Game of the Month: April 2008

As much as we'd like it, we know that everyone on the planet can't show up on IGN's Nintendo DS channel on a daily basis. So for those people that can't get here regularly, we certainly sympathize when you're suddenly assaulted on all sides by a massive flood of games during the interim between the last time you showed up here. It makes it difficult to tell just what's the cream of the crop, especially when you're trying to budget for those one or two titles every month. Nintendo DS games aren't expensive ... and too many games can just take up way too much room in one's pocket.

We're here to help. At the end of every month, we'll offer our choice for the Game of the Month for the Nintendo DS system. Sure, you can certainly look through our review scores and read up on all the great games released on the system, but like many readers, maybe you're curious which one we'd choose over the other ... even if one received a higher score. We've received hundreds upon hundreds of emails asking questions like, "If you only had the money for one game, which one would it be?" This is our way of answering this question.

After we've finished evaluating every game to come down the pipeline, we put our heads together and decide on a single "best of" winner that's worthy of the title "IGN Game of the Month." Pretty simple, don't you think?

Now that we have the guidelines out of the way, let's move on and congratulate this month's winner...

Why we picked it: Few games make it into the "amazing" category in our opinion, but with a game that sets as many standards, breaks down as many walls, stomps as many preconceptions, and offers as much depth and versatility as The World Ends With You, we simply can't consider it anything but exactly that. Square Enix and Jupiter took a chance on this one, as it would have been just as easy to release another Final Fantasy, Mana, or Dragon Quest game in its place, but instead the company went for a long shot in creating something truly unique and imaginative, and the result is not only one of the best DS games out there, but also one of the top RPG's we've played in years.

Reader's Game of the Month: The World Ends with You

Publisher: Square Enix

Developer: Jupiter

Release date: April 22, 2008

Reader Review quote: The World Ends With You is the most fun I've had with my DS in quite some time. Sure, it's not perfect, but it is wonderfully innovative and maddeningly addictive. Anyone with a DS owes it to themselves to check this one out.


read the full review

-- submitted by twinroval

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