Marker Man Adventures is a title the uses well all aspects of the Nintendo DS. This means that over the course of 170 distinct levels, Marker Man has to take tremendous steps to ensure that eir dog Doodles is returned safely. To do that, players have to create through the use of the stylus different lines, machines, and other tools to bring the two together. The animation of the characters and of the backgrounds for Marker Man Adventures may look to be for the younger set, but there is more than enough here for players of all ages.
The countless levels here ensure that players will be sticking with the title for months to come, and like Lemmings, there is a charm present that never stops. While most sequels tend to differ considerably from the original title, I feel that Majesco could do yearly updates to Marker Man Adventures and just change up the level maps. While there are a number of different themes present (ice, water, outer space, and fire), there are just so many different ways that Majesco could go to ensure that this singular title becomes a strong line of releases over the course of the next five to ten years. The gradual increase in difficulty found through the levels is not as steep as some titles; where players will be able to bash out ten or fifteen levels immediately, it will be soon after that one may need to put down the title for a few moments or find out some other way to attack the problem.
Marker Man Adventures is catchy as all get out, and is perfect in terms of the casual games genre as any other game released in the last decade. Buy it for your road trips, airplane rides, or any time when you have a few minutes to blow.
Rating: 9.0/10
Marker Man Adventures (Nintendo DS) / 2009 Majesco / http://www.majescoentertainment.com