Title: Professor Layton & The Curious VillagePrice:$29.99 or $34.99 (depends on the store)System(s): Nintendo DSRelease Date: 2/10/08Publisher (Developer):Nintendo (Level 5)ESRB Rating: “E” for mild violencePros: Beautiful graphics, cute story, challenging, lots to do, a new puzzle each weekCons: Some puzzles can be pretty difficult. Voice acting is annoyingOverall Score: 8/10

When playing Professor Layton, you feel one of two sensations. You will either feel extremely intelligent and ingenious, or you will feel like a total idiot. Each state is also temporary. After solving one puzzle you can feel like you are the most intelligent individual in a three block radius and everyone is blessed to bask in your intelligent aura, and then five minutes later another puzzle can make you wonder if perhaps you should have been held back a grade or two in school. It takes a really powerful game to make someone experience such highs and lows, and Professor Layton and The Curious Village is definitely powerful and profound title.

In Nintendo’s latest Professor Layton and the Curious Village press release, it was revealed that new puzzles will be released over the Nintendo WiFi Connection. Each week, starting with the week of February 10, 2008, when the game is released, and ending six months later in August, a new puzzle will be ready for downloading. This means that by August 10, 2008, players will have had access to 156 puzzles.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village is the debut of a series already famous in Japan in North America. It is a puzzle game with a vivid storyline as Professor Layton and his…