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Trace Memory

EMAIL PRINT ds

8.9 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 51 critic reviews
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Based on 23 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Cing

Genre(s): Adventure

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Release Date: September 26, 2005

Summary

(Also known as "Another Code: Two Memories") Uncover clues to a family's dark mystery in the first true adventure game on the Nintendo DS. Featuring a riveting plot and unique puzzles that must be solved using the touch screen and microphone, Another challenges you to navigate detailed environments bristling with gritty characters. Another brilliantly exploits the DS's dual screens, displaying conversations on one screen and character actions on the other. [Nintendo]

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Adventure Gamers Preview GameSpy Preview IGN Hands-On Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Four Fat Chicks

Trace Memory is a cracker-jack adventure game developed and beautifully suited for the DS system. It's not at the level and complexity of the best adventure titles for the PC, but it's not reasonable to expect that from a handheld title. What it does bring to the table is an engaging, wonderfully done and integrated story with facilitating puzzles.

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Adventure Gamers

One of the best adventure games currently available.

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eToychest

It is the game’s endearing story and characters, coupled with an intriguing adventure that help to make Trace Memory succeed in being truly memorable, pardon the pun.

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Nintendo Power

Trace Memory does not take much time to play, but a second run through results in a few story nuances and a slightly different ending. [Nov 2005, p.109]

BonusStage

If a strong narrative and clever puzzles sound right up your ally then Trace Memory is a thrilling experience you won’t soon forget.

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Just Adventure

What it does offer, though, is a game that takes advantage of the full capabilities of the Nintendo wonder-machine. It couldn't exist on anything else in anything other than a truncated form.

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Games Radar UK (Pre-2006)

The graphics offer an enticing mix of cutesy Anime portraits and lovely 3D environments, while the gameplay is an original twist on a classic genre with gentle pacing masking fiendish puzzles. Who said point & click was dead? Another subtle smash on the divine DS. [GamesMaster]

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Gamer 2.0

A game as succintly brilliant as Trace Memory guarantees that anyone looking for a graphic adventure game, or an emotional, engaging experience, will be more than content.

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Gamenikki

While some players may be disgruntled by the lack of action and lack of length, fans of the point and click adventure genre will be thrilled with this artistically-inclined entry from Nintendo.

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Nintendo Insider

if you're looking for a relaxed game with a good story and interesting puzzles, and you're a big fan of games like "Myst," Trace Memory will more than satisfy your craving for adventure.

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Cheat Code Central

The story is what keeps you wanting to move forward while playing an adventure and Trace Memory had me hooked, even when I was madly frustrated at it for being too persnickity about certain solutions. It's the perfect game to play on the train, bus or trolley on the way too and from school or work and due to the pacing of the story, your eyes won't go buggy trying to keep an eye on the action.

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Sydney Morning Herald

Puzzles are wonderfully innovative, utilising the touch-screen and microphone. Solving such tricky conundrums is satisfying but there is little replay appeal.

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AceGamez

The graphics are top notch, the score is captivating and the sound effects are realistic but subtle enough not to irritate.

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Jolt Online Gaming UK

While obviously not for those seeking an arcade fix, Another Code is an absolute must for those who are always on the lookout for a decent adventure.

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Cincinnati Enquirer

An interesting portable Myst-style graphic adventure with good graphics and fun controls but a slow pace and a lot of reading.

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Computer and Video Games

If you're a quality-deprived adventure game fan or simply looking for a refreshing, unique alternative to the current crop of me-too titles on other systems then you absolutely owe it to yourself to give Another Code a whirl. Just be aware that the game's brief playtime and innate genre flaws mean that you probably won't be playing for all that long.

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Pelit (Finland)

A very light, but brilliantly designed adventure game. For experienced gamers it is too short and easy, but casual gamers will no doubt enjoy it very much. [Sept. 05]

GameBrink

The game takes 5 hours at most to complete, and it has very little replay value, unless you didn't get the best ending the first time around and you want to see it.

