The Collapse! series of puzzle games has been around since 1999, though Super Collapse! 3 is the first title in the lineup to make the jump to the DS. Reviews generally suggest this incarnation does little to improve or mix up the basic gameplay of the series, though that's perfectly fine if you've never given the games a spin. I hadn't even heard of Collapse! until about a week ago, but what I've played since has been a pretty solid amount of fun, so why not come along with this week's edition of Gaming to Go and see if you might enjoy it too?

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The premise, much like every other puzzle game available, is simple: a fresh line of blocks emerges from the bottom of the screen every few seconds, prompting a game over if said squares ever reach the top of the screen. Players are tasked with tapping groups of three or more same-colored blocks to make them disappear, drawing the remaining blocks towards the center of the playing field. Clear enough lines of blocks and you'll advance to the next level or, in some cases, win the challenge.

That's pretty much it. The process goes pretty quickly, especially when a new line emerges quicker than you had anticipated, making for some pretty frantic minutes as you try and collapse enough blocks to keep them from stacking too high. The premise does get a little more complicated with the inclusion of items -- bombs, unsurprisingly -- but doesn't expand much beyond that. The real variation in gameplay comes with the seven different game styles included in the game, all but one of which must be unlocked by journeying through the colorful and quirky lands of the aptly-named Quest mode. Yeah, it isn't the most exciting thing you'll ever do with your DS, but it does offer an excellent chance to get your feet wet with the different gameplay modes. Later parts of the quest can be surprisingly difficult, so you'll curse appreciate the opportunity to work through them and develop your skill.

And just a quick word of warning: Quest mode does not auto-save, meaning shutting the DS off without backing out of all of the Quest mode menus to save your progress will make you a very sad person indeed.

But I'm not kidding about the difficulty, my friends. When you only have three colors of blocks to concern yourself with, things are fairly peachy, making the beginning of the quest a pleasant excursion for the new player. Once additional colors are added, however, the challenge ramps up considerably, as you'll have to get much better at spotting sets of matching blocks in order to keep up with the constant addition of new rows. If speed isn't really your thing, you could always forgo the classic mode described above in favor of one of the six other styles, all of which are satisfyingly different from each other to be worth playing.

Puzzle mode gives you a screen full of many colors of blocks and challenges you with tapping them in the right order to clear the entire screen. Strategy mode drops the few seconds delay between each new line and simply adds a new row every time you collapse something, meaning you'll have to choose your moves much more wisely than before. Relapse mode is identical to class mode, albeit with a new set of blocks emerging from the top of the screen, forcing you to switch back and forth to prevent the top and bottom sets from growing and hitting each other.

Slider mode is also similar to classic mode, though it throws a fun twist in by moving each row of blocks to the left or right as you play, making the game more exciting overall. Continuous mode is pretty self-explanatory: it's classic mode with no set amount of lines you need to clear, starting off fairly simple but introducing new colors the longer you play. Finally, Countdown mode is a race against the clock to rack up the highest score you can get in two minutes.

Once you've unlocked all of the gameplay variants, you'll be able to enjoy them in Quick Play mode, a convenient alternative to questing that focuses purely on letting you jump into a game and jump just as easily out. I dumped Quest mode pretty quickly once I unlocked all of the games, as the occasional unique mini-game you'll encounter throughout the adventure isn't nearly as interesting as the core gameplay variants. Honestly, the two I keep coming back to are Relapse and Slider modes. Both bring in an interesting enough twist on the basic gameplay to keep things entertaining, and both can be plenty challenging in their own way. Classic mode is mostly fun too, though the sheer number of lines you'll have to clear in some of the later levels can be disheartening.

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Super Collapse! 3's heritage on PCs (and Macs!) means you can pretty easily find a demo for the series somewhere on the 'net, just in case the though of yet another block puzzler doesn't immediately grab your attention. I can't say I'd blame you for falling in that camp. The number of puzzlers on the DS that involve moving squares is pretty mind-boggling, but Super Collapse! 3 does separate itself from the crowd courtesy of its numerous worthy modes of play. The game's also available on Amazon for the pretty charming price of 10.99, which should be just cheap enough to make it a title easily worth a purchase.

