Ahh, a blast from the past, and what better system to put the revolutionizing adventure title Myst onto than the DS. So how does this decade-old game stand up to the test of time? Well, it could be better, and quite frankly, it really depends on your original opinion of the game.

Graphics are an interesting part of this game. It is hard to remember how well the original game looked on my PC. At the time, I remember them being really good, but compared to today's standards, it isn't the best and is really pixilated at times. Honestly, it's hard to tell if the pixilation seen in Myst DS is because of the detail in the original artwork, or if it is because of the compression used to get all of those images onto the DS.

What I did find amazing was the developer's ability to still include the spliced-in FMVs. Myst has a lot of moments where throwing a switch or turning a knob causes a section of the static image to become a movie that shows how you've affected the world, and all of those videos were able to make it onto the little cartridge.

The game's audio is pretty good. While all of the voice acting sounds like the original stuff, I believe the music is different and not quite as eerie.

Myst DS is a straight port of the original game. The only modifications that have been put into the DS release is the inclusion of realMyst 's Rime Age (which appears after completing the original story), but none of the other bells and whistles that came with the rest of that version.

For those readers who are unfamiliar with the original setup of the series... Myst itself is an island, deserted and lonely. Your character falls onto the island quite unexpectedly and begins exploring. As you trudge through the island, you will discover various books that when activated, will allow you to travel to different lands where you will uncover the mysteries behind the island and what happened to its few inhabitants.

Most of the game will happen on the bottom screen. Using the touch screen with the stylus, you will click on the various locations that you want to move closer to. Whenever you approach an item which has more detail, it will appear on the top screen in the zoomed-in view. When you aren't closely examining an object, that top screen will display a static map of your current age. While this map doesn't show where you are on that age, it at least gives you a solid frame of reference to keep you from getting confused, especially if you put the game down for a while.

The difficulty of Myst DS is a hard thing for me to gauge. I remember first playing this game and having a hell of a time getting through it. It was compelling and kept me playing until I finally got through it, only to realize I chose a bad ending and had to work from a save that was pretty far back. Each age offers its own unique challenges and even getting to them has their various hoops that must be hopped through.

Since that time some 10 years ago, I've beaten the game a couple of times, but I haven't really touched the original story in a long time. Quite frankly, I thought I had forgotten most of the puzzles that this game has to offer, but when I picked it up, all of the little steps and secrets started flooding back to me.

So how hard is this game? At the time it was a doozy, but since it is hard to look at it with fresh, untainted eyes, I can't really tell how it compares to current adventure titles. It feels like it is less of a challenge then some modern titles, but it's still as much fun as it used to be.

With the port to a handheld, the developers decided to add a few tools to help make Myst more portable. On the bottom of the lower screen, there is a tool bar with several icons. One is a magnifying glass that pulls up the detailed view of whatever is in front of you on the top screen. While this typically just yields a blockier version of what is on the bottom screen, for the areas that have a specific detailed view (like when examining an item in the world), the fully-detailed version will show up.

The camera is the next big tool on the bar since it lets you take a screenshot of your current view and save it off. You can only hold one picture at a time, but that's okay since you should only be working on one puzzle at a time. Trying to remember a certain set of piano keys to tap, but the book they are in is a dozen screens away? Just take a picture before heading to that damn rocket ship.

After that is the handy dandy notebook, which as any experienced Myster knows, is a must. When you pull up this screen, you are presented with a typewriter and a simple black screen to tap out your notes. The only real issue I found with this particular tool was the apparent lack of certain characters like colons and commas. Which, when tapping out the clues that involve time (like when you need to get to the Mechanical Age or StoneShip Age), it gets to be a real pain.

The other toolbar options is your Menu for saving or loading games, a map of your current age and what page (if any) you are holding.

So who exactly does this game appeal to? If you've loved the Myst games and would love to reminisce over the classic story, or if you never got a chance to try out realMyst (specifically its Rime Age), then definitely look into this version. On the other hand, players who love adventure titles, but for some reason have never been able to get a hold of a copy should also give it a try. But I can definitely see most modern gamers getting annoyed by its older graphics and outdated gameplay.