The Nintendo DS hails to be the latest innovation in on-the-go gameplay, what with it's wi-fi capability, microphone and two screens, one of which is of course the touch screen. However, one of the major concerns is how the designers of software for this potential stormer of a handheld utilise these features. There is no doubt that Project Rub, one of the first to be released alongside the DS, answers almost all of these concerns and is a great showcase for what it can do.

The setting within which the DS struts its stuff is one of almost unrequited love. Our hero, out for a stroll one day, spies a gorgeous young woman and falls instantly head over heels in love with her. The problem is, how does he get her to notice him? As luck would have it, his first attempts to woo the lady (by successfully getting a passer-by to regurgitate accidentally swallowed goldfish) are spotted by a famous performance art group, the Rub Rabbits. They suggest he joins their group and together perform some outrageous stunts in the name of art and capturing the attention of this mortal Venus.

From hereon in the main Story mode tells the tale of stealing the heart of this beauty through the medium of mini-games. Those of you who have played WarioWare will already be familiar with the concept of a string of games, each different from the last and very short, rolled into one to make one compulsive gameplay experience. This isn't quite as fast paced as WarioWare but certainly has incredibly addictive gameplay. The mini-games all last a couple of minutes each and vary dramatically in that each is designed to promote different facets and capabilities of the DS.

The performances of the Rub Rabbits are in turns silly, dangerous and bizarre but are all great fun to play. Each one is split between the top screen and the bottom touch screen. For example, one crazy stunt involves them getting into a shopping trolley and racing down a hill. The top screen shows them on their descent, so you can judge which lane they're going to be in. The bottom screen shows the bottom of the hill and unfortunately it's filled with a ton of spiky balls. Using the stylus you have to shove the spiky balls out of the way before the trolley hits them. This becomes progressively harder as more balls are added and more shopping trolleys descend.

Another involves riding a unicycle across some rickety looking planks between rooftops. The bottom screen is where you guide your unicycle across the increasingly narrow and tricky courses, where the top screen shows the people you have safely cycled over to the other roof. Again, you have to use the stylus to guide the unicycle, tracing the path on your screen. It's tricky, tense stuff! Not all the games are quite as fun as that though - there is one tedious game where a giant ant-lion opens up a hole under the feet of the Rub Rabbits and the only way they can escape up the slippy sides is for you to rub each of them in turn to encourage them to clamber as fast as they can. It sounds fun in practise but can get a bit dull. Also the layout and presentation in this particular game is a little weak. Although there are one or two mediocre mini-games, the rest are of a decent standard and the quality of gameplay on the whole is high.

Completing the performances with the Rub Rabbits earns you valuable heart points. Fill the heart meter up and you get to spend time with your good lady. This opens up more opportunities for games and there's a lot of fun to be had. Protecting her from rampaging bulls was fun, pacifying them with a quick tap on the noggin as they speed towards her. Saving her from sharks was quite gratifying - it involved actually blowing the touch screen to fill the sails of your boat. However, blow too hard and your boat scuds pasts your water-treading belle, so it's not just a case of blowing as hard as you can and hoping for the best - there's skill involved! There's also a game where you have to shout into the microphone to get her attention while the Rub Rabbits are playing their brass band. Don't play this one if you already have a sore throat! I was quite hoarse afterwards. Holding hands with your beau via your stylus turns out to be quite tricky too, as she swings them about during a walk in the park. Don't touch her body accidentally - she gets quite indignant! There's plenty of time for that later in the game…

There are loads of lovely touches to keep you interested in the gameplay and this quirky originality is carried over into the graphics. First of all you have the introduction to each mini game, a scene setter if you like. This is in the form of four sequential storyboard segments appearing from the top screen down, with a very stylistic, clean-cut look. The lines are very sharp, there's little detail, but what it lacks in the finery it more than makes up for in panache! The silhouettes of everything from people to bulls to cars and even goldfish look great, both colourful and in keeping with the game content itself. Restricting itself to a few bold colours, usually black, light blue, orange and red, it becomes a graphic designer's dream.

Once in the game, these plain renderings carry across their character via the movements and animations. For example, on the game when the bulls are charging you basically get the shadow of the animal with red eyes blazing. This captures perfectly the bad vibes and menace as they charge you down. The movements of our hero as he jives along a pavement in a bizarre bowling simulation are fluid and very groovy indeed and this is also seen in the dangerous shape of a cruising shark in the game that has you rescuing your damsel in distress from said predator. There are some elements of animation that seem to have been done on the cheap though; stick figures representing your rabbit buddies aren't so hot, such as in the parachuting and bowling mini games.

Inanimate objects can be a little hit and miss too; while the sailboat in the shark rescue game is rendered nicely, including the billowing of the sail as you blow on the screen, the cars in a racing and shooting level look like crudely carved hunks of wood. Similarly, the previously mentioned shopping trolleys look a little simplistic, though considering how hard it is to get character from a shopping trolley that's probably not surprising. Fortunately, during these aberrations from the graphical norm, mid-level you get a bizarre interlude called 'break time' where all play stops briefly. On the top screen you can see a still of the Rub Rabbits lazing around, chilled drinks in hand, whilst on the bottom you're treated to a lovely animation of the leading lady either petting a kitten, sipping a cocktail under a parasol, or doing something similarly endearing. It is graphical quirks and bizarre moments like this that really add to the title.

To set it off yet further you have some pretty groovy sound too. After walking in the wilderness of the tinny Gameboy Advance speakers for years it was pleasant to find out that not only has the DS got great sound capabilities but the developers know how to get good results from them straight away. First of all there's the soundtrack, which is a kind of cross between disco and laid back ambient music. At times it's up tempo and jazzy, while at others pretty mellow and chilled out, the music sets the scene for either rabbit madness, woman in peril or just chilled out walking in the park with your best girl at your side. The sound effects are equally uplifting, be it the mad roaring of bulls, the swish of wind in your sails, the cheers from your compadres, or even the delightful tinkle of laugher from your dusky maiden. In fact, at times the sounds you get from her are positively 'Joe Le Taxi', if you know what I mean.

As if all that isn't enough, there's plenty to keep you going once you've worked your way through the story mode. Once you've won your way to your gal's heart on easy mode, you've got other difficulty settings. Also, completing a mini game stores it in the Memories section, which means you can go back and play them over and over again. The difficulty on these is much harder too, as you have to work your way from easy all the way to nigh on impossible in eight stages. I was surprised when I played the goldfish one again, only to find some turtles swimming about in there too, all very hard to force up the victims gullet. Also, competing in certain mini games or spotting a rabbit icon and stabbing it quickly opens up options in the Maniac mode. Here, the options you discover allow you to change the outfit, hairstyle and shoes on your lady friend. Once you've done that you can view her in her entirety and stab various parts of her body with your stylus to get a reaction. It's very much in the vein of James Stewart in Vertigo and a little bit creepy. Yet it's strangely compelling to sort her wardrobe and then poke her a bit and is yet another quirk that'll hold your attention for longer. That said, the mini games do get slightly repetitive after a while and in some respects this could have been a little more entertaining.

Visually excellent, with bizarrely fun gameplay and a soundtrack that sets the mood and atmosphere perfectly, Project Rub is a great showcase for the talents of your new Nintendo DS. This is definitely a title to show off to your mates - however, while it is easily one of the most original games I've seen in a while, I don't think it is the best the DS is capable of. It's a barrel load of love and laughs but I just know there's better to come!

Reviewed by Dave Wynn for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).