The Nintendo DS seems to be the console of choice when it comes to developer innovation, so it comes as no surprise that one of the latest pieces of software to hit the handheld, Paint by DS, continues this trend.

Paint by DS isn’t really a game, it’s more of a way to pass the time, the best way to describe it would be to say that it is an electronic colouring book. Using your stylus you can recreate famous paintings by colouring them in with either oil paint or water paint, you can even mix the different colours to create your own and if this is too difficult there is also a choice of coloured pencils.

Painting your selected picture really couldn’t be simpler, just choose your materials and then begin. On the top screen is an example of the picture you are trying to recreate, this is accompanied by a blue square which shows the area you are working on at any particular time, if you wish to change the area you are working on then simply press the D-pad to reach your desired destination. The touch screen has all the tools you need for recreating the masterpiece, these include a brush selector, Eraser/Thinner, Bucket (for clearing the colours in the palette) and also a option to select your background music.

The most difficult thing about the game is actually recreating the painting, unless you have at least some artistic talent then chances are you wont get an extremely good rating at the end of the game. Speaking of ratings, once you have finished a painting the game is rated in two ways, the first is how well you use the colours you have at your disposal, while the second rates you on how well you stick to the lines, which conveniently brings us to the games major problem.

The main problem with Paint by DS is that the game doesn’t compensate for the fact that you are using a stylus on a touch screen, therefore it isn’t as accurate as painting for real would be, obviously this can cause a problem when you are trying to colour, especially when you are close the outline of the drawing, and while you can compensate for this by remembering that you are using a stylus it is hardly ideal.

While the main section of the game is all about colouring in the various drawings which are available, there are also a selection of mini games to play, these include Colour memory, where a selection of colours appear on the screen and you must memorize them in the correct order; Hit and error, where you touch the squirrels with your stylus, a bit like whack the gofer; Puzzle, where a picture is cut into squares and you need to put it back together again and lastly and probably the most fun is Pixel race, where you drag a single pixel around a track without touching the sides. Completing the mini games with unlock new paintings, papers, colours and other items such as frames etc.

The games presentation is fairly decent, the graphics do their job by showing a clear picture of what you are trying to recreated and once zoomed in the lines are clear enough to be able to see what you are doing, the background music can be annoying, well it was to me at least, however there is an option to turn this off.

Since Paint by DS isn’t really a game as such we have decided not to give it a rating, this software is really aimed at people who have an artistic streak or who just want to relax on a train journey and in this respect it does it’s job, however it certainly will not appeal to a mass market.