No, it isn't the great puzzler the DS will ever see. But nor is Super Collapse! 3 a bad title by any stretch of the means, so why not give it a shot? If you want a very solid, fast-paced puzzler that requires sharp reflexes and a keen eye, Super Collapse! 3 should help you spend those precious few minutes of freedom with a smile.

Ready for the stats?

Sleep time: Super Collapse! 3 doesn't pause when you close the lid, so make sure you hit that tiny little start button before you do.

Load time:Around thirty-four seconds to jump into Quick Play mode, provided you're new to the game and have to create a profile.

Play time: Unless you're playing continuous mode or just trying to rack up a high score in classic mode, most games shouldn't last more than a few minutes. You'll be tapping pretty quickly to overcome the new lines of blocks that pop up every few seconds.

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Remember checkers? How about chess? And blackjack? What about dominoes? And Shogi and Ludo and Hasami Shogi and Koi-Koi and -- ahem. Don't recognize those last few names? No worries! I didn't know them either. There's still time to learn, however, and this is where Nintendo's Clubhouse Games comes to party.

It contains 42 -- yes, 42 -- classic games for your enjoyment, running the gamut from bowling and billiards to Mahjong solitaire and Pig. An incredible amount of variety exists in this tiny DS cart, making Clubhouse Games one of the most involving titles the DS has seen in recent years. The mind-boggling amount of games also makes it ideal for this week's edition of Gaming to Go. Sure, I might not recommend starting up a game of chess on your next lunch break, but why not go for a quick game of Connect Five? Whatever your mood fancies, Clubhouse Games has you covered. Want to hear more? Click that big grey button there to see what you've been missing.

Gallery: Clubhouse Games

Tick tock of the clock ringing in your ears? Tell your timepiece to shove it! We live busy lives, but remember this: there's always time to game. Check back with Gaming to Go every week for the latest and greatest titles you should spend your precious few minutes with.

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For budget-minded readers, Clubhouse Games even comes with the benefit of a cheap price tag. The pretty reasonable price of twenty bucks will net you a delightfully large collection of games, so what are you waiting for? Go buy it!

Yes, you'll have to suffer through stamp mode, and no, there' s no way around it, but a few hours to unlock everything isn't too terrible when you consider everything the game has to offer. There's likely no better way to play so many classics games on the go, either, so why not take advantage of the DS's inherent portability? Sure, you could likely play many of these games on the computer for cheap, but it isn't a perfect solution. What happens if you want to play Ludo on the toilet? Trust me on this one: don't put yourself in that position. Just don't.

Ready for the 42 3 stats?

Sleep time: Closing the lid doesn't appear to pause the game, so make sure you hit the start button before you put the DS in sleep mode.

Load time: Only twenty seconds or so to jump into the Free mode, which is one of the best times we've seen yet.

Play time: This one depends entirely on which game you play, but rest assured that most of these shouldn't take you too long to play.

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Go ahead. Roll your eyes.

Mario Kart? An incredibly obvious choice, perhaps, but for one important reason: it's good. Very good. It's easily the best racer on the DS and one of the greatest titles in the handheld's library, if the review scores are any indication. But beyond the numbers and critical analysis rests the simple fact that Mario Kart DS is fun, fast, and very much worthy of your attention, especially if you're looking for motor madness just as enjoyable now as it was when the game raced onto shelves back in late 2005.

Sure, there's this newfangled Wii version making the rounds, but for all of its technological advances, Mario Kart Wii is lacking in one vital area -- you can't take it on the toilet. If that realization is all it takes to convince you to dust that tiny cartridge off and put it back in action, you're in the right place. Grab a few bananas and peel out* to the second page as this week's edition of Gaming to Go revisits a portable classic.

*I'm so sorry.

Gallery: Mario Kart DS

Tick tock of the clock ringing in your ears? Tell your timepiece to shove it! We live busy lives, but remember this: there's always time to game. Check back with Gaming to Go every week for the latest and greatest titles you should spend your precious few minutes with.

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The premiere Puzzle Quest title debuted to generally positive reviews, many of which praised the unexpectedly compelling mix of Bejeweled gem-swapping puzzles and standard RPG elements. Any gamer who has given the title a whirl knows the critical claim doesn't come unwarranted, even with a few niggling things like cheating AI and a complete lack of closure. Those minor complaints are more than made up for with the mind-boggling amount of depth the developers crammed into the cartridge, transforming what could have been just another puzzler into an addicting little package still worth playing over a year since its release.

