Point Blank DS is a very cool game but I'm pissed at Namco Bandai because it's started something that it's probably not going to finish. Having successfully brought a light gun shooter to the Nintendo DS and made it enjoyable without the light gun, now my head's filled with visions of such titles as Time Crisis DS, Virtua Cop DS, and House of the Dead DS, none of which will probably be developed by their respective publishers. But for now, I'm certainly willing to make due with what I have, and with that being said, this game is yet another quality DS gem that needs to find its way into your library (or future DS library).

Point Blank is best known as a family friendly PSOne shooting series, an excellent alternative to the more violent games on the market, and thankfully, the developers have successfully transferred the franchise's inviting appearance to the DS. It's a collection of mini games that test your reflexes, though instead of blasting objects with a GunCon, all you need to do is tap the touch screen to eliminate your targets. Each mini game asks you to hit a specific amount of targets within a time limit, and such challenges include sheering sheep, shooting enemy crabs, blowing away ninjas, hitting chickens, and hitting numbers in ascending order, among others, and the game's developers present them to you in different modes of play. There's Arcade Mode, which is broken down into four different difficulty levels, Brain Massage Mode, a weak attempt to capitalize on Nintendo's brain craze, a Museum Mode, which contains a handful of games that are played on old school looking arcade cabinets, Freeplay, which just lets you select whichever game you want, and finally, Vs. Play.

Vs. Play is especially cool because two people can wirelessly battle against one another using a single cart, and each one goes after the same exact targets, so that makes for some very intense competitions. It's not as addictive as something like Tetris DS, but for what it is, I really like it.

I'm also quite taken with Point Blank's presentation. The visuals are bright and cheery, nothing that I haven't seen on the PSOne, but the game's characters, particularly Dr. Dan and Dr. Don's animations are quite humorous. Plus, the sound effects are truly stellar. The music isn't particularly memorable, but the gun noises and the "giddy giddy gaga" that plays after a mini game is completed are just fantastic.

Regarding flaws, there's really not all that much to complain about, other than it doesn't take long to run through all of the mini games. Arcade Mode comes with unlimited continues, so instead of being forced to hone your skills in order to proceed, you can just fail, then move on. And aside from wanting to achieve better scores, there's little reason to return to Point Blank DS, though to be fair, it's best experienced in short, controlled bursts.

The worst thing about the game is how nearly impossible it is to find in stores. Namco Bandai didn't put a lot of effort behind its marketing campaign (what there is of it), and to make matters worse, it appears that very few copies were shipped to stores. So for now, Point Blank DS is somewhat of a rarity. I highly doubt it's going to be an Ebay goldmine anytime soon, but I recommend that you pick it up ASAP. Don't put yourself in a position six months from now where you suddenly realize that you always wanted to buy this game and then realize that it's no longer being manufactured, especially since you will have missed out on what's a simple yet mildly engaging DS game that further proves why touching is definitely a good thing.