Over the last few years it has been interesting to see how much music has become a key factor in the world of video games with the likes of all the Guitar Hero titles, the Singstar/Lips/Wising games etc so it is always interesting when something a little different, that also uses music comes out. One such title is this latest game on the DS. In the game an evil Spider called Staccato has stolen all the world’s notes depriving us of music etc and it is up to a little pink bird by the name of Presto to go and free them and defeat this evil creature. The game is actually a platform game of sorts. The bird runs across the screen on wires. Using the stylus you stroke the tightrope up and down to pluck and note and make him jump up and down. Along the way you collect items that have been left such as fruit etc and by collecting these you once again play a note. Do all this well and you will recreate a decent tune which can be a segment of a classical track or something a bit more modern such as the theme from Fame. Along the levels the tunes get progressively harder to achieve and the game also comes with three skill levels. The easiest featuring only snippets of the tunes, whilst the hardest skill level (and believe me when I say that is hard it is hard) features the whole song/tune. Every so often (after every 4th song) you come up against a boss battle which is a bit like the old Simon Says game, against either the spider or one of his minions. This breaks up the main gameplay and although slightly boring compared to the rest of the game at least is a bit of variety. Graphically this is a very cute game. It is colourful with decent backdrops and a central character that is charming. He looks a bit fat to be doing all this running around but I am sure it is excellent exercise for him. Sound wise the tunes are recreated, dependant on how good you are at the game, in a satisfactory fashion. Overall this is a pleasant game that seems to be very easy at first, until you realise that the easiest level is one huge demo mode and that the real game still awaits you. It is a game that players of all ages can enjoy although the hardest level is a real challenge that only the really good amongst you will complete. It is a welcome game to the DS library because it is a machine that is rather lacking in both rhythm games and platform games at the moment. I hope it sells by the crateful, not just because that will mean we will get a sequel but because of the originality of the title and that is another thing that is sadly lacking at the moment, not just on the DS either. Buy it! | 
DS 
