Dolphin Island sets you upon a tropical island where you and your sibling are quickly assigned to general park caretaking. After a few introductory missions you can choose to play as either the brother or the sister.

There is a lot of story presented at each mission, which can be skipped if so desired.

Each mission usually adds another animal to care for, so your zoo fills up quickly.

There are three save slots on the game card, so it is experimentation and family friendly. The game automatically saves at the beginning of a new mission and there is no manual way of saving. However, the missions are quite short, so this isn't a problem.

The health status and other attributes of the animals in your park constantly degrade, making for a less relaxing experience, but plenty of opportunity for raking up points through mini games.

Unfortunately, control issues make some of the mini games less predictable and less enjoyable than they should be. This is most noticeable in the medication task. You have to touch the medicinal ingredients as they flash, but many times you are marked as doing it incorrectly, even when you clearly touch at the right place at the right time. This occurs even after calibrating the DS touch screen.

Overall, Dolphin Island presents an interesting linear storyline. Some degree of customisation is available by choosing optional additional animals for your park later on. Caring for the animals has an element of futility associated with it, since their status is continually degrading. The dolphin training mini game is a real highlight, but others are brought down by control issues. If you are considering Dolphin Island, you might want to look at “My Pet Dolphin” before you make a purchasing decision.