Trauma Center - Under the Knife (Nintendo DS)

I could have gone with this on the Wii, as I've got that version as well, but this is the one I bought first, so that's what swung it.

I actually bought it for Lorraine... as part of my quest to keep her relatively interested in games, I buy games that she might actually have an interest in. And as someone that's spent many years in the medical profession, I figured this would be a lock.

She hasn't touched it yet.

And so, in the spirit of A Game A Day, I figured it shouldn't just sit there, never to be played, and I broke it open and gave it a shot.

First impressions are that it's Phoenix Wright in a hospital. Actually, I could probably just leave this one right there, because that's exactly what it is. Still, that would be lazy of me, so on I plod.

Trauma Center sees you taking on the role of Derek Stiles, a trainee doctor/surgeon of three years' experience who is about to be let loose on his own. After some early hand-holding from Nurse Fulton, she leaves, only to be replaced by a typical young hottie nurse with an attitude. Not what you want when you've got patients to treat!

I'm doing Trauma Center a bit of a disservice by saying that it's basically Phoenix Wright in hospital. Although it's a lot like that, with a lot of dialogue and a daft storyline, it's a lot more hands-on than Phoenix Wright and therefore more enjoyable. I did feel bad early on in the game when I killed a rock star who merely had polyps on his vocal c(h)ords (is it cords or chords? I'm never quite sure). Get past that and things start to open up (see what I did there), with bio-terrorism entering the fray.

I'm quite impressed by Trauma Center. It uses the stylus control very well, and is actually quite interesting and informative, as well as being entertaining. I've heard that the difficulty ramps up to stupid levels later on... I may find out for myself in time. But this is a game I'd definitely recommend... good stuff!