Games that give your gray matter a workout

Don't panic, more puzzles on the way
If "Professor Layton" goes old-school on the puzzling action, "Downstream Panic" offers up a more modern take on the puzzling genre.

This fishy title for Sony's handheld PSP thrusts players into a colorful world where a tornado has whisked the aquatic life up into the atmosphere and trapped them there. Your job: Help the stranded critters get back to safe waters below.

To do so, you must manipulate the flow of water and the landscape it washes over to get this adorable school of fish flowing downstream past various barriers, hazards and predators.

Each level starts with your fish caught in a water bubble or two at the top of the screen. Once you hit start, the bubbles open and the water and the fish begin rushing toward the bottom of the screen, tumbling ever downward through the bright landscape.

To keep the water going in the right direction, you might use a bomb to blast a hole in a wall that blocks the way or you might grow a plant to shift the fish down a new path away from danger. To keep your fish safe, you can use a harpoon to kill a ravenous shark lurking in a pool.

Atari This bright and bubbly game hides a marvelously unique and deep puzzle game that will have you hooked in no time.

As each level is presented to you, you're given only a certain number of tools to use. And you must use these tools wisely or the water runs the wrong direction and your fish get washed straight into the jaws of the giant predators lying in wait at the bottom of the screen.

That means planning is a must. Before you hit the Start button, you have a chance to scroll around the level, scoping out the lay of the land and laying your plans. Of course, you know what they say about the best laid plans? Often times it takes a couple of tries before you figure out exactly how to play the hand of tools you've been dealt and manipulate the landscape in a way that ensures the requisite number of fish survive.

Meanwhile, once you set the fish flowing at the top of the screen, timing is key. For example, you may have to let enough water out of one area so that the fish don't spill over a ledge to their deaths while, at the same time, you make sure you don't allow too much water to spill into another area where it might unleash a hungry shark on your fishy friends.

As the game progresses, the tools at your disposal grow in number and variety while the landscape, hazards and environmental elements change. You'll have to save your fish from moray eel, orcas and seagull. You'll be able to carefully manage the speed of the water flow by turning shell-shaped valves. You'll be able to use clouds to catch and move your fish. And you'll deploy attractors to help keep your fish in an area you need them to stay. 

Though the uber-cute music gets a tad repetitive, there's nothing quite so satisfying as seeing your little fish make their way home safe and sound as you triumph over some cleverly-designed levels.

All in all, "Downstream Panic's" bright and bubbly surface hides a marvelously unique and deep puzzle game that will keep you wanting to see what each new level has to throw at you and your Piscean pals.

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