PDC Darts was recently released on the Wii and as far we were concerned it was a decent attempt at replicating the sport. Perhaps unsurprisingly the game has now also made its way to the Nintendo DS as well, but how does the handheld handle some darts and a dartboard?

 

It may come as a surprise, but to play PDC Darts on your DS, you don’t place the machine at one end of the room and throw the stylus from the other, now that would be good. Instead the controls are the usual affair, with the dartboard taking its place on the bottom the screen of the DS and the player touching the area of the board they wish to land on with the stylus, then it’s simply a case of drawing back and then flicking the stylus to take the shot. That’s it really, simple and to some extent effective. Other controls allow you to use the D-Pad to move the camera around the dartboard, but otherwise that’s it.

 

The top screen is assigned to your darts player, during the match you will see your player throwing the darts before it finally lands on the dartboard. The player likenesses of the 16 PDC pros are fairly decent for the DS but obviously nothing special.

 

 

There are certainly plenty of options for playing the game, first up there is the Standard Exhibition mode, which is obviously good for a quick one off game, PDC Darts also includes a Career mode, this is quite similar to the Wii version in that you can play through various tournaments such as the US and UK open in order to win the prize money and increase your standing in the world of darts. As you progress through the career mode you will also be able to unlock new players for use which obviously provides some incentive. All in there are eleven players to be unlocked.

 

This version also includes a tournament mode which can be played either on your own or with up to eight players, which obviously is a lot more fun. Other modes in the game include the Party Games which allow from two to four players to take part in games such as Around the Clock, Killer and Cricket, as well as nine other games and finally there is the Wireless mode, which allows you to play against another DS owner in a best of three games. Unfortunately there is no online mode, and this is a shame as it would have been a great addition to the game.

 

Graphically the game is not the best looking title you will ever see, although like the Wii version the sound does help improve the overall presentation thanks to the commentary from Sid Waddell and Bruce Spendley who do a good job.

 

Overall PDC Darts on the DS is probably only really a game for fans of the sport, it’s hard to see how this would appeal to anyone else really, although in saying that it is good at what it does, so if you are looking for a darts game on the DS then this is a decent option.