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Game Informer

Struggle through, though, and you'll be rewarded with a few moments of pure puzzle transcendence. [Nov 2005, p.182]

NintendoWorldReport

It's involved, it's long, it's original, and it represents another milestone in console gaming history - the first time that anyone has truly made a PC-style adventure game work on a handheld.

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N-Insanity

Even though it's short, and the backtracking can be tedious, I would still recommend this game. I wouldn’t recommend paying full price for it, however.

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My Gamer

If you’re interested in trying something new, with a great plot and deep rewards, then this is a good pickup. If you’d rather have a more mainstream experience, with more obvious intense moments, then this won’t be a good purchase.

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Next Level Gaming

The only thing it has going for it is a well-written plot. The game isn’t overly fun to play, and can get annoying at times.

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Da Gameboyz

An enjoyable point and click adventure that has a few quirks that stop it from being a great game. With a short length and linear style to it, the game really is over too quickly.

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GameSpot

At its best moments, a uniquely involving experience. These moments are all too fleeting in a game that has a very short lifespan, and while there's a nice little story and some flashes of brilliance in the design, it's all over far too soon.

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Play Magazine

It's pretty short and linear, and as far as I can tell, you can't die. [Oct 2005]

Gamestyle

Not a game without its problems: its short length, its stilted dialogue, its murky 3D graphics, its ridiculous name (seriously, what will the sequel be called?!); and yet there is an ineffable quality to the game that transcends these shortcomings.

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Yahoo! Games

Though you are bound to find yourself marveling at the innovative use of the DS hardware and the creativity of the puzzles, the core adventure is simply way too short -- six hours at best.

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Armchair Empire

As an adventure game on-the-go for younger gamers, Trace Memory offers a solid challenge and a very good presentation and use of the touchscreen.

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Total Video Games

If you’re not the biggest adventure fan in the world (like myself) then the various puzzles will often have you slamming the DS shut in frustration, but for some strange and unapparent reason I kept coming back for more.

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Eurogamer

If you need you thirst for adventuring quenched, Another Code is an essential purchase, but novices need to bear in mind that this style of game is very much an acquired taste, and experts should be mindful that compared to the adventuring greats it's not exactly in the same league.

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GameCube Europe

If only Another Code was double its length... It’s enjoyable and unputdownable until finish.

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RewiredMind

You can’t help but feel that this is the type of game perfectly suited to the DS; inventive, addictive and something quite refreshing – a genre injected with a new lease of life on a new platform. It won’t take you long to complete Another Code, but the nature of the game mechanic will ensure you will enjoy doing so.

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Edge Magazine

Trace Memory is a sound and striking dissection and rebuilding of the adventure game, one that wraps itself well around the specs and strengths of the DS, but one that isn’t the sum of its parts. But it is a worthy and touching whole, nonetheless. [Aug 2005, p.96]

games(TM)

This is the first time, apart from games such as Zoo Keeper and Meteos, that the DS’s capabilities have been used to good effect and - in some areas - expanded on to the point that we can see many developers in the future ‘borrowing’ ideas for their own games. [Aug 2005, p.100]

Gamers Europe

It won’t start a second coming. What it does is showcase what the DS is capable of for this genre, and does it very well indeed. It’s also a very fun, if short-lived, experience and a very satisfying one. Just don’t be disappointed when you finish it in less than six hours.

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NTSC-uk

Entertaining, fun and well worth playing, but is over far too quickly to consider a definite purchase.

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Pelaaja (Finland)

Another Code is an interesting pocket sized old school adventure. The adventure and its puzzles are also quite traditional in the unexciting sense. Luckily, the game and all its puzzles cleverly take advantage of DS’s dual screen and touch abilities. [August 2005, p.74]

1UP

Less avant-garde than "Indigo Prophecy," far less self-important than "Myst V," Trace Memory is the very definition of a safe, comfortable, middle-of-the-road experience.

