The brilliant mix between action and puzzles comes from the fact that each stage can be finished using a number of methods, some of which work better than others. If you played Professor Layton, you'll remember that most of the puzzles in that game had one solution (and if you didn't play Professor Layton, quit reading this and go buy it – it's fantastic). Bangai-O Spirits can be called a puzzle game by requiring creative solutions, but it can also be called an action shooting game because without cat-like speed and reflexes, your well thought out plans will never get off the ground.

Before we get to the level editor, I want to shed a little light on my very favorite part of the game – the immeasurable challenge level. This game is very, very difficult, the kind of difficult that makes playing in a crowded room almost impossible, because you will no doubt be tempted to grunt or screech at and/or sling your DS across the room. To give you an idea of just who difficult Bangai-O Spirits is, I only need to relate one part of my experience with the game. I had trouble finishing the last stages of the tutorial. Yeah, you read that right – the tutorial. The part of the game that is supposed to teach you how to play is difficult enough to stymie even me, a Treasure aficionado. Between Bangai-O Spirits and the recently released (and impossibly difficult) Commando: Steel Disaster, the DS's game library is looking less and less compatible with the casual gaming crowd. Don't let that deter you, though, losing over and over is rarely this much fun, and the drive to improve and overcome only gets stronger as you get better.

Ok, finally we've made it to the level editor. The bottom line is that you can change any level the game throws your direction, or you can start from scratch and build your own. Sounds pretty standard for a level editor, right? The genius comes from how you share your custom built creations with friends. There are no dedicated servers, online lobbies or username/password combos here; instead, each level that you create is transformed into a audio sample that can be picked up by any other DS with a copy of Bangai-O Spirits and a working microphone (which is included standard on every DS… the "working" part came from trying to share my levels with a friend who's two-year old got hold of his DS and found a few new hiding places for crayon shavings… ).

This method for sharing was, to me at least, completely unbelievable. Just by hitting a button, my meticulously created stages were transmitted through mere sound waves and appeared exactly as I had intended on another DS system. Even if the level editor isn't your thing, you need to try it at least once, just for the "cool" factor. The other thing that makes the feature great is that websites have sprung up around the world dedicated to hosting these short sound files that become instant stages on your copy of the game. This amounts to an action/puzzle game that costs less than half the full price of other DS games and will literally NEVER get old. A word to the wise, though; the stages created by Japanese players (who have had the game available for a few more months than American gamers) are not a good starting place. They are almost all sadistic in their difficulty and even after hours of testing file after file, I could only beat one or two, and those I only just barely made it through.

Bangai-O Spirits is a great puzzle game, an extreme action game, a worthy notch on Treasure's belt and a discount priced experience with infinite replay. My only reservation against recommending it to everyone is that it is very, very difficult to learn and become successful. If you are frustrated easily or just want a less strenuous shooting game, you have plenty of other options. But if you feel the need to be challenged, enjoy the white-knuckle fury of just barely missing (or hitting) that last target and can deal with and overcome some very frustrating moments, then Bangai-O Spirits is the game for you. A word of warning – it might be a good idea to buy the new NERF armor for your DS when you pick up this game, just in case the urge to sling your system across the room becomes to great to ignore.

In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 91%.

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