Project Rub (or Feel the Magic XY XX to give the game its original title) is a SEGA developed launch title for the new handheld, Nintendo DS.

Project Rub is a truly unique game, and doesn’t really sit in any particular genre as such. Perhaps someone should come up with a name we can give games like this for future reference.

The premise of the game is this: You are a bloke, who fancies a cute girl he has met when he’s out and about. Now this girl is playing hard to get and your job is to impress her as much as possible so she falls head over heels in love with you. Sound's a bit strange doesn’t it? Well yes it is, although the story isn’t so important to be honest.

So SEGA, and more interestingly Sonic Team have created a game that utilizes all of the Nintendo DS’s innovative features. Project Rub is set up in a story-based format, with different chapters to play through. Each chapter has various challenges, which you must complete. When you have completed them you get points that fill up your girl's heart meter. When it reaches 100%, you can move onto the next chapter of the story.

There are many games to play through, and they vary in style and weirdness. Some favorites that spring to mind are; “Cart”, where you have to clear the road of big mine type objects. The reason for this is you are in a shopping cart going down a hill very quickly, so you must clear the road (by swiping the mine objects with your stylus) so it’s safe. “Candle” is one that uses the DS's features very well. You have to blow the candles out that are on-screen. You don’t touch any buttons, you blow your DS with your breath and the candles go out on-screen. Seriously. Another game has you shouting as loud as possible at your DS so your love of your life can hear you from a distance. If you shout loud enough, she responds and you win some heart points. “Clean Up” is where your girl is covered in mud or dirt, and you have to rub it off with your stylus. Rub too hard on her pretty face and she’ll get a rash, so gently calm that down for her by wiping slowly.

All of the games use the dual-screens, and all of them except the shouting/blowing ones use the touch-screen one way or another. This game is a perfect example of what developers should be doing on the DS platform, and not just using the second screen for an inventory or something. This game could not of existed in this form without the hardware, and that is what's important here.

Project Rub really is a very enjoyable game. Not only because it's very different from anything else, and uses the DS hardware well, its because this is a great game to play. It’s fun, it makes you laugh and it never takes itself seriously. It has perfected the features that make hand-held games so enjoyable; it’s easy to play and get into, and it's extremely addictive at the same time - everything about it just works so well.

The graphical style is best described as abstract, and reminds me somewhat of the Apple iPod adverts, with the silhouetted characters against high contrasted coloured backgrounds. This style fits perfectly with the theme of the game, and it also looks great. Everything looks very sharp and bright, and the game runs incredibly smoothly – sixty frames per second, in fact. Sound too is very good indeed, with great spot effects and a superb soundtrack – again fitting in with the games style extremely well.

For a first generation title on DS, this is a brilliant example of what developers could and indeed should be achieving on the new machine, and its also great to see SEGA back on form again with an extremely well made, highly playable and very enjoyable videogame.