Small robots can be quite useful in a pinch. Look at Chibi-Robo, for example. That little guy scurries around the house and keeps things in order. Now, pint-sized robots serve a purpose on the Nintendo DS with the release of Custom Robo Arena, a game that manages to do much better than the 2004 GameCube disappointment.

Custom Robo takes place in a small town, where a young boy dreams of joining the local police. He wants to fight back against criminals who use tiny robots (Robos) to do their bidding. On his first day of school at Midheart Academy, he meets several people, including an overenthusiastic homeroom teacher with a liking for the little robots and a pair of students who head up an esteemed Robo club. The boy ends up unexpectedly joining this club after a chance encounter with a rival Robo gang. In the process, his dream comes true.

One big complaint about Custom Robo Arena revolves around the time it takes to get into the action. Upon initial start-up, only the story mode can be accessed on the main menu. Players can skip through its many text-filled screens by pressing the B button, but it still takes quite a while to access the first battle. The story eventually becomes interesting, but the school-based segments get boring fast. Once the game reaches a save point, the other modes unlock automatically.

The game's graphics happily balance 2-D and 3-D segments, between the RPG-style story sections and the actual robot battles. The RPG-like presentation in Story Mode looks decent, with cute little characters moving around static maps and anime likenesses popping up during speaking segments. The 3-D battles also look good. The robots animate very well, and the various maps they battle in frequently change. Some appear to be pretty straightforward (like a warehouse with boxes to knock down) while others add several small complications, such as lava or large pillars that can be knocked onto an opponent. Too bad the sound doesn't rise to the occasion -- it relies on generic tunes and weapon effects.

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