Game of the Week: Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure [3DS]

Have you ever fancied trying a Professsor Layton game but worry that you might get stuck on some of  the more difficult puzzles? Well, this might just be the game for you.

Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure features a gripping Layton-esque storyline, but replaces the usual brainteasers and conundrums with some truly stunning rhythm and dancing minigames.

The main story is set in Paris, and follows the life of Raphael, an infamous thief known for stealing famous works of art only to return them days later. A few years ago, his father disappeared, leaving behind a coin, which contained a mysterious symbol.

Upon discovering that a bracelet on display at The Louvre bears the same symbol, Raphael goes to investigate the mystery behind this symbol, and soon encounters a girl named Marie, and an elusive enemy who seems intent on impersonating Napoleon.

The gameplay is varied. Each of the rhythm minigames utilises different aspects of the 3DS, including swiping the stylus to match up with other dancers, tapping the touch screen to hide behind statues, pressing buttons to fight off groups of enemies and tilting the console to dodge attacks.

The game also features parodies of past Sega rhythm games such as Space Channel 5 and Samba de Amigo. Throughout the story, players will visit various locations where they will solve puzzles and earn coins used to unlock special bonuses such as extra chapters.

This game is beautifully animated and is truly engrossing from start to finish, but the main storyline can be completed within a relatively short period of time, which is its only major flaw as far as we could see.

If you love puzzle RPGs or if you want a 3DS title to rival Rhythm Paradise, then this is definitely the perfect game for you. Overall rating: 8/10.

One To Watch: Patapon 3 (PSP)

The latest edition to the ever popular Patapon series is scheduled for release in early November 2010, and it is already shaping-up to be a really enjoyable game.

For those of you who are new to the world of Patapon, the game tells the story of a tribe of tiny creatures called - you guessed it - Patapons.

They are a defeated race of warriors who have been oppressed by their enemy the Zigotons until they are almost destroyed.

Tired and down-hearted, the remaining Patapons pray to their god, the Almighty to guide them with the use of the four Spiritual Drums.

Patapon 3 continues the saga of the Patapons in their quest to find the place they call Earthend and the contentment of the mysterious "IT".

The game itself has made some important changes and additions this time around. You can now choose which type of Hero warrior you wish to be at the start of the game.

There are three main classes of Patapon Warrior to choose from - Yumiyacha (bow and arrow warrior), Taterazay (a defence warrior with shields) or Yarida (a spear warrior).

Nevertheless, you have to choose carefully as each warrior will have its own special abilities which will either help or hinder your tribe throughout the game.

For example, the Yarida warriors can now throw twin flaming spears at the enemy, but this can also have the adverse affect of making the grass around the Patapons catch fire, which in turn, can also set your own tribe members alight.

Fever Mode has also been improved in Patapon 3. In the previous games it took at least eight consecutive successful rhythms to whip those little warriors into a frenzy, which at times was time consuming and difficult to achieve. 

It now only takes three consecutive successful rhythms to get your Patapons into fever mode, which is great news for all the casual gamers out there.

However, the biggest change to the third game is the addition of Infrastructure Mode to the Multiplayer portion of the game.

This means that as well as gaming with friends using Ad-hoc Mode, you can now instruct your PSP to find other Patapon 3 gamers online, so that you can play special co-op mission together.

The Infrastructure Mode is a great new feature. It even allows you to 'chat' to your fellow team members by using pre-selected phrases.

You can still equip and deploy your Patapons in the same manner as the previous games, but you now have a 'live' tribe to instruct and keep rhythm with, which adds to the fun.

Patapon 3: Teaser Trailer

However, there are a few teething problems with the new Infrastructure Mode  - the most common one being that you may not always have all the varied types of warrior needed to defeat the enemy.

For example, if your fellow players all tend to favour the Taterazay warrior you will ended up with three or more Patapons with shields but no warriors with arrows or spears, which is necessary when trying to complete the level.

Furthermore, it is possible for the Host to simply terminate the online game without warning, thereby ending the Multiplayer mission.

This can lead to confusion and frustration if you happen to be defeating the main enemy at the time and you suddenly find that the screen has gone black and a little pop-up message informs you that your Multiplayer session is now complete.

Nevertheless, the new modes and additions help to further the Patapon universe and do make for some really interesting an varied gameplay.

 If you can't wait for the game to be released and you have at least a spare 110 MB still left on your Memory Stick, then the multiplayer demo is now available to download from the Playstation Network Store. Take it from us - it is well worth a try!