In Stitch Jam for Nintendo DS, your character Stitch walks or flies through different environments from left to right automatically, and it’s up to you to tap the screen time, or draw a line upward or downward in time with the music in order to make him react appropriately to different obstacles onscreen.  The game also features option to use buttons and directional arrows only for control, leaving the stylus comfortably stowed away.

The backstory for the game left us a little confused, but basically Stitch is on a quest to stop his rival Dr. Hamsterviel, and must progress through various different levels.  The graphics and animations are very cute, with Stitch doing things like cruising through the beach, blasting ice off a town that’s been frozen, or climbing along the outside of a spaceship.

The tapping controls are easy, but the triggered events that require an upward or downward use of the stylus can sometimes be frustrating, because you feel like you’ve done what the game asked and still aren’t sure whether or not you did.

Stitch Jam is a single player game, without much chance for cooperative play on only one DS, although the game does provide the option to use a second DS to play together.  We couldn’t really figure out a good way to play together, since each level requires careful concentration and precise-timing for success.

Although toddlers will enjoy the game’s cute characters and entertaining animations, they probably won’t yet possess the rhythm and quick reflexes necessary for success.  Older kids should get at least a week’s worth of fun out of this one before they master all the levels and look to move onto the next game, while Tweens may find this one to be a bit too easy.