IMAGINE... the festival is under way and everyone is having fun, when an enormous pink pig descends from the sky to destroy the world.

Fortunately, the king of the fairies is on hand to turn everything - buildings, furniture, villagers - into Atla, or balls of energy, before the pig, the Dark Genie, scatters them far and wide.

So starts Dark Cloud, and so enters Toan, our hero, whose quest it is to collect all the Atla and rebuild the town.

Your search takes you into dungeons where you face monsters, search treasure chests and look for power-ups. Once you have collected everything within a cave, you can return to the surface and begin to rebuild the village.

Everything within Dark Cloud is well put together. The dungeons are just long enough to keep you occupied without getting bored and the rebuilding of the village is like a game within a game. The graphics are very impressive as is the smooth, seamless transition between battle mode and exploration mode. A truly addictive role-playing game.

Graphics: 4/5

Sound: 3/5

Gameplay: 4/5

Gamespan: 5/5

Overall: 4/5