Quest-based online role-playing games like World of Warcraft have taken the world by storm and in many ways, moved video games, especially online games, into the mainstream, but up to this point, such online questing has been limited to the PC or, to a lesser degree, TV-based consoles. Dungeon Explorer for the DS takes the fantasy RPG genre, places it in your pocket, and connects you to the world as you explore other worlds.

But first, the basics. Dungeon Explorer offers three (human) races, each slightly different, mainly in preferred weapons, and three character classes as follows:

In short, Mages specialize in long-range attacks and are thus easiest for beginnners; Hunters are faster and specialize in mid-ranged attacks; and Warriors, while having better armor, need to get into the thick of the battle to really be effective. Each character also attains a "school" that will alter the effects of special attacks. This variety gives players many options for characters to play and thus a lot of replay value. This game being a long game to get through, if you measure the value of a game by the length of time it takes to finish, you'll definitely get your money's worth, especially with all the replay options.

Like most dungeon crawlers, you complete quests by going from room to room, killing monsters and finding treasure. Hidden rooms contain puzzles involving moving items in a certain order to access prizes. Talking to townspeople helps you learn the story and gives you hints. By completing quests, you unlock new quests, furthering the story.

The game uses all the DS buttons to varying degrees, but you can keep the stylus in its holder. In this game, the sword is mightier than the pen. In-game tutorials and auto-targeting simplify controls so that your thumbs won't get in the way of enjoying the game.

The monsters combine repeating forms--zombies and slimes appear on every level--with location-specific beasts like ghosts in the ruins and scorpions in the pyramid. Some monsters spawn from destructable generators similar to the classic Gauntlet game, while others have a limited number. Bosses each present a different challenge, like toxic footprints. Most of the monsters, though, are not too intelligent. You can stand with a small obstacle in between you and the monster, and it will keep walking toward the obstacle instead of going around it to get to you, making it an easy target. You can even sometimes stand in a doorway and shoot the enemies inside the room.

While you can save your progress at any point, getting "disabled" will force you to start over at the beginning of the level, although you have the option to go back to town first to stock up on healing potions, poison antidotes, or other needed supplies. Thankfully, most levels have a shortcut toward the beginning, allowing you to jump to near the end, and thus the boss or goal.

The game also offers a multiplayer mode via either multi-card play or online multiplayer with up to 2 others. Local multiplayer would be preferable for the social aspect, as the game has no voice communication, and phrases must be chosen before play begins, so phrases are generally limited to single words like "Thanks," or "Follow!" (If you're playing with your friends online, set up a VoIP call with them first so you can talk while playing.) If a character dies while exploring, he resumes once remaining players make it to the next level. The wireless play is smooth and offers a different experience to expand replayability, and the option to play with "anyone" allows for play when friends aren't available, although we recommend kids stick with playing with friends by sharing friend codes.

With Friends Mode, not only can you find people you actually know, but you can do voice chat using the DS's internal microphone.

Parents, the game is rated E10+ for fantasy violence. Because the main villains are necromancers (sorcerors who manipulate dead flesh), you'll find a lot of zombies, moving cubes of rotting flesh, and other macabre themes. That said, because this is a DS screen, and the enemies are small, the gore having limited detail: zombies look almost like stick figures, and the flesh cubes could almost be melting Jell-o were it not for the label on their health bar.

It's easy to lose track of time in this game, immmersive as it is. I find it necessary to set a timer when playing, maybe even more than one so I don't say, "Just let me finish this level!" I can think of few better praises for such a game.