Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties is a game that really looks good on the DS. Garfield himself bears a very strong resemblance to the look and style depicted in the two movies. Landscapes like the city rooftops and Carlyle Castle lawn also come off really well. For some reason, I wasn't expecting a whole lot out of this title, but I was mistaken. As far as visuals go, Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties is really nice.

As for the game's sound, there isn't much to talk about. There is somewhat repetitive background music and the only "voice work" consists of a meow that sounds off whenever you blow into the mic. As for the rest of the game's sound effects -- again, nothing really impressive.

Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties lets you help everyone's favorite fat cat find his way to his friend Prince's castle. Unfortunately, it isn't quite as easy as hopping on a bus and ringing the doorbell.

Each side-scrolling level will take you across the city rooftops, into the dark caves under Carlyle Castle and across the same castle's vast lawn. The levels themselves are fully 3D, but you are restricted to moving left and right only. This style reminded me a whole lot of the PSP version of Spider-Man 2 and Kim Possible: Kimmunicator.

In general, the levels are nothing more than making your way from one side of the map to the other, but every now and then, the game changes things up a bit. One level has you using busing routes to navigate yourself from one side of the city to the other. As you go from double decker to double decker, you have to peek at the routes and try to find the correct color-coded bus stop in order to make it to the next part of the city. Another level has you navigating your way through a hedge maze.

The maze is particularly interesting because it deviates from the set-path structure of the rest of the game... well, sort of. Every time you get to a direction choice, two paw prints appear on the touch screen denoting each direction. Tap the paw you want to follow and your path is switched.

Most levels are also filled with tons of snacks for Garfield to collect, but one thing the game doesn't give you is health. Once your nine lives are up, you will have to start the level over again.

Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties isn't a hard game. Most levels of the regular levels can be completed in 10 minutes or so (the exception being whole levels that consist of just looking around, as those are much, much quicker). There were only a few levels that actually caused me to die multiple times and forced me to really put some effort into the game. One of those levels was in the caves under Carlyle Castle where bats would fly after you if you make too much noise.

Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties wasn't a hard game, and just as it got repetitive, a level with some major structural difference was thrown into the mix to keep me from getting bored.

Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties uses some basic controls that will make it easy to navigate the fat cat around his world. Where the game's controls get semi-interesting is when it comes to using several of the DS' special features. There are levels that require you to look around so that you can find a specific item of interest (like a hole in a gate or the view of a maze from above). These levels are seen through Garfield's eyes and require you to move your thumb (or the stylus if you want to pull it out) around on the screen.

Other mechanics require you to tap paws that appear on the screen to either change which of the side-scrolling paths Garfield takes or do things like calling double decker buses for transport around the city. You can also blow into the mic to make Garfield meow. This will do things like cause birds and bats to fly or interact with the world in other ways.

Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties is a fun game that comes close to becoming repetitive, but throws in enough scenery and mechanical changes to make those brief periods bearable. Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties is a good game to rent, but since it should easily be beaten in a weekend, you might want to think twice about going out and buying it.