I had some anticipation over this game, probably held over from my initial flashback to that "battle chess" scene from the first Star Wars movie. You wouldn't be wrong to come expecting something like that cool vision from decades past. Was George Lucas cool, or what? Trying to realize a living chessboard was easier on film than in the gaming world, judging by the lack of interesting chess videogames over the years. It's ironic that during a wave of rising popularity for casual and puzzle games we see this attempt to create a next-gen chess game. Compared to anything you've seen on a PC (I'm thinking especially of the pack-in chess game that comes loaded on all Macs) this looks exciting. The small screen is very busy and full of characters. The distinction between one character and another can be hard to perceive, which makes it hard to decide on appropriate moves. Even with traditional pieces, there is too much of a bird's-eye viewpoint to the game. It might have made sense to expand the characters or get closer to them with some zoom feature. Ironic that there are ways to pan around the board, but no zoom.

There is some very dramatic music playing during the game that can sometimes be distracting or out of place. Even as a battle analogy, chess is still a game requiring inner reflection. The music fits the dynamic Battle Mode that is introduced in Online Chess Kingdoms, but it would have been nice to see some option for music from my personal library or just more contemplative tunes in the Classic Mode. The visuals for attacks are cool enough but not sufficiently exciting to have chess novices wowed purely on the basis of action. At heart this is very much a chess game with some trimmings that offer a bridge between the old school and the new school. For my money, Konami did too much hedging. Either they should have blown out tradition and gone for something radical or just tried to make a really cool and surprising retooling of the classic gameplay. The latter goal is what Online Chess Kingdoms most closely matches and for folks who want to take chess on the road, it may just be good enough. There isn't anything offensive in the visual presentation, but there also isn't anything really awe-inspiring.

Online Chess Kingdoms shines in gameplay, which you would really want in any game about chess. If the look of a 3D "battle chess" game is off, nobody is likely to be too critical since there hasn't really been a plethora of 3D battle-chess games out there to compare against. If something about the chess playing is off, we are all going to howl and throw a fit. Happy to report that the chess playing here is nicely done. The title is a tip-off but for those who worry about playing a computer, there are human opponents online. Not so many opponents, but they do exist. I have been disappointed with my visits to most online communities built for PSP titles. It isn't that they are poorly planned, but that people just aren't signed on yet. There could be many reasons, including the competitive and somewhat fickle game market. Also factor in the people who buy games like this and aren't comfortable or interested in going up against human players. Maybe it is as simple as the number of people in the population who have a broadband and wireless connection at home. Whatever the case, I will say that Online Chess Kingdoms is really just "Chess Kingdoms" until a good-sized community builds up online. Here's hoping that occurs, because chess is best when played against other humans.

The offline version of the game is built around two modes. Classic Mode is the version of the game we've been playing for hundreds of years. Turn based, with pieces consigned to specific move and capture patterns... if you've played chess even one time you've probably learned the fundamentals. Battle Mode is a very different story. I don't like Battle Mode. I do applaud the effort to create an interesting alternative to the usual fare. Instead of being turn-based, Battle Mode is in real time. The pieces still move and capture as they do in Classic, but each capture is assigned a point value. The first player to 30 points wins. The King is worth 12 points so you can imagine how quickly these games play out. My complaint with Battle Mode is partially the style of play, but also the issue with graphics that I already mentioned. Over time, I figured out who was moving where, but the first few games felt crazy. The control of pieces with the D-pad is okay in a turn-based battle, but isn't great for quick moves. In these moments, the genius of the DS touch-screen really becomes apparent. Even after the initial adjustment period, I never warmed up to Battle Mode.

The Classic Mode story revolves around five races that have been split and are now reunited. In each battle outside the story, you'll be able to choose a side to play and a choice of board. The story is more "on rails" and makes certain choices for you depending on the stage of the game and the location. Each race has the same pieces to play and the same chess moves we know and love. For gamers who love the traditional game, but want an interesting "wrapper" this may be a perfect title. The story has elements of a traditional strategy videogame, since each race is intent on capturing territory. The armies are perfect placeholders for the pieces on the chessboard. When armies meet a game begins... This is also played out in the online games, but with less of the storytelling you find offline. You can also play Classic games against another player offline by passing the PSP back and forth - low tech networking! Online play features a neat mode called Remote Play that is really just the online version of "chess by mail." In the days before all this cool technology, people would mail or e-mail moves back and forth and play each other one move at a time. In Online Chess Kingdoms Remote Play, you can make a move and then sign off while your opponent takes up to 24 hours to respond. This is a nice mode for people who have a little time to play or may not have persistent, fast connections to the Web.

Chess is not an easy game. There are four levels of difficulty and the bottom level is not an easy level. Any perception of Online Chess Kingdoms as "chess lite" would be mistaken. All the rules and strategies of chess are built into this thing and if you've played any computerized chess game in the past (like the little handheld units you see in stores...), you know they are tough. Do yourself a favor and buy a book on strategy. Even better is the feature in Online Chess Kingdoms that suggests moves. If you keep the button pressed, the CPU will make the move for you. This makes for a nice "teaching game," where you look at the board and consider your move before watching how the CPU moves for you. If you've never played chess before, you'll learn that it is a pretty formal game where each move by your opponent will prompt you to consider specific moves. Watching how the CPU moves pieces around is a great way to observe good chess strategy.

I briefly mentioned the D-pad control as being a weak choice for moving pieces. I would have preferred a pointer, similar to what Sony implemented for their browser. That way you could move across on the diagonal instead of tracing each move square by square. The instructions for the game aren't always as clear as they could be, which makes the online play a bit opaque. At certain points when you have started a game, you only have the option to change races or quit. It isn't immediately apparent that you'll be able to quit and come back to rejoin your game in progress. Online Chess Kingdoms has more than a few little quirks like this in controls and interface. The lack of zoom control during battles makes it hard to focus on important pieces and their placement. Pressing the Select button does show an easy-to-read, 2D graphic of the board if you need to get your bearings. Sometimes the game board and the 3D objects around the board can make it hard to see the pieces.

Between the visual navigation, the camera controls, and the control scheme, I actually found myself going back to basics... the good old black and white chess pieces. You don't have to layer on these frills to make chess an exciting game any more than you need to add something to Go to make it more appealing. A part of me hopes that Online Chess Kingdoms is like Cinderella. A number of people will probably invest time in learning chess and become fans of the game through Online Chess Kingdoms. These same people will likely find that they can enjoy chess without all this pomp and circumstance. Dressing up Cinderella didn't make her a princess, but it did help get her noticed. If the worst thing Online Chess Kingdoms does is introduce people to chess through some flashy-but-quirky 3D styling, we'll still have more people with an appreciation for a classic game.