DS Games

[Duke]

So, I'm starting this thread because I'd really like a list of great DS games. Even though I've had the system since a month after Launch, I recently realized how few quality games I've played on it. Don't get me wrong I've played the thing a ton and have around 15-18 games for it but most of those games aren't that great. I mean some of them I haven't touched since the first time I played them and others have absolutely zero re-play value. On the really quality side there's NSMB, and Castlevania. Then, there is the class of games like Yoshi's Island DS (which is okay to good. I mean Yoshi's Island DS is not great by any means but it's better than most of the other crap that's come out on the DS). And then there are games like Yoshi: Touch and Go and Nintendogs, which were fun for like a few hours but then became boring at best. And then there is just crap, like Wario Ware Touched. I stil can't believe I payed for price ($35) for it. The game doesn't even deserve the title Wario Ware. I got over 100 levels on several of the minigames simply be rubbing the stylus on the screen while not even looking at it. And it kind of made me not want to get the new one for the Wii. And then there is the 3rd party crap, that's not even as high quality as Wario Ware Touched. So, I guess I'm asking did I miss all the good games or did I just have this false idea that the DS was an absolutely amazing handheld system and now I'm finally realizing it isn't. Not that the PSP or GBA are fairing that much better in terms of quality games. Maybe I just expect to much from portables now or maybe the handheld gaming market just isn't what it used to be.

[Barkworm]

Oh, I completely agree. I bought a total of ten games for DS and sold half of them again. To make things worse, I didn't even enjoy the uber-hyped NSMB (and I tried to like it, I really did). The games I still have here are Castlevania DS (which is fantastic), Sonic (also pretty good), Mario & Luigi 2 (good but nowhere as good as the first one) and Meteos (excellent). I've just bought "Kirby: Canvas Curse" which seems really good so far.
For me the DS was worth its money though since I didn't own a GBA and I'm sure "Phantom Hourglass" will be great. What's bothering me is that Nintendo seems to focus more and more on the "non-gamer" crowd instead of developing more games for people like us. We can't even blame them, the sales of "Brain Age" and stuff like that are mind-blowing.

[Duke]

I have Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. I guess I'd put that in the same category as Yoshi's Island DS. I mean I enjoyed both games but definitely wouldn't consider either great and neither worthy of their respective originals.

[Mecha Cow]

Advance Wars and Mario Kart are both solid purchases. There's also another Castlevania coming up, or it might even already be out if you live in the US.

Oh, and of course there is Tingle on the horizon, and I doubt you will ever need to play another video game once that comes out.

[Peanut]

It might be easier to suggest games if we knew which ones you already have. Anyways, three words. Elite. Beat. Agents. Amazing game. I'll try and suggest some of games that seem to get passed over.

Contact
Mario vs Donkey Kong 2
Trauma Center
Cooking Mama
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Sequel set to be released very soon)
Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime
Nanostray
Pac-Pix
The Rub Rabbits


For the most part, though, I agree with you. The DS seemed like it was amazing there for awhile, but then it just kind of fell off. Like you said, most of the stuff you play you'll only play once and move on from.

[ThirdMarioBro]

For me the DS was worth its money though since I didn't own a GBA and I'm sure "Phantom Hourglass" will be great. What's bothering me is that Nintendo seems to focus more and more on the "non-gamer" crowd instead of developing more games for people like us. We can't even blame them, the sales of "Brain Age" and stuff like that are mind-blowing.

I'm really getting paranoid about that. I'm scared Wii will wind up like that with two games a year for us, and a bunch of non-gamer games to fill the rest of the list. I mean, hell, where is the Kirby game even? We'll see I guess. Anyway, I own a truckload of DS games. Here is my collection.

