Video-game reviews | Lift a spirit with "Soul Bubbles" or battle it out in "Okami" and "Castle Crashers"

Take a break from the usual puzzle games to try the lighthearted challenge of guiding a spirit in "Soul Bubbles." If you prefer to do battle, try the demon fights in "Okami" or the rampaging hordes in "Castle Crashers."

"Soul Bubbles"

"Soul Bubbles, " a mellow little puzzle game, is all about guiding vulnerable souls to the next world.

Nintendo DS players control an apprentice shaman who encases these spirits in bubbles, then blows the bubbles past hazards and obstacles in each level so they may reach their destination. The apprentice can create new bubbles, slice them into littler ones or stick them together, and deflate them to a desired size — all with the touch screen and directional buttons.

The levels are filled with spikes, clinging vines and creatures that try to pop the bubbles or flee with the souls — the trick is to manage the floaty movement of the bubbles. It's breezy and fun, looks good and sounds fine; one wishes it had been given a wider release.

System: DS

Price: $29.99 (Toys R Us exclusive)

Age rating: Everyone

"Okami"

Released in 2006 for PlayStation 2, "Okami" almost immediately sparked speculation about a possible Nintendo Wii version — after all, the game's paintbrush mechanics seemed perfectly suited to the Wii Remote.

Now we have it: "Okami" for the Wii. And while the controls perhaps aren't quite as flawless as one might expect, the game has arrived intact.

Mostly so, anyway. The visuals still have a gorgeous watercolor styling to them but are a little less sharp.

Players control the white wolf Amaterasu on a quest to defeat the nine-headed serpent Orochi and clear Nippon of corruption. She battles demons with her disklike Divine Instruments and whiplike bead strings. But her most important tool is the Celestial Brush. With this the player may freeze the action to draw shapes and lines on the screen to create a slashing attack or an explosion (nondestructive techniques are learned as well).

System: Wii

Price: $39.99

Age rating: Teen

"Castle Crashers"

"Castle Crashers" is built in the game-play style of old arcade four-player brawlers, but with plenty of concessions to the modern age of gaming.

"Castle Crashers" allows up to four players to rampage across a kingdom under siege, dispatching hordes of enemy underlings and occasional huge boss foes. Each character has a couple of regular attacks, a magical attack and the ability to use items picked up along the way.

The combat is simple but lots of fun, and playing the game unlocks permanent rewards, like weapons that can be used by the game's numerous characters. Each fighter levels up over time, gaining more strength, magic power and so on.

"Castle Crashers" is a blast, but it's also a bit buggy. For example, it's possible to become caught in an endless rain of attacks without actually dying. To get out, you have to quit and restart the game. Hopefully fixes are in the works for issues such as this, and for some online stability problems.

System: Xbox 360

Price: $15 (1200 Microsoft Points)

Age rating: Teen