Surprisingly, there have been very few real time strategy games on the DS. With its two screens and touch controls, it always seemed like RTS games would find a perfect home on Nintendo’s handheld, but for some reason only the occasional tactics game and the recent onslaught of Tower Defense titles have satiated strategy fans’ hunger. Maybe this RTS DS thing can work, however, as Tecmo’s latest, the cartoony and kiddy-looking Robocalypse, is one of the best strategy titles on the DS to date.

Right away, it’s obvious that Robocalypse isn’t like the other kids in class. While plenty of strategy games on the DS have opted to take the humorous road over the serious one, this takes it a step further into the bizarre. That’s no surprise, given the fact that the game’s writing and story were penned by two legendary cartoon writers: Jay Lender (SpongeBob SquarePants) and Micah Wright (Angry Beavers). The often surreal, sometimes crazy humor of both Nickelodeon classics is present in the game, and gives it a very strong foundation to build upon.

How off-the-wall is the story? The game revolves around robots declaring war on humanity. Not just any robots, though – the robots which had been built in the super secret robotics factory which also made intelligent toasters. After a snafu, the robots are granted intelligence and freedom, and to combat them the only solution is to grab a group of visiting World War II vets, copy their personalities, and input them into a new batch of robots.

It’s those robots who are the true stars of the game. Each of them is a hero unit, meaning they’re far better than the average robot. The various heroes have unique abilities, personalities, and strategies making each one completely different from the other. Of course, their personalities come from the grizzled vets, so expect a lot of humorous side effects of that choice.

Controlling the robots is Myron Mako, the lovable and extremely nerdy toaster logic programmer drafted by the factory’s boss to quell the invasion before society finds out he’s responsible. It’s through Myron that you, the player, act and take control of the events in the game.

By linking up to a satellite and the robots in the field, Myron is able to give orders telling them where to go, and when. That’s accomplished by setting “action flags” throughout the map. Flags can contain commands ranging from “move here” to “defend/patrol this area” and serve as the main form of strategy. Over time, action flags decay, which leads to your units wandering aimlessly around, or returning to your base. This requires keeping a vigilant eye on the action, to ensure you don’t let a key squad lose their focus during a crucial moment.

Throughout the game, you’ll have access to more than 10 distinct regular robo units, as well as the six World War II hero bots. In addition, there are over 20 unique weapons each with their own advantages and disadvantages. The nice mixture of units and weapons (as well as hero skills) adds a pleasant amount of strategy to a game which looks anything but deep at first glance.

Some units are better suited against others, some work better with certain heroic abilities, etc. As the game progresses, these nuances and differences – and knowing how they stack up against each other – becomes a necessity to fully clear the mission and the optional side missions. Most of the time you’ll be perfectly fine just pulling a StarCraft and bringing a big army to the critical objective point, but to fully clear each map you need to know what you’re doing, and what best to do it with.

Ultimately, what makes Robocalypse such a remarkable game is that no one expected it to be this good. I had an idea the writing would be solid given the talent behind it, but the game containing an actual campaign rife with challenging missions and memorable battles and characters? Amazing. Equally amazing is how well developer Vogster made the game work for both casual and hardcore strategists. I’ve yet to find an RTS game which can cater equally as well to both crowds, DS or not.

If you’re a fan of humorous writing, whacky characters, and fun RTS gameplay, then Robocalypse is a must-own. It may not look it, but it’s one of the best strategy games available for the Nintendo DS. Who woulda thunk it?

Questions or comments? We'd love to hear from you .