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I love spoofs, but good spoofs are hard to find. I love video games too but, although there’re certainly many good ones, it’s hard to find one I really like. Spoof video games (which, it has to be said, are different from video game spoofs) are even harder to find, much less good ones. Disgaea DS, though, is one of those rare finds.

Adapted almost directly from the most excellent Disgaea: Hour Of Darkness for the PS2 (which was also adapted into Disgaea: on the PSP), Disgaea DS is, thanks to a few certain extras, arguably the definitive version of a spoof about strategy RPGs (roleplaying games) and roleplaying games that is perhaps, ironically, one of the best in the genre.

Due to its satrical nature, Disgaea’s story is lighthearted and the game doesn’t take itself too seriously at any point in time. Prince Laharl, heir to the throne of the underworld, wakes up after a two year nap to find his father long gone and that he has to fight his way back to the throne.

While the story might seem pretty standard, it has all the prerequisite twists and turns that marks a RPG while having a bevy of unbelievably likeable characters (ranging from the punky back-stabbing assistant Etna to her crew of decidedly awesome penguin warriors) and a deeply humorous script that pokes fun at everything from the characters (especially when they’re stereotyped) to the game itself to the genre.

While the witty story and delivery already sets it apart from its brothers in the genre (most of which are overwrought exercises in drama or have reed-thin cliche plotlines that any five year old could write), the gameplay, which is after all the focal point of any strategy RPG, is what truly makes the game stand out.

To cut it short, if you’ve played any SRPG before (Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre etc.), you’d know what to expect. Whlie the gameplay might not be as immediately accessible as, say, Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (which is the premiere SRPG on a system that has a pretty decent range of these games) and the learning curve is slightly steep at the beginning thanks to the overwhelming load of options a gamer is presented with, the basic square-grid chess-like battling system should be pretty easy to pick up, even for beginners.

The standard SRPG battling elements are solid in this game but what makes it stand out amongst the rest is the addition of geo panels and colouring. Basically, geo panels are objects on the battlefield that add certain effects (at times good, at others terrible) and, if destroyed when on a grid that is of a different colour, sends a damage wave every grid of that same colour on the whole map. Manipulating, moving and destroying the geo panels is an initially daunting and overwhelming prospect that nevertheless adds an immense amount of strategic value to experienced gamers.

In terms of production values the game is pretty top par. While it might not have the beautiful 2D art of FFTA2 and the visuals might not stand up to the PS2 and PSP versions (naturally), the semi-3D graphic style of the game is definitely pleasing to the eye and some of the flashier spells and effects are decidedly breath-taking. The score and special effects, while not outstanding, are not distracting and at times even kooky in a cool way.

If all that the multiple hours of gameplay are not enough (the main story alone is worth up to about 40 hours of solid gaming), the game also throws in several extras that are exclusive to the DS version.

A side-splitting running commentary is kept up by a prinny (one of the fighting penguins) for the whole game, extra characters are open for unlocking, there’s a Dark Assembly where you can petition for better items and stuff (and in case of failure, get it by force) and, in case you still want more, every single item in the game has an item world, which is a series of randomised battlefields that get increasingly more difficult but which upon successful completion gives more items, experience and make the item itself more powerful.

From start to finish, Disgaea DS is a fun-filled, challenging strategy gem that, despite not having the immense visual polish of FFTA2, serves up a crap load of unbelievably indepth gameplay (even more so than the above-mentioned) and laughs too.

Definitely a must for any SRPG fan, DS owner or even gamer in general.