There haven’t been many games that manage to show what the DS can do with 3D graphics but Square-Enix’s Final Fantasy III remake has been one of them. Now the same developer is back with another title based on their Final Fantasy series but this time it’s not a remake. Based on the famous yellow feathered Chocobo bird that appears in every FF title, “Chocobo and the Magic Picture Books” is filled with mini games for you to beat and a card battle system that resembles Paper Mario.

The story begins on a bright sunny day with Shiroma the young White Mage, about to read a story to her Chocobo friends when Kuroma the Black Mage arrives. He’s brought another one of his rare books to show everyone but this one looked very odd. Shiroma doesn’t like the look of it one bit. It was if it has an eye attached to the cover. Kuroma tries to open the book up but can’t get it open and you’re introduced to the first mini game. Suddenly, the book comes to life, sucking every Chocobo on the farm into it. They soon fight out they’ve just unsealed the demon King Bebezu and now they must stop him by borrowing the power of the four crystals.


The crystals are back for another story.
As the title suggests, the game mainly revolves around magical picture books which are scattered across the land, usually near some blocked path. Trapped within cards are also one of your Chocobo friends and by beating the mini games in the books and fulfilling certain conditions, you can rescue them and gain other rewards. It’s the only method of clearing the way to your next destination and you can gain some powerful cards too. Usually this means playing the same mini game around two times before you can move on with the story. The first time gives you the chance to find out what you have to do and after that, you must compete against Irma’s evil Chocobos. There are five levels of difficulty which already gives you five conditions to beat.


It’s a turtle race! Keep the turtle running by guiding it by its head!
Mini games aren’t limited to the books because you’ll find some hidden in other objects that you can interact with such as turtle shells and stone slabs. All the picture book mini games are based on the story they tell such as “The Ugly Chocobo” where you have to slide a magnifying glass around the bottom screen to find the poor bird amongst the crowds. Then there’s “Chocobo and the Beanstalk” which is similar to the game in Kirby’s Canvas where you have to draw a leave to help propel Chocobo up a beanstalk while avoiding Bombs. In another game you have to blow into the mic to help guide a little mouse collect cheese! Stylus works very smoothly in all of them.


How many balloons can you pin down by blowing into the mic?
All mini games are very easy to pick up but once you’re competing against Irma’s Chocobos, you’re going to have to be a little more skilful at playing them. They aren’t difficult to beat even on the hardest mode but the little competition does help add to the excitement. Then there are the conditions I mentioned earlier which aren’t hidden so you can clearly see what you must do to try and obtain the next reward. While this takes out the fun of guessing like in say Jump Ultimate Stars, it does mean you won’t have to look for a guide to try for the perfect save file. Any mini game you’ve played once in story mode can be replayed under the “Quick Play” option and you can also battle it out with up to three other players via wireless.