With the space-age sequel rumored to land sometime in October, now is as good a time as any to take a look back at the sword and stone puzzler that started it all. If you never bothered to pick it up, consider yourself thoroughly shamed -- but don't let the weight of your emotional guilt bring you down. Come along with this week's edition of Gaming to Go for one last reminder that sliding colorful stones around a board is a perfectly viable way to wage digital war.

Who knew Bizarre Creations had a hit on its hands when it created the original Geometry Wars so many moons ago? I certainly didn't, though that might be due in part to my complete lack of one of those other consoles. Since its original inception on Microsoft soil, the Geometry Wars series has seen a number of different incarnations, a particularly enjoyable one of which is available for everyone's favorite handheld.

Geometry Wars: Galaxies also saw a release on Nintendo's white waggle box, though the infinitely more portable version is what I'll be covering in this week's edition of Gaming to Go. Haven't experienced the geometrical madness yet? Come along and see why playing with shapes on a two-dimensional grid is far more entertaining than it sounds.

Agents are ... go!

Elite Beat Agents built a reputation on many things: colorful characters, marvelous music, and, on later difficulties, the combination of soul-crushing challenge and those godforsaken spin markers. But look beyond that shiny veneer and you'll see above all an incredibly unique game, one that takes advantage of the DS's touch-screen capabilities arguably better than any other title on the system.

And it's a hell of a lot of fun. Give the game a spin for just a few minutes and you'll see what I mean, as part of Elite Beat Agents's charm is its bite-sized gameplay. Take one of the many songs for a ride and you'll get a glimpse of nearly everything the game has to offer, with the frantic tapping, circling, and groovy beats the title is known for. It's okay to dance with your DS. I don't judge.

Can you feel the music? Come along with this week's edition of Gaming to Go and see why exuberant dancing can solve all of the world's problems.

I like words. I even go so far to fancy myself as one of those indomitable writer types, wielding a pen for all things mighty and righteous and incredibly nerdy. It is with great reluctance that I write this particular column, however, for one simple fact: I suck at WordJong.

It's a simple game: clean interface, smooth gameplay, and a surprisingly entertaining mixture of classics Mahjong and Scrabble. The unholy union of these two titles brought about a gem of a game largely ignored by the DS-playing populace, though its relative obscurity might prove to be an advantage. It makes WordJong easier for all of you to track down, for one, but it also provides fewer people to compare my pathetic scores with. And that, my friends, is sweet.

Interested? Grab your handy dictionary and come along with this week's edition of Gaming to Go, wherein this columnist's crippling shame manifests itself in an overabundance of big words.

Remember Meteos? The vertical block sliding? The fast, frantic action, and the maddening tick-tock of the clock at the top of your screen? The sweeping, dramatic story of taking your alien ship into the heart of madness and bombarding it with pretty squares and blocks? The others don't understand. They couldn't possibly comprehend the bloody tears you shed for every planet lost along the way -- every warrior that stood 'til the end and mumbled something heroic in whatever freaky alien language they knew.

It's pretty intense, man. But let's talk about this game called Planet Puzzle League, shall we? It's pretty similar to Meteos, minus the ecstatic hyperbole I threw it out above. But don't let the dearth of heart-pounding plot deter you! Planet Puzzle League may forgo the charm of its extraterrestrial brother, but the title more than makes it for its lack of emotional impact with a wealth of gameplay options. It also has the distinction of being pretty much perfect for a gamer on the go, a fact which should make my job a hell of a lot easier and your wallet just a little bit lighter. Grab your penny bank, ladies and gents, and come along with this week's edition of Gaming to Go. The Puzzle League awaits.

Yeah, it's more minigames, but most of them are entertaining enough -- or just freaking weird enough -- to warrant your attention. And they're all pretty snappy, too, so you could spend your time worse ways whenever you want to game on the go. Sure, you might get a few odd looks on the bus if anyone sees you saving fat people from a massive man-eating anteater, but what do you care? You've got sweet digital love to save, man, so you'd better come along with this week's edition of Gaming to Go and brace yourself for the madness.