the freewheelin’, drug-dealin’ bob dylan

There are few times when a series or game type translates so well to the bite size playability of a hand held video game system. I'd love to regale you with examples a good move from console to hand held:
-The Legend of Zelda (the hand held games developed by CAPCOM are some of the best of the series).
-Card/Board Games (as seen in Clubhouse Games).
-Pretty much every puzzle game, starting with Tetris.
-And now, Grand Theft Auto.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is one of the best entries in the entire GTA series. I am aware of the weight of that statement. It's true. The eat-as-much-as-you-want-at-a-time story, the rampage when there's a few minutes to kill, and the slowly approaching 100% game completion meter lend themselves amazingly to the hand held state of mind.

The game plays in an near classic top-down viewpoint, but don't let that fool you. This game is in real 3D. The camera swings around to give you best view. Two out of three islands of GTA IV are remade in a streamlined fashion, so if you're familiar with the fourth major entry in the GTA series, you'll feel at home here. It's made with such great balance on the DS; it gives the feeling of a giant city without the hassle of actually having to traverse a giant city. You can save anywhere now, as long as you're not on a mission. Though the needed-to-save-the-game function of the safe house is now gone because of that, there are still uses for the places, whether it be a convenient place to stash a great vehicle, a quick place to duck in and lower your wanted level, or to house all the drugs you're carrying.

A major focus of GTA:CW is on the drug dealing. It's a market thing. Dealers will sell or buy whatever they or you have, as long as the cops aren't on your butt. You try to beat the supply/demand curve by buying whatever is low and selling it to the next dealer you run across that will give you a profit for your supply. But really, here's how you will play the trade: you'll get an email about a deal, race across town to pick up some cheap coke, and stash it in the safe house until you get the complement email a while later from someone willing to pay big bucks for that same coke. That's really all the attention you'll need to pay to the drugs. It's nether a time waster or time sink, but it can be the easiest way to make money if you need it.

What really gives this game the edge, though, is the touch screen controls. A lot of button press actions now involve touch screen activities instead. Drove your car into the water? Better bust out the windshield so you can swim to safety. Need to jack a car? Parked cars carry the chance of one of three hot-wire touch activities...better hurry up before the car alarm goes off. Want to navigate your touch screen PDA? Reach out and touch it, for emails, the GPS, the settings menu, etc. It's made easier to navigate that way. That's just covering stuff you will encounter more often than not. There are some touch games that come up only once or twice through missions, and they are a joy because they involve you more than any GTA has involved you in missions before. Although initially awkward, you will learn to hold the stylus between your fore finger and middle finger while you play the game to be in the "always ready stance," and trust me, you need to be there. It's not a gimmick, it's a truly great extension to the game play and makes many missions that much more unique.

After the slightly too real for much fun GTA IV, it was a relief to play a wise cracking character in a world that was just a little less serious than it's precursor. I think it brought a bit of the lighthearted fun that had previously been in the series back.

I had great fun with Chinatown Wars. It's a true, complete GTA game and I think you'll enjoy it too.