PopCap's word-based puzzler brings its mix of match-three gameplay and Scrabble-like spelling to DS screens for the first time in Bookworm. Players are given a grid full of lettered tiles, with the goal of connecting at least three letters to form words and feed Lex the Bookworm's insatiable appetite. Spelling longer words, words with uncommon letters, and using reward tiles earns gamers extra points, but burning tiles must be removed from the board before they reach the bottom of the screen, or else the game is lost. There are 20 themed book collections and 18 library rooms to unlock, and players can test their vocabulary in "Classic," "Action," or wireless "Multiplayer" modes. ~ All Game Guide

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is an action-adventure played from an isometric perspective, following the series' landmark DS game Phantom Hourglass and starring a similarly expressive, cartoonish Link as its hero. In some platform puzzle-solving sequences, players use both touch-screen directions and traditional D-pad and buttons to control two characters at the same time. For example, Link may need to distract guards while Zelda sneaks by, or a Phantom companion may need to inhabit the body of an almost-invulnerable statue, to stand in the way of a lava flow and allow Link to pass. Some overworld parts of the game are played, quite literally, as an on-rails shooter, with players using the stylus and touch-screen to aim ranged cannon attacks at enemies and obstacles, as Link's train moves forward down the tracks automatically. When the tracks split, players will need to choose which direction to take.

Set about 100 years after Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks plays out in a world that barely remembers the legends of a demon king, who was defeated and bound with powerful chains many lifetimes earlier. These magical chains still run far and wide across the landscape, but oblivious to their true purpose, the people now use them as train tracks to move carts full of cargo. As the story begins, Link is set to start his new career as a train engineer, when he is told by Princess Zelda that the magic tracks have been disappearing, and that she fears there is some great evil at work. The two escape from Zelda's suspicious overseers in the castle and ride Link's train as far as the tracks take them. The adventure leads to ruins and dungeons below ground, where Link must battle enemies and solve puzzles, using a whip as both a weapon and a tool to extend his reach. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes sends the titular franchise in a new direction, adding anime-inspired art and a new match-three puzzle mechanic to selected pieces of its role-playing and strategy forebears. Taking place before the events of Heroes of Might & Magic V, Clash of Heroes follows the young adventurers Anwen, Aidan, Godric, Nadia, and Fiona as they embark on five different quests set in a world of medieval fantasy. Role-playing elements let players recruit heroes, learn new spells, and collect artifacts as they explore the world of Ashan, while turn-based puzzle battles find gamers matching three-or-more columns to form attack squads, and rows of three-or-more to create defensive walls. Those looking for more than the single-player campaigns can join a friend for local wireless head-to-head battles. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Set on the fantastical sci-fi planet of Pandora, James Cameron's Avatar: The Game is a third-person adventure with RPG-style character development, featuring predominant shooting and melee combat action. The game's story poses challenges to the player's moral perspectives, as well. A prequel to the movie, set two years earlier, Avatar: The Game follows its own original storyline. Humans have come to the planet to harvest valuable minerals. They find themselves at war with the dominant native species, the Na'vi, a humanoid race of great size and strength but only stone age technological development. The futuristic humans have developed a method by which they can remotely take control of a mindless, genetically engineered Na'vi body, and experience existence through this avatar.

Players take the role of a character named Able Ryder, who is a signals specialist soldier with the human Resource Development Agency, or "RDA." From mission to mission, the game moves from Ryder's experiences as a human soldier, and those in the role of a Na'vi avatar. Players can chose their character's gender and customize appearance, and add skills and abilities as they gain experience and power by progressing through the adventure. They will eventually face a crucial choice, similar to that of Jake Sully in the film: To remain loyal to the RDA, and lead the human forces to claim control of the planet, or to assume the identity of their avatar and side with the Na'vi, leading the native people to expel the invading humans from their sacred grounds.

As a human soldier, the game plays like a 3D third-person shooter. Players have access to high-tech weapons and equipment to help them survive in the brutal environments of Pandora, where hungry, dinosaur-sized creatures hunt and lurk all throughout the surreal wilderness. Humans can also use vehicles, including large, heavily armed, walking mech suits that are more than a match to the sheer physical strength of the towering natives. In the role of Ryder's ten-foot tall Na'vi avatar, players excel in melee combat, swinging a mighty battle staff, and gain expertise with a (truly) long bow as well. Na'vi also have all the advantages of a native people, and even the indigenous creatures may come to their aid, if properly coaxed. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Part of Majesco's adventurous occupational series for younger audiences, My Hero: Doctor has players racing to the scene of various emergencies by driving an ambulance through busy city streets during the day and at night. Complete ten missions while honing your stylus-wielding skills in the areas of fracture dressing, resuscitation, extraction, injections, and use of the defibrillator. Supplies such as bandages, syringes, pliers, and gauze can be manipulated with the touch-screen interface. Complete objectives quickly and efficiently to earn gold medals and recognition for a job well done. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Assassin's Creed II: Discovery extends the saga of Ezio Auditore da Firenze to the DS as gamers take the cloaked protagonist to the Iberian Peninsula where he must rescue his fellow assassins from the Spanish Inquisition. Assassin's Creed II: Discovery is set 15 years after the initial events of Assassin's Creed II, and it eschews 3D action in favor of fast-paced side-scrolling combat. The series' signature use of stealth is not completely abandoned, however, as Ezio's best course of action is often to avoid attention by sneaking up on enemies. If players are detected, they must engage in hand-to-hand combat featuring the same sort of rhythmic parries and ripostes as the console versions. As the action unfolds, gamers can unlock faster health regeneration, new outfits, and better climbing skills, and at the end of each level the game displays a player's stealth numbers, damage taken, and notoriety stats. DSi gamers have the option of putting their own face on wanted posters strewn throughout each level, but ripping the posters down makes it easier for Ezio to operate undetected. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Gamers get a feel for the bohemian lifestyle as they take on the role of an aspiring young painter in Imagine: Artist. A variety of shading, color-mixing, and composition mini-games are designed to hone players' skills with drawing, painting, and collage, and the touch-screen controls help gamers fill their studio with original works of art. And while starving for one's art may be noble, Imagine: Artist aims to give aspiring Van Gogh's a taste of success by having them create original art, maintain their studio, and pump out commissioned work for clients. Proud artists have the option to upload their works to the Imagine website, while DSi gamers can use the system's camera to take photos and incorporate them in future artwork. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Taking its story and setting from the concurrently released TriStar Pictures feature film, Planet 51: The Game is a mission-based driving adventure, set on an alien planet that is oddly familiar. In something of a role-reversal, players take control of Captain Chuck Baker, an astronaut explorer who lands on the strange planet, believing it to be uninhabited. Instead, he finds himself in the midst of picket-fenced suburbs, reminiscent of 1950s America -- except for the "little green men"-like inhabitants, who treat Chuck exactly like the alien invader that he is. The play of the game involves exploring the 3D suburban world from a behind-the-back, third-person perspective, sometimes on foot but usually in a vehicle, and accomplishing tasks such as reaching a distant location or escaping from pursuers. As in the computer-animated movie, the ultimate goal, ostensibly, is to recover Chuck's lost spaceship.

