A lot of people like Harvest Moon; clearly, this is evident in the amount of Harvest Moon games that have been released. Despite the selection of console games, however, the shining lights in the series were (and are) the portable versions as they always delivered the goods in terms of playability. So it hurts, just a tad, to find the first Harvest Moon for the DS slightly disappointing… if not for the reasons we expected.

Specifically, it’s that Natsume appears to have been a little lazy in creating its first DS effort. Anyone who played Friends Of Mineral Town on the GBA will notice that Harvest Moon DS looks almost identical to it; the animations and assets have been pulled directly from the GBA classic, with only minor improvements. This wouldn’t be such a problem, but the game feels just like Mineral Town too. Although the changes between Harvest Moon titles have never been extreme, more could (and really should) have been done to take advantage of the touch screen. The idea of breaking rocks by tapping the screen, or watering plants by running the stylus along it may not be the most original use of the DS’s technology, but at least it would have given Harvest Moon DS a distinctively new feel.

Alas, it’s business as usual. The bottom screen can be used to view an entire map of the village or your inventory, and here, you can drag and drop tools depending on which tool you need. Once a tool has been selected, you go about your farming tasks using the face buttons. Harvest Moon DS tries to adapt to its surroundings after a short while by offering you the ‘touch glove’. This allows you to brush your animals, or if it’s a sheep, sheer it, using the stylus. This can be quite fun at first, but the novelty soon wears off and it begins to feel like an afterthought rather than a well developed idea. There is also the option to control your character by using touch buttons on-screen, but it’s a lot easier to use the D-pad. You can take a break from your chores to explore an in-depth world too, with characters to meet and mini-games to take part in, but because it feels like nothing has progressed, it’s hard to get excited about it.

If you’ve never played a Harvest Moon game before then Harvest Moon DS is a great place to start, as it feels like an update to the wonderful Friends Of Mineral Town. However, unless you’re desperate for a farming fix, Harvest Moon DS offers nothing new, so owners of the GBA game should probably steer clear.