In the earlier days of the DS, a number of niche titles were released. <i>Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney</i> was one of them; who would conceivably want to play a text adventure lawyer game? Sure enough, word spread of the joys of <i>Phoenix Wright</i> and its quirky over-the-top antics and the title became a cult smash. For the longest time, fans were buying the game faster than Capcom could make it. The game, a remake of a GBA game that never made it out of Japan, spawned two sequels in Japan. The second game in the series has just now made its way to US soil in the form of <i>Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice For All</i> (quite a mouthful, I'm know), and fans of the original have just reason to rejoice.

If you played the first <i>Phoenix Wright</i> - and I would recommend doing so – you won't find any surprises in the way the game plays. Half of the game consists of court sessions, where you interrogate witnesses and formulate theories with a theatrical flair that while wildly inaccurate gives the game a special charm. As silly as it sounds, there is a real exhilaration to be found in figuring out a key contradiction in a witnesses' testimony, watching Phoenix shout out “Hold it!” with an outstretched finger while the music swells to an intense high point. It is corny to watch Phoenix time after time perform a “turnabout”, taking on a seemingly-doomed client and inevitably unraveling some gigantic conspiracy freeing the defendant of all charges, but is what makes the game so lovable. The other half of the game is dedicated to investigating crime scenes, interrogating witnesses, and that sort of thing. It sounds like it would be boring on paper, but in actuality the two <i>Phoenix Wright</i> games have accounted for some of the most intense gaming sessions I have had with my DS.