Chuck can commandeer essentially any vehicle he comes across in this travels, including family sedans and motorcycles, taxi cabs and cop cars, and even heavy-duty trucks or zippy riding lawn-mowers. Different cars and trucks have different power and handling, and although the vehicles on Planet 51 hover instead of roll on wheels, most rules of the road still apply. Rules are made to be broken, however, especially when you're a giant alien on the run from a frenzied mob. Chuck can also break from the main story, to interact with various characters from the film in side-quests and various mini-games. In some sequences, players can take control of Lem, the young alien boy who befriends Chuck, and his pet robot Rover, making use of their special skills and abilities to overcome game-world obstacles or beat special challenges. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus: Circus Friends -- Asian Elephants takes a Petz-like approach to its treatment of life in the big top, giving gamers control of a large Asian pachyderm. There are 15 different activities for players to try, including painting and plate spinning, and a variety of colorful outfits for the elephants to wear. The ultimate goal is to train the creatures well enough to eventually make it to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Big Top, but to get there, gamers must keep their oversized friends happy and healthy with stylus-based games and grooming activities. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Fans both old and new can play through favorite moments of the historic manga and anime series in Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans. The interactive adventure plays like a console-style role-playing game, with turn-based combat and small-squad strategy. Choosing from a handful of main characters, players can put together their own three-member teams to lead through the story. They'll need to use teamwork and powerful Ki attacks, both in battle and to overcome game world obstacles. As characters progress through the plot, they gain experience and become stronger, with new and more powerful attacks and special abilities. In style and theme, the game fits in with a 20th anniversary retelling of the Dragon Ball Z story. It includes several side-quests and alternate plotlines, allowing hardcore fans to explore familiar tales from new perspectives, and giving newcomers to the series a broader view of the Dragon Ball universe. Beginning at the 23rd World Tournament, in which Goku defeats Piccolo, the game's main campaign follows the plot of the anime and manga series, through Vegeta's saga in the Saiyan storyline. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

The third Call of Duty title to come to DS, and the first to feature a wholly original storyline, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare -- Mobilized offers handheld gamers new weapons, new gameplay modes, and new multiplayer options. Players can wield 20 different firearms, including an automatic shotgun, and missions find gamers engaging in traditional ground-based urban combat, piloting a tank through hostile territory, controlling and deploying weapons from UAV spy drones, and, in a nod to the console version of the original Modern Warfare, manning the turrets of an AC-130 gunship. Aside from the main campaign, single players also have the option to take on the new "Survival" mode, in which gamers use an array of different weapons to hold off hordes of encroaching foes for as long as possible, and the new "Arcade" mode, where a clock winds down as players attempt to rack up high scores in the main campaign. A variety of multiplayer game modes now allow for six-person competitions, gamers can host their own online battles, and a new weapons unlock feature lets players earn more powerful armaments as they improve their multiplayer stats. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Billed by Sega as a true successor to the groundbreaking Phantasy Star Online, Phantasy Star Ø transports gamers to an alternate Earth approximately 200 years after a massive war decimated the planet. The survivors managed to pick up the tattered pieces of once great civilizations and build thriving, albeit isolated, cities. And while the apocalyptic nature of the "Great Blank" led to a more peaceful society, a select group of adventurous citizens choose to explore the expansive wilderness areas in order to hunt monsters that threaten the safety of city life. Gamers take on the role of one of these explorers, choosing from the blade-wielding Hunter race, the gun-toting Ranger race, or the spell-casting Forces, and then selecting from 14 different class variations.

Players can also create unique robot "Mags" to provide stat boosts, heal injuries, or serve as an extra attacker, and feeding each Mag surplus items helps them level up in four key areas. There are more than 350 unique weapons available, and combat is handled in a three-beat system, whereby gamers can unleash as many as three normal or heavy attacks consecutively. Phantasy Star Ø includes three online modes: "Free" mode, in which players join a randomly assigned party; "Friend" mode, where two friends can set up a private adventure; and "Single" mode, in which solo gamers partake in online combat to increase their stats. A new "Visual Chat" option lets gamers use the stylus to create and store 20 different visual or written shortcuts in order to more quickly communicate with fellow players during online action. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide