DS, 239.99, cert 12+, Square Enix, 4/5

Square Enix’s risky move away from fantasy worlds and magic pays off with The World Ends With You. Moving instead into a modern day Tokyo setting, this is a blast of Japanese culture focusing on its design and style, from the clothes you wear to the J-Pop you hear.

Part Running Man, part Battle Royale, you’re forced to compete in a Reaper’s ‘game’. Complete the daily tasks assigned to you for a week and survive. Fail, and you’ll be erased from existence. Combat is innovative, with the use of psych pins (badges to the westerners) which give you powerful attacks, and duel-screen battles where you can control both yourself and your partner. However, if multitasking is not your forte don’t panic, if left to their own devices your partner will auto-play. Using all the DS’s features during gameplay and allowing the gamer to chose how they want to play the game - from what pins to equip and clothes to wear to what difficulty level you want each match to be - its a sharp, stylish game full of variety and customisation.  All these features combined makes for an enjoyable experience whatever level of gamer you may be.