Crush the World in the Palm of your Hand!
In a nutshell, Civilization Revolution for the Nintendo DS is 99.9% the same game that you'll find in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions. The differences between the DS and the console versions is so minute that they're really not worth mentioning and certainly don't take away from the overall enjoyment of the game.
The game itself is classic Civilization -- in fact, the DS with its simplified presentation and graphics, will probably bring a smile to any old school Civ or Civ 2 fan, the way it did for me, as it looks and feels like the earlier version of the game.
Gone also from the console version are the somewhat ridiculous characterists and borderline flamboyant mannerisms of the advising characters. If you feel that Civilization Revolution's console versions treat you like an idiot with the way the advisors are presented and the overly "hip lingo" of the tutorials, then you'll feel a whole lot better about playing the DS version, as those aspects are satisfyingly gone and/or are severly downplayed!
The only limitations that the DS has is that there are 5 game slots. If you like to play several games at once, and use multiple saves per game, this may become troublesome if you enjoy jumping between different civilizations and save games. But the pick-up-and-play aspect of the DS version makes this one idea for travel, and the load times (besides the initial startup when you play the game for the very first time) and save times are so minimal that you'll be in your save game within moments of starting up the Nintendo DS.
Expect to spend several hours working your way though a single game of Civilization. I cannot attest to the levels of difficulty, as I've kept the difficulty pretty low for myself, but apparently you're in for quite a challenge if you choose anything from the middle-ranged difficulty and up to the most challenging level.
I am so pleased in picking up the DS version. Even though it doesn't have quite the online functionality of the console versions, nor the flashy graphics, it DOES have the same amazing gameplay in a much more portable package, and that to me, makes this game a must own!
