Bermuda Triangle: Saving the Coral provides a mildly interesting diversion for the budget-minded DS gamer. The game uses crystal tropical seas and colorful coral reefs as the setting for a familiar “match three” mechanic.

After a brief message on the importance of coral reefs, the player is introduced to the tools they can use to save the coral. Each level starts with a lower screen devoid of coral and a floating serenely atop the waves in the upper screen. Pods of various shapes and colores appear on the upper screen and the player has to decide exactly where to drop them. When three identical pods are lined up together, they burst in a shower of golden sparks and drift to the ocean floor where they cause the coral to grow. Dropping unmatched pods results in a penalty; specifically, more pods float up from the ocean floor. As new pods drop from the top, they push the older pods down. If the mass of floating pods reaches the ocean floor un-popped the level is over. On the other hand, players who fill the bottom with coral before filling it with pods win the level and get to move to a new level.

The game has the potential to become frustrating quickly, but in keeping with the Caribbean theme the play is laid back and there’s no real time pressure. Instead, the developers chose to ratchet up the stress by introducing various aquatic hazards such as sea snails, squid, octopi, sharks and the terrifying sea bubbles. Each will interfere with the player’s success by disrupting the coral, covering up the pods, or threatening the boat. Ever benevolent, the game designers also provided special objects to defeat (or at least mitigate) most of these hazards.

The story mode challenges players to save the seas around four different islands and is just hard enough to provide a pleasant diversion. Players who want a slightly more challenging experience can play the timed mode (3 minutes plus an additional minute for every 100 points scored) or the endless mode that increases difficulty as the game progresses.

The graphics are colorful, the sounds are appropriate and there’s nothing objectionable in the game play. At a list price of just $14.99 Bermuda Triangle: Saving the Coral isn’t a decent entry in the casual game catalog for the DS and might be just the thing to while away the hours on a family road trip.