Sound and Graphics
Graphically, the DS appears to be somewhere between the GBA and the PSP, a bit of a weird no-mans land. It certainly has advances over the GBA, with Metroid doing a playable and pleasant 3D environment without any hitches. Other games don’t fair so well, with headline titles like Spiderman 2 and Project Rub not really doing it any justice. Rayman shines through though with large, brightly lit, colourful and details worlds to roam around in lovely 3D. I’m not sure whether this disparity between the games is a sign of poor, unimaginative coding or that the DS is underpowered graphically. Certainly, when held up to the PSP, the DS just can’t compete.
Screen lighting is another issue, one which I battled with on the GBA for ages. I just could never seem to get a decent viewing angle with the GBA but that has been improved with the DS to some extent. Indoors, even in a well lit room, both screens are easy to see. Outside is another matter though… the screens just don’t throw out enough light to combat even weak sunlight, so expect a sunburnt neck as you crane forward, back to the sun to keep the screens in your shadow as you play.
Sound is one area where the DS has the edge over the PSP. There’s two decent sized speakers mounted either side of the top screen which give a good range of sound, which, though lacking in any real bass, do have a fair mid range and don’t sound as tinny. By comparison, the PSP has two very small speakers which give at best a passable sound experience and are very tinny. Plug a set of headphones into the DS and the sound improves considerably, as you’d expect, though it has to be said that the overall volume could do with a boost especially if you’re playing outside… it just isn’t loud enough even with the slider to max.
