Nostalgia: magic and monsters in old England

NOSTALGIA

RATING Everyone 10 and older

With its band of plucky young adventurers traveling the world on a grand adventure, Nostalgia game recalls the Japanese-made console role-playing games of the late 1990s.

The game feels like a mixture of other RPGs, taking characters, game mechanics and plot elements from Final Fantasy X, Skies of Arcadia, Wild ARMs and Panzer Dragoon Saga, among others. It's derivative, but the game's designers have been smart in their borrowing.

Nostalgia takes place in a version of our world in which monsters and magic exist, and airships are the chief mode of transportation. It's late in the 19th century, and England's best-known adventurer is Gilbert Brown.

Brown goes missing after the game's prologue, and son Eddie is determined to find out what happened to him. Eddie joins the local Adventurers Association, takes the helm of his father's airship, the Maverick, and prepares to follow in dad's footsteps. Apart from the main story line, Eddie can take on quests from the Adventurers Association to earn various rewards.

Enemies in the air can attack from the front or sides, and some weapons are more or less effective against enemies in certain directions. Weather conditions such as rain or snow also affect the Maverick's combat capabilities.

PLOT A solid role-playing game whose appeal is partly rooted in the title's emotion

DETAILS Nintendo DS, $35

BOTTOM LINE Borrows well, flies high