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Good: Interesting art design, fun minigames

Bad: Somewhat unresponsive controls, jumping puzzles feel out of place, characters don't feel significantly different

Disgusting: Apparently a dragon buddy of the heroes receives profound life tips from his butt pimples. I wish I was joking.

The DS version of Xiaolin Showdown is an average brawler based off the WB cartoon of the same name. It has a few interesting features in the way of branching skill trees and minigame-style Showdowns, but a combat system that never feels very immersive brings the experience down.

As mentioned, the game is based off of the successful WB cartoon, and follows the exploits of its four heroes-in-training: Omi, Kimiko, Clay, and Raimundo as they battle the forces of evil. A few short cutscenes and a brief tutorial are given to help introduce you to the world, but for the most part, the game cuts straight to the action.

Gameplay takes place from a ¾ top-down perspective, ala Diablo. The directional pad moves your character around, and their kick and punch combos are performed with two buttons. Players can also execute elemental moves, use special Shen Gong Wu powers, throw enemies, and block using various button combinations. There's also the ability to jump, which comes in handy for a few jumping puzzles that feel completely out of place in this type of game.

Worse, the entire combat system feels rather sluggish, which isn't good considering nearly the entire game is fighting. Characters move slowly and it's rather hard juggling between offense and defense. The enemies don't give much in the way of attack indications, so it's pretty much guesswork as to when you'll need to dodge and block.

Players can also choose to play as any of the four main characters, each with their own unique skill tree and elemental attack. However, besides these unique special attacks, each character feels remarkably similar in play style. Since most fights dissolve into a mess of button-mashing, it's really hard to tell their different combos apart.

There are a few diversions to mix up all the brawling. Every once in a while, you'll encounter an enemy who will challenge you to a Showdown. These are bizarre minigame-style challenges that include a DDR-like Cheer-Off and a side-scroller called Goo Zombies. These can actually be more entertaining than the game itself and their presentation is weirdly humorous.

There's also a dedicated minigame mode, which has a number of fun modes that can be played solo or multiplayer. These are all fairly simple, but surprisingly fun. Perhaps the best is the air hockey game, which makes good use of the touch screen in guiding your paddle.

Graphically, the game is pleasing, particularly in terms of art direction. The cell-shaded character models all look good and do a nice job of capturing the look of the show. They animate nicely and their special attacks all look good. The pre-rendered environments could use a little work though, as they tend to look pretty flat and lifeless.

Sound is adequate, although nothing special. The music ranges from tolerable to irritating, particularly the techno number played during Cheer-Offs whose lyrics are composed of the game's title repeated ad naseum. Sound effects are pretty basic and are sometimes hard to discern over the game's soundtrack.

Overall, Xiaolin Showdown is an average brawler with some interesting minigame elements. The multiplayer might keep you entertained for a little while, but ultimately the game gets old all too quickly.

Graphics: 7.5

Sound: 6.0

First Play: 6.0

Replay Value: 6.5

Gameplay: 6.0

Overall: 6.2