Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, a recent release on the Nintendo DS, is in many ways a throwback to the text and graphic adventures of yore. As a defense attorney, it's Phoenix's responsibility to pick apart the arguments of the prosecution in order to get a "Not Guilty" verdict for his clients. The game is divided into episodes, each of which deals with a specific case. Each episode follows a very specific structure where the Phoenix must alternate between collecting evidence and going to court.

In the evidence collection stage, the game plays very similar to a normal adventure game. You move from one area to another, looking for items that can be picked up and interviewing potential witnesses. The spin that Phoenix Wright puts on this tried and true mechanic is that presenting relevant pieces of evidence to characters will open up new avenues of dialogue, moving the plot forward. Much like its predecessors, this stage of the game can be accomplished by the brute force method of trying out every object with every character. However, this is by no means a pleasurable tactic and is also highly time consuming. As such, players are encouraged to think carefully about what's being said, and then respond appropriately.

The second stage takes place in the courtroom. Here, the player must closely read over witness testimony, press for further details, and present evidence that shows contradictions in witness' testimony. In particular, the latter of these tasks requires careful attention to detail. What makes the courtroom different than evidence collection is that the player may only make five mistakes. Should the number of mistakes exceed that limit, the trial ends with a "Guilty" verdict.

So, while the game itself is not the best aide for learning proper legal practices, it still requires players to hone their powers of observation, read carefully, and engage in complex problem solving. Even in cases where players try to brute force their way through a problem, seeing the connection that they were supposed to make can be enlightening. The game's excellent writing will engage players and draw them into the world's fiction. As such, I highly recommend this game for any parents or teachers that want to get their kids a game that will make them think a bit, and also for gamers in general.