The audio content in the game is extensive, briefings and chatting between pilots is all voiced, and the words "lock-on" and "warning" will come out of the DS speakers regularly. Cut-scenes between missions are well animated and help to flesh out the story, or at least cover the basics for those who don't understand Japanese. There is, of course, a movie player and a sound-test mode which are accessible from the main menu, although some content is locked to begin with.

The aircraft models in Jet Impulse are based on real planes, but have been given different names along the lines of XYZ123. Aside from the blocky textures, they look good, given the power of the DS. As might be expected, different aircraft have different specifications and can be equipped with different weapons. The more missions successfully completed, the more aircraft and weapons are unlocked. There are also three spots available for downloadable aircraft, of which there are four available. Each aircraft can carry three weapons: the standard gun, standard missiles and one from the user-selectable missiles or bombs. These weapons make little difference when playing the normal difficulty as the player has an infinite supply of the standard missiles.

There are four control settings based on two different configurations: standard and advanced. Advanced is for a better simulator feeling with pitch and yaw controls. Standard is perfect for everyone. Mapped to the buttons are the accelerate (press and hold for afterburners), brake (press twice and hold for emergency brakes), standard gun, change target, change secondary weapon, fire secondary weapon, change view point. Secondary weapons can also be selected on the touch screen, as can the map zoom-factor and toggling the subtitles on/off. Thankfully, the touch screen is not used for the basic controls, as that would have taken away from the controllability of the game. Using the D-pad and buttons works really well and even after a long break the player can adjust very easily to them.

Playing the game is easy enough. Choose a target, keep it on screen, wait until it's in range and fire a missile or bomb. In the earlier stages this is quite easy. As the player progresses, the enemies get smarter and can evade missiles better. They also get more adept at returning fire, to the point where lock-on warnings can't just be shrugged off as empty threats. Speed up, slow down, lock-on, get in range, shoot. Come about and repeat until the enemy are all gone. That's all this game is; there is nothing ground-breaking here. The most unusual and interesting things in this game are the downloadable aircraft and the end-of-game boss. But if the player doesn't expect this to be the DS's "bestest best game ever" then they can get on with playing and challenging the harder missions.

Missions to be undertaken in the game vary slightly, naturally they all revolve around blowing something up. In some missions, the player must protect an ally from attack. Sometimes there are bridges that must be destroyed. There are even battles against large, boss-like craft. Against these bosses the collision detection is not very reliable. If the player is turning and there seems to be nothing in their periphery, on occasion they will still blow up after hitting the craft they couldn't see. When this is at the end of a long, hard, multi-stage mission and the enemy is almost destroyed, it is infuriating. This problem only affects bosses, the player can skim the surface of the sea to within metres with no problems, and the same for the ground.

At the end of each mission, the player's performance is evaluated and they are awarded 'Ace Points', which are used to enable unlocked aircraft and weapons to be used, and given a rank from 'F' to 'SSS'. Ace points can also be earned in the 'free play' mode, where players can try 'survival' – wave after wave of enemies must be destroyed within a time limit – "darts bomb", where they have to bomb the centre of the targets to earn the highest score, and "balloon fight", in which the player must manoeuvre around a set path and burst all the balloons. These mini-games are fun for a while but won't hold the average gamer's interest for long.

The main campaign can be finished in under 4 hours on normal mode. The explanation of what to do after finishing the normal mode is not in the game, nor in the manual. Only by restarting and erasing the story-mode data can the player move onto hard, expert or ace modes. The ace points that have been awarded and the equipment that has been unlocked is carried over, so that more can be unlocked. It is impossible to unlock all aircraft by just playing the normal difficulty.

As with many games, the unlocking of all aircraft, weapons, etc., is the ultimate goal and one that will keep the player busy for a long time. The simple gameplay mechanics mean that everyone can enjoy this, even if they only play the darts bomb mini-game over and over again. Overall, Jet Impulse is enjoyable, the harder difficulties offer a greater challenge, and the story is easy enough to follow with the video clips. Just don't crash into any bosses!