about two weeks ago i got my DS lite and immediately started playing through the games i already own. i started off with Trauma Center and Castlevania with a little Tetris DS on the side. Trauma Center gets rather frustrating at times, so i began focusing on Castlevania quite a bit more. The other day i beat it, and today i finished going through it a second time. I'm somewhat burnt out on it now, so i decided to start playing Phoenix Wright and give Castlevania a rest.
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Phoenix Wright is a text-adventure based game where you have two settings. One setting is in the court room, and the other is outside of the court room.

When you're in the court room, the prosecution lays out their case and brings witnesses to the stand. Dialogue is spoken back and forth, usually comical ^_^. The gameplay of the court room is when you cross-examine the witness on the stand.

Each part of the witness testimony you can 'Press', as in, press the witness to clearly state what they mean by what they say, OR you can 'Present', as in, present evidence to teh court that shows a clear contradiction in the witness testimony. Usually the witness will restate their testimony so you'll have to find flaws in that. It keeps going until you clearly show they're lying. (so far, anyways)

The entire 1st chapter of Phoenix Wright is in the court; however, the second chapter features the other part of the gameplay.

Outside of court, the gameplay is exactly the same as Shadowgate, Deja Vu, and, of course, Snatcher ^_^. Look, Move, See, Do.. or in other words, Talk, Move, Examine, Present for Phoenix Wright. You move around locations you know of talking to people, searching for clues and gathering evidence for you case.
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The stylus is all you need when playing Phoenix Wright. Click, click, click. Although, instead the stylus, you can use the directional pad, buttons, and microphone. Holding down the Y button will activate the mic when appropriate. Instead of clicking on 'Present' during the court proceeding, you yell out OBJECTION or 'take that' to show the contradictions in the witnesses testimony.
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I think i read somewhere that Phoenix Wright has only 5 chapters. And after playing for about 3 1/2 hours, i've completed 2 of them. Chapter 1 only took about a 1/2 hour though. Chapter 2 was very involved.
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The gameplay is somewhat basic, but the story and the characters MAKE this game. The story moves rather quickly, and (even though it's sort of linear) you feel like you have control over the story. I think there were two parts that could have gone differently so far, but didn't affect the overall outcome.

It's pretty funny too. When any character is caught in a lie, or surprised, they have such grim animations for the facial expressions. It's very Anime-esq. Megaton told me that there were alot of Phoenix Wright doujinshi out there, and i can totally see why.
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Honestly ... this game is fantastic. widely entertaining, funny, intuitive. definately a must PLAY for any gamer.

I mentioned to Tony that Snatcher or Policenauts would make a perfect transition to the DS. Looks like Capcom beat them there with a completely new game instead ^_^. Honestly, i think Snatcher has been ported to death, but i'd love to see Policenauts make it stateside for once. A DS port might be the answer. even though Policenauts is almost 10 years old.. -_-;;

man.. the DS has some amazing games. Trauma Center, Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow, Phoenix Wright, Tetris DS.. and i haven't even touched Sonic Rush to its full extent. A++