The Professor Layton games have been a welcome addition to the Nintendo DS library ever since the first title. Now with a handful of games on the system, how is the good professor doing this time around? Fear not, Lost Future retains the same great story telling and compelling puzzles as in previous games.

The game begins with Luke and Layton fussing over a letter; this letter has allegedly been sent from the future from Luke himself. Soon after, a steam-powered time machine malfunctions, the Prime Minister of Britain disappears, and you have a mystery on your hands that needs solving. Seeing as the story is the key component in the game, I won’t go into it too deeply, but be assured it’s a great yarn.

There are 165 puzzles this time around. The classic puzzles you’ve seen from years gone by are included; sliding puzzles, mazes and "fitting crap into a box"-type puzzles are all included. Out of context these puzzles might appear to be a little lame but in the context of the game you’ll barely notice it.

Not all the puzzles need to be completed to finish the story; most of them are nice diversions but like all Layton games past, solving just the main puzzles unlocks the story and the mystery at hand. While there are no time limits on the puzzles, the Picarat system is back. Each puzzle is worth a certain number of Picarats. Complete the puzzles with no mistakes and you’ll be rewarded with the entire Picarat collection; the more mistakes you make, the fewer Picarats you get. Perhaps I can mention Picarats again, Picarats. Though if you’re not as good at the puzzles as some others, the hint system is also back again. The hints can be purchased with hint coins that are hidden around scenes and locations in the game. Some of the hints though are truly useless; you will be forgiven if you have to look up a walkthrough for some puzzles. I know I did.

All puzzles you complete can be retried again through the puzzle index. This time around though if you don’t complete a puzzle or miss one, Granny Riddleton won’t be there as backup. Instead, a disgruntled Bee who has a grudge with Layton and Luke takes her place… for a short time at least. While Granny Riddleton doesn’t feature, her granddaughter does. This new character just doesn’t sit right with the entire game—she’s way too nice for her own good. You’ll need to look for these new characters in different time periods though, so no matter where or when you are, you can find them.

The other main part of the Layton games outside the story and the puzzles that progress you through it, are the different little "mini games" that Level 5 throw in. This time the Picture Book is one of the big new parts of the game. As you complete certain puzzles you’ll earn different stickers to place in the book. The more stickers you place in the book, the more parts of stories the Picture Book will reveal. The words around the blank spaces will give you hints as to what is happening and what needs to go where. However, you may end up just guessing as there are multiple combinations that seem possible, but only one correct one. There are three or four stories to complete in the picture book.

There are two other big new additions to the game, on being the Toy Car game. This game plays very similar to Chu Chu Rocket. You place tiles on the ground to alter the direction of the car to reach the goal. However the car must also collect parts on the way to the exit. Finally, Lost Future allows you to keep a pet bird which you can name. Luke can also converse with the bird along with other animals in the game. These include a cat and a rabbit that has escaped from a testing facility. Back to the bird though, there are specific bird puzzles in the game that are unlocked by completing the main puzzles from the story mode. The game is based on drawing lines on the screen between certain fixed points in order to create platforms for the bird to jump to and from. The goal is to get the bird, who cannot fly, to jump from one side of the screen to the other to deliver items to characters. The items will appear once you complete certain puzzles from that character. There is a time limit and a line limit so you cannot just endlessly draw lines—there is an element of skill. You can’t just draw and hope for the best, believe me, I’ve tried.