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netjak

It's easy to see that the DS was made for adventures like this, but I'm sad to say that unless they get better, we're going to see the point-and-click genre die out again. Trace Memory gives old-school gamers something to be excited about-- but only for a little while.

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Electronic Gaming Monthly

Slow to start and quick to finish, Trace holds your attention by the thinnest of strings: a deire to fill the blank pages of the story. [Oct 2005, p.122]

PALGN

With it's gentle pace, well-penned storyline and (just occasionally) some of the neatest puzzles we've seen this side of "Grim Fandango", PALGN wants to love CING's game. But it's all a little too obscure in parts, and over too quickly to encourage a real obsession.

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IGN

Even with the awkward and sometimes irritating dialogue, it's a good read from beginning to end, and it's a game that will fill the gap as a lengthy bedtime story.

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Modojo

This isn't the type of game that anyone should play on the bus, standing in line, or at a sporting event. It requires your full attention, so warm some milk, grab some cookies, and hop into bed, as any distraction will make it incredibly difficult to enjoy.

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G4 TV

The perfect rental, lasting only a few short hours and, like most adventure games, doesn’t have much value beyond that.

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Zentendo

Trace Memory is an adequate title in its genre that manages to have a decent plot with likable characters, but its presentation is notably bare, as is its gameplay -- save for a handful of interesting DS-related puzzles.

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GameBiz

The fact that they deliberately ensured that you can't pick up items until you need them is just a lame attempt to lengthen what is already a short game.

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Game Revolution

Trace Memory is basically "MYST" for kids, offering a short trip through puzzle-ville with occasional stops at the lame story station.

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GameSpy

As a "my first graphic adventure," it works pretty well, with some unique puzzles and some interesting characters to get involved with. Veterans of the genre, however, will come away wanting more.

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Gaming Age

The game doesn’t even come close to the better adventure games on PC, but it is still an enjoyable title to play through if you’ve exhausted all your other DS games.

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Boomtown

The puzzles (if that’s what you want to call them) are either ridiculously easy or they are completely devoid of logic and impossibly hard.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 23 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Rob H. gave it a9:
What a great little game. It's relatively short, but then again, the story rattles along at a fair pace of knots with brilliantly integrated (and ingenious) puzzles, unlike other longer adventure games that leave you stuck and frustrated for hours on end with illogical puzzles that have no connection to the plot. I should also mention that while the story is merely good, the characterisation is superb.

Cynthia L. gave it a9:
I like it a lot it was fun and cool..

Paul Scotto di P. gave it a5:
It is true that this game is a pretty interesting, but please, tell NINTENDO to make a game that has a longer life. I finished this game in less than one week, and it's not really re-playable... I give it a 5, because a game that you finish that fast doesn't have a REAL potential... P.S.: I actually brought back my copy to the video game store I bought it at, and got my money back... A real STILL!

Oliver W. gave it a9:
There could have been more puzzles and the story should have been longer, but sill a very enjoyable experience. Took me 7 hours to finish.

Eldon gave it a6:
Decent adventure, good story, and Ashley's über-cute but being able to complete the game in just four hours with little to none replay value doesn't warrant high marks. Great as long as it lasts but one afternoon for $40 is definitely a disappointment.

Raya gave it a9:
A very good point and click adventure. Slickly presented with varied puzzles and makes full use of the DS's abilities. Some of the puzzles aren't very obvious to solve and have wacky solutions such as half closing the lid of the ds to make prints from the top screen to the page displayed on the bottom! Once you realize that you have to use the whole ds to solve some you really realize just how much thought went into this - it shows. Nintendo again has to show other developers the way to go let's hope the likes of Ubisoft and EA actually try and follow this lead rather than the poor quality rushed games they are releasing at the moment.

Azrael S. gave it a10:
I vote this game with a 10, because here in germany it´s the not only the best adventure, but the very best game for the DS in whole germany (where i live). this game is very fantastic, buy it...NOW! Nice Greetings from Germany, Azrael

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