The DS is by far one of the fastest and best selling handheld consoles with so many developers bringing new games from blockbuster movies to simple arcade game the DS is home to so many great games.  And then there’s TouchMaster, a compilation of 23 arcade games in one. The 23 games are: Gem Slide, Crystal Balls, Hot Hoops, MahKi, Mah Jonng Pairs, Pond Kings, Pairs, Target 21, 3 Peak Deluxe,  Pyramid 13, Power Cell, Solitaire, Artifact , 5 Star General, Double Take, Go Wild, Up Lift, Times Square, Word Search, Triple Elevens, Trivia, Pick Up Six and Wordz.

            All these games run on a time and turn system, meaning that after a certain amount of time and certain of turns the game automatically ends and kicks you out to the score board system. There the player has the option to post their score online so that other people can see it. The thing about online scoreboards is that the player or you can actually see how much you suck. Yes that is how I felt when I saw all the other score boards from other people around the world and I felt like I really sucked. But you know what they say practice makes perfect, but it is always easier not to try at all. 

            Some of these games are fun to play, others are hard to understand and the rest well you could stay looking at the screen for hours and still not know what the hell you are suppose to do. Yes some games are really confusing that you won’t really know what to do. Most cases like these will only involve some card games and a few puzzle games. The cards or the puzzle is right there but even if you try to move things around nothing will happen. Here are the games where I had no idea what to do: Peak Deluxe, Phoenix 13, Triple 11s, Uplift, Tiles Square and Gem Slide.  

            Some games actually interested me such as Wordz, Mahki, Crystal Balls, Pond Checkers, Word Search, Trivia with over 20000 questions, and good old Classic Solitaire. As much as these games where entertaining it was hard to see what came next. For example in a card game like solitaire or power cell where the cards are lined up from front to back it is very hard to see what cards are behind them making it very hard to line the cards up. Chances are you will probably go blind or your eyes will bleed by the time you finish the game. The entire game is a 2D adventure with blurry corners and animation. Even if you have your DS lite at maximum brightness you will have a hard time seeing, and if you have the Phat DS I just feel sorry for you. 

            There is almost no sound except a few clicks and dings. There is only a few soundtracks throughout the game but they are only played at the beginning of the level and the it stops. The sound effects are from low quality 1990 arcade games. It doesn’t necessarily hurt the game because it is meant to be played while on the road in noisy environments but it can’t just be ignored.  

            The game is only good for a couple of rounds after that you need to pass it on to your friend because it really is all about getting the highest scores. Yes you can try to beat the online high scores but that can only go so far before you get bored of all the games. Multiplayer is available but it requires another game card. There are 3 game modes which are: Single player, Two Player game which of course is pass and play and of course two player wireless. One mode that this game has that actually catches my attention is Tournament Mode. This is only available on a few games where tournaments are held against other players and compete to see who has the highest scores and who ever wins will move on to the next round.

A few games you love a few you hate makes the game of TouchMaster. TouchMaster is a big compilation of free online games, and all that is required is a PC or laptop. With little to almost no replay value, and with nothing to unlock TouchMaster won’t be a hard title to put down once you get bored of it. If you are into these type of Arcade games then touchmaster is the game for you, however if you want a better gaming experience play anything else.

Graphics: Low End 2D graphics from the 1990’s, Doesn’t really hurt gameplay at all but the small screens do. 6/10

Sound: Barely a few soundtracks at the beginning of each game and bad sound effects really don’t hurt it, but then again it can’t be ignored. 3/10

Controls: only stylus needed to control which means that you can use one hand to play and the other to change tracks on your MP3 player instead of listening to the low quality sound of the game. 8/10

LifeSpan: 23 games in all each with a offering a different challenge and online tournament and 2 player game adds some fun challenges. 7/10

Total Score: 62 out of 100 = D.