Originally I didn't plan on covering this game, but since I already have beaten two previous console Z & C games, I decided to end this console trilogy and figure out if this is the best console The Suite Life of Zack & Cody game, or a disappointing ending not worthy of any fanfare.

First, I wanted to know how this does this game stack up agains the first DS game, and if it has any improvements. And, I'm happy to report that this game is a huge improvement over its DS predecessor. The bullshit touch screen gimmicks have been significantly reduced, and the game now utilizes almost all the DS's buttons. During main game you'll only need the touch screen for some miscallenious actions, most of the time it'll be linking the two brothers, but there are a few context-specific actions such as pressing a button or entering a door. I think linking brothers should've used a select button which isn't used for anything from what I can tell, but it's still a big step-up from constant interruptions of Tipton Trouble. There are a few mini-games utilizing the touch screen, but they're a much better fit for a touch screen this time. You have a balancing mini-game, where you move with a D-pad while balancing a stack you're carrying with a touch screen. You have to pay attention to the surroundings while moving as you can smash into someone. This mini-game is similar to GBA's balancing mini-game, but longer and on a timer. Thankfully, the stack also counts as health, as touching someone or loosing balance will remove one item from the stack, and there are additional items to pick up. The first time I failed because I was waiting for too long, so you want to move as much as you can but still be careful. It can be stress-inducing and challenging, but manageable, and I like it for that. There's Air Hockey. Throughout the main story, there are 3 required rounds of this mini-game, and honestly it's not much fun against AI. It's so easy to accidently hit your own goal, and the AI is kinda cheating at times. Lastly, there's a whack-a-mole with ghosts. 'Nuff said.

As for the main game's gameplay, this is still a 2.5D platformer, and you control two brothers with unique abilities. This game now doesn't feel like a Lost Vikings-like, as both bros can now jump and the puzzle aspect has been reduced quite a bit, although Cody jumps lower. I mentioned the ability to link up brothers, which is a nice addition as well, you don't have to always control them individually and the other can follow you, although the AI isn't the smartest and can get stuck at places, breaking the link after some time. Also there are moments where you automatically break up the link, either because the brothers have to go their own ways or before a dangerous platforming section or stealth segment. Your AI companion can't take damage but still die in a pit or something like that, so you have to watch out. The platforming itself is kinda decent, though it can feel janky at times like how you can't always jump from sloped surfaces or clipping through platforms when you climb up a ledge, but I can't think of anything else that is wrong with platforming. The 2.5D perspective has been expanded, instead of simply jumping between planes, at designated sections you can walk into the background, though for the most part it's a left and right platforming affair. There's only one boss battle (if you don't count Air Hockey rounds as boss fights), and it's pretty great, not only is it accompanied with an epic final boss theme, but it makes a good use of brothers' abilities, and makes for a great conclusion for this game.

There are collectibles in the form of stars and bolts, health pickups and health upgrades that can be pretty helpful. As far as I can tell, collecting 50 stars refills health and doesn't do anything else. The bolts are the main collectible that is used for unlocking power-ups that are required to beat the game, and also needed for 100% completion. They can be in difficult to reach places, require some thinking or said power-ups to obtain more. If you are like me and try to collect as many as possible the first time you go through the level, you'll still have to go through previous levels to obtain more, which can be understandably annoying, unless the exploration or the level design is fun, I can do it on my own, like how I liked exploring on my own in LEGO Movie Videogame 2, which is why I had no issue with its requirements, but to be honest revisiting old levels in this game wasn't too bad, but again I can understand disliking this design decision. There's also one moment where a required upgrade was locked behind arcade tokens. You can find an arcade in the middle of the game at the carnival, and it consists of the two mini-games: Air Hockey and Wack-A-Ghost. This is the only bit of grinding that I didn't like. I would've liked more variety. As I said, Air Hockey isn't much fun against AI, and Wack-A-Ghost is the easiest way to earn tokens but also gets tiring.

I haven't mentioned how Zack and Cody are distinct with their unique abilities, have I? Zack is once again more of parkour, he jumps higher and can defeat some enemies and activate switches with his ball pitcher machine, throught the game you unlock the ability to run and run up some walls, wall-jump and break some walls while running and having the helmet equipped. The helmet is kinda baffling, because you have to put it on via touch screen, but it doesn't seem to affect anything other than giving the ability to break stuff, so why isn't it always automatically on (unlike other power-ups that aren't toggle-able) is beyond me. Cody can use vaccuum cleaner to suck some enemies such as ghosts and dust bunnies (that are actual bunnies made of dust), and can manipulate objects, particularly crates and boxes for puzzles and stuff. The metal finder can allow him to stick to metal platforms, but aside from that, sucking and blowing are pretty much the only things that he can do and can be enhanced. Overall, the selection of power-ups is solid and feels better than those obtained in either previous DS or GBA games.

Onto the visuals and audio, I think the graphics look decent. The modeling has been improved, and both brothers now look a little more grown up, though I wasn't a fan of drawn character portraits during dialogue the first time I saw them, and initially I thought I would've preferred renders of the actors, but I got used to them and they look fine. The 3D envoirements still look good. There are a few instances of lag which isn't great but for the most part the game is pretty consistent. The music is honestly pretty great, this time it isn't like GBA OST but slightly less compressed and with additional instruments, this time it's original compositions that sound high quality, matching the DS's sound capabilities. When I say the music is great, I really mean it, and I suggest seeking this game's OST on YouTube for listening.

Overall, I thought this game was actually pretty decent. It easily blows Tipton Trouble out of water and manages to be more enjoyable than Tipton Caper for the GBA (which was just alright). Of course this game isn't flawless, there are some janky moments, bolt requirements can annoy some people, but for what it is, it's not a bad time. To answer the question, yes, I do think this is the best Zack & Cody console game, and while it has its issues it's still a solid improvement over the previous games and a good but flawed game in its own right.