game that is so inventive it will leave everyone who works it out themselves in anticipation of a sequel. I am not going to spoil that puzzle, but what I will say is that it will make you think outside of the game. It is the sheer satisfaction that you will gain from solving some of the more brain-tickling of the puzzles that will keep you playing right up to the end.

The music in Another Code is far better than many other of the DS's offerings. The developers have managed to keep the player engaged in the game through their use of music. You won't find yourself getting bored with the music or even wanting to play the game with the sound turned down, because without the sound it feels as though the game is lacking something. The music not only manages to keep the atmosphere very eerie throughout the game but also causes emotions in the player during certain parts of the game. In many games the soundtrack adds very little, if not nothing, to the game, but in Another Code the score is so wonderful it will keep you playing the game.

The game is quite linear, and there is only one way to go about the game. You'll find yourself spending a lot of time looking for a certain piece of a puzzle in order to progress to the next section, or chapter, of the game. Unfortunately this means that the game occasionally requires a lot of backtracking to find the piece of the puzzle you need. This is because some items you can only pick up when you have already found a use for them later in the game. You may become annoyed with the game because of all the going backwards and forwards that is required in some of the puzzle solving, especially if you can't find something and end up searching the whole mansion and island for it and then after an hour or so you realise that it was in the room where you started. Another Code also lacks any real replay value because completing it the second time around, and knowing exactly what you need to do and what the full story is, means that the game is no longer as much fun or as intriguing. The fact is that this game will take easily less than eight hours for anyone who is remotely intelligent to complete. Although, if it were longer, it would still seem like quite a short game due to how engrossing it is and the fact that once you've started playing it, you'll find it quite hard to put down.

Although some people may not enjoy Another Code: Two Memories due to it's shortness and linear game play, it currently is one of the best adventure games available on the DS. Unfortunately no sequel has been announced, but when it does, it will be eagerly awaited by many. Although it is not the sort of game that will become massively popular in the way Mario and Zelda have become, maybe Ashley could be Nintendo's latest main character in gaming. The memorable score and innovative puzzles make this a worthy purchase for those looking for something a bit different from Nintendo's usual offerings.