Electroplankton - DS/DSi

We've seen some pretty innovative stuff for the DS in its short time in Europe, but the strange electronic sea of Electroplankton has to be the cleverest, nattiest and downright entertaining solo playing experience to date. No frantic Mario/Wario multiplayer larking about here, no sir - just a selection of tiny sea creatures that respond to your touch and voice to create sounds and melodies.

Interacting with Electroplankton is as easy as sliding your stylus across the touch-screen. Toy with Tracy plankton and listen to their music as they swim along the lines you draw, and clap your hands or use your voice to lead a microscopic synchronised swim team of Nanocarp. There are ten different breeds of plankton to play with in total. If you don't feel like getting involved and getting creative with Electroplankton, you can always bypass the Performance mode - the interactive part - and select Audience mode. This option will present you with a non-interactive display of all-singing, all-dancing plankton at play. It's entertaining and restful in equal measure.

With a choice of 10 different plankton to go at, Electroplankton's sounds and melodies are different every time. Some of the sounds will be familiar to veteran Nintendo users; Beatnes plankton, for example, is a collection of the producer's favourite sounds from old NES titles. A unique fusion of art and music, Toshio Iwai's Electroplankton is that rare thing in videogames; an alternately soothing and enervating experience. more