The sounds and graphics are all as good as they need to be. The menus are clear, the highlighted portions are spot on, and the clues are perfectly legible. If you are looking for flashy environments and interesting effects, then you won't find any here. This is a straightforward puzzle game that looks similar to a printed page. As far as sounds go, the simple musical themes are uninspired, but they don't hinder the overall experience. The selection effects, victory jingles, and the like are very satisfying. I especially liked writing out words with the stylus; it makes an interesting scratching sound that's pleasing to the ear.

Additionally, there is an award system where diplomas are given to players for completing all the puzzles in a particular difficulty setting. There are three diploma levels that can be achieved for Anagrams and Crosswords, but there is only an Expert Diploma awarded for Wordsearch. This is a nice way to put your name in lights, but I would have liked a list of my grade point average, an overall statistical summary, etc. It would have also been ideal to have some kind of link to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Core gamers will likely miss the ability to submit their scores online, check out the leaderboard, and upload and download created content.

This segues me to my final point: Crosswords DS has no level creator. As a result, once puzzles are completed, you likely won't play them again. After all, who wants to redo a puzzle when you already know all the clues and answers? User-created content would have kept the game fresher, longer. However, there is a lot of content already which will keep you occupied for many hours.

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In summation, Crosswords DS is the real deal! I really enjoyed every facet of the title and only had minor complaints. Decidedly, this is a casual title. As part of Nintendo's Touch Generations series, one might suspect that to be the case. Fortunately, the game is as good as the other entries in the series and should be of interest to a large swath of people. So get on over to your local game store, pick up the cart, and get ready to flip your DS vertically. Crosswords DS is an excellent game that I highly recommend!

By Jonathan Marx
CCC Lead Contributor / News Director