As far as your sword goes, Eragon is your standard slapdash tap-a-thon, though weapons and magic can be leveled up. And while mechanically nothing the DS hasn't seen before, the spells are about the best thing Eragon has going. You draw the symbol of the magic you want to use, and a flick of the wrist sends it in the direction of your liking. Unfortunately, there are only a few kinds of enemy in the game and their weaknesses are extremely exploitable.

Those looking to mount a winged reptile with fire in its belly and take to the skies will be disappointed to see all interaction with your dragon reduced to drawing right angles on the touch screen, or briefly guiding her through a series of rings. Neither activity is awful (both attainable as mini-games from the main menu), but where's the dragon fire? At the end of the game, that's where, and even then it's bit anticlimactic.