Like any summer blockbuster franchise, Transformers has continued its invasion of home consoles to coincide with its theatrical release. Typically, these movie-to-game adaptations are met with considerable skepticism among both savvy gamers and jaded critics. Even more eyebrows tend to be raised when these film adaptations are released for handheld platforms, since handheld software is regarded as simpler in nearly every way. However, the development team behind Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen appears to have invested considerable work into their task of bringing the heroic robots to the DS.

Anyone who has noticed Transformers: RotF for the DS in their local game shop has likely observed one thing right away: there are two different versions of this game. This is no longer considered outrageous for the DS software library, as other titles have been similarly successful in releasing multiple versions of a game, such as Pokemon and Nintendogs. This divergence offers not only an aspect of choice for the consumer, but a fairly ingenious way to sell more copies of the game to diehard fans, particularly when the differences between the versions are largely cosmetic. Sadly, this also appears to be true for Revenge of the Fallen. One version is based on the film’s protagonists, the Autobots, while the second version tells a tale through the eyes of the villains, or Decepticons. Interestingly, players will actually utilize the same character for either title, while the events of the story play out a bit differently.

For the Decepticons version of the game, the player is aided largely by Megatron, the primary villain from the film. He provides the player with all manner of evil objectives to complete, which offers a slightly different twist on the game than the Autobots version. This is still largely superficial. No matter which version of the game you purchase, you are going to get the same gameplay experience, just with a bit of variation in the levels and missions. It’s not really enough to warrant a double-purchase, unless you’re a very hardcore fan of the movies.

Gameplay is somewhat predictable for an action-oriented film adaptation, so there shouldn’t be any confusing strategies or challenges that young players will have too much trouble with. One of the best aspects of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the ability to acquire upgrades. Many games utilize such a mechanic, but to keep things authentically centered in the Transformers universe, objects can actually be scanned in order take advantage of their capabilities. This acts as a continuous reward loops for the player, granting the sense of building strength through a persistent character. Granted, this mechanic is intended to be simple enough to remain accessible even to younger audiences, so providing the upgrade system RPG-like layers of depth would have been inappropriate. Fans of the film will be thrilled with the association between upgrades in the game, and the upgrades used by characters in the film.

The gameplay itself is nicely varied, combining elements of ground combat with aerial battles and driving missions. There’s quite a bit of shooting going on, though incoming fire from the enemies sometimes feels like it tracks your character with unfair precision. The controls aren’t quite as refined across each gameplay engine as Grand Theft Auto, but they function adequately and are not difficult to learn. Both versions of the game have considerable visual density, and while the game is not always pretty, it does make good use of the graphical capabilities of the DS. The audio also quite good for an action game, and even the high quality voice acting is unique in each version.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen also features four-player Wi-fi online multiplayer. These are essentially your basic deathmatch style of gameplay modes, which provide a fairly hefty offering of mindless fun. The online modes differ slightly depending upon the version you are playing, but the gameplay is consistent across titles. Downloadable missions help to extend the replayability, but the game might have reached new heights if an online cooperative mode had been incorporated. Utilizing the factions from the film suggests that much opportunity existed here; such a framework could allow future Transformers games to introduce some really amazing multiplayer modes.

The graphical flaws in the game can get distracting, but the clunky elements of the gameplay keep Revenge of the Fallen from being an outstanding DS title. This game could have definitely benefited from further time in development. As it stands, the experience should still provide plenty of excitement for fans of the movies.

Gameplay: 7.0
Some decent variety, but a lot of bugs can bog the experience down.

Graphics: 8.0 
Messy in many areas, but still fairly striking for a DS title.

Sound: 8.0
Authentic sounds from the film, with great voice acting.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Decent challenge, but the game keeps you from feeling too frustrated most of the time. The boss battles need some work, too.

Concept: 6.0 
Movie games don’t win points for originality, but the execution here isn’t half bad.

Multiplayer: 7.0
A nice smattering of multiplayer fun, although an expansion of this aspect would have really made the title soar.

Overall: 7.0
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen isn’t exactly a must buy, but it will certainly satisfy that itch to experience robotic combat in a handheld title. Future iterations can certainly improve upon these offerings, particularly if multiplayer is given more attention.