Metroid Prime Pinball (fun diversion)
Metroid Prime Hunters (sh*t)
Wario Ware Touched (not made by Intelligent Systems. so-so)
Advance Wars Dual Strike (excellent)
Mario Kart DS (kickass)
Sonic Rush (I didn't like it)
Animal Crossing WW (fu*king amazing)
Mario & Luigi - Partners in Time (inferior to original, but worth many good laughs)
Kirby Canvas Curse - Surprisingly fun
Meteos - Terrific game. No Tetris Attack, but still great
Pac n' Roll - Bleh
Feel the Magic - Fun for an LSD trip launch title, not much else.
Pac Pix - Bloody mini-game. no thanks.
Super Mario 64 DS - Bought it for new levels. Like the original better, but still good.
Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow - Contender for Castlevania throne
Star Fox Command - Great game, horrible art, good music, flawed story. Fun trip.
Polarium - Simplistic, but remarkably hard to beat puzzler
Yoshi's Touch and Go - Fun little arcade style game.
Super Princess Peach - A little surprise out of nowhere that, though easy, was a total blast.
Tetris DS - Bought it for the online, and was very pleased with it's tight engine.
New Super Mario Bros. - Everything I wanted from a new 2D Mario game, with the exception of Bowser Jr. I hate that bastard. Koopalings for the win.
Mario Hoops 3-on-3 - MUCH more fun than I thought. Amazing soundtrack too.
Mario vs. DK2 - A hell of a lot better than the original, with great gameplay, and a quality style with Mario and the monkey fighting over their hooker.
Brain Age - It is very useful, but could be the eventual death of my source of other games. Otherwise, a very fun "edutainment" title.
Yoshi's Island DS - Bad art, and 50/50 music, combined with kickass gameplay. Flawed but fun.
Kirby Squeak Squad - Same as the other two, but a hell of a lot better than both. Music suffers from the absence of Jun Ishikawa, and HAL's involvement would have made it better. Get off your ass HAL and give me my Wii game.


Overall, not bad, not steller, but definately better than the damned GameCube. I'm still livid they canned the new 2D Metroid because of Hunters (again, sh*t) and I wish that Wario Ware had been an IS title, because it suffered. Don't worry about the one for Wii next week. That sucker is from the same team that brought you the original.

[Jon]

Well, I have just over a dozen DS games so far. Some have been good, others okay.

Ones I have are--

Brain Age
Big Brain Academy
Brain Boost (both Gamma and Beta versions)
Tetris DS
Pokemon Trozei!
New Super Mario Bros.
Mario Kart DS
TMNT 3
Cartoon Network Racing
Super Mario 64 DS
Crash Boom Bang
Yoshi's Island DS

Of the brain-training group, I like Big Brain Academy most. And the various other games are nice. From Pokemon Trozei's Tetris-style ways, to the remake of Super Mario 64, to the racing types. Some good stuff.

[Duke]

Hmm...I guess maybe i'm just over critical. Because I actually have a lot of the games mentioned. Well, I guess maybe my whole point is that the DS seems to almost completely cater to non-gamers and completely ignore traditional gamers.

Trauma Center
Cooking Mama
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Sequel set to be released very soon)Those games are great but my 26 year old non-gamer sister owns them. Their fun but it's games like this that are ruining what should be getting made.

Like I said maybe I'm just over critical.

[Peanut]

Trauma Center and Phoenix Wright are not casual games. Trauma Center in particular is very very difficult and would rip a casual gamer apart. I don't know what kind of games you expect from it though, after reading that. Basically everything you can think of is available on the DS, so is there some kind of as-of-yet uncreated genre you think portable gaming should explore?

Pac Pix - Bloody mini-game. no thanks.
Obviously another case of you not even playing the game. It goes so far beyond the initial premise. The later stages in particular are insanely clever. If you want to talk sh*tty mini-games and tech-demo's, talk about Yoshi's Touch and Go. That's a mini-game.

[Duke]

I don't know...I guess I'm looking for more classic gameboy style platformers. I guess I've just seen the trend of platformers really start to disappear in the gaming industry and it seemed like the GBA was the only place to really find them anymore. And I know must of the advance platformers were ports of SNES classics but at least that is something. I just don't feel like the DS has that with the exception of NSMB and I'm actually kind of in the same boat with Barkworm on that one. I loved the game but just expected more from it.

I don't know maybe I just need to take a break from gaming in general and try to deal with some other things in my life right now. I really think these other factors are starting to play not only on my feelings towards videogames but towards everything else too. I actually stopped playing videogames for about a 3 month period last year when I was dealing with some issues. And when I finally returned to them, I truly found the childlike joy and happiness in my gaming experiences that I used to have. But that joy and excitement has worn off again and just seem to critical towards everything. Heck, I wasn't even really enjoying the new Zelda and actually stopped playing it because I felt so critical towards it. Also, one of the other issues I was dealing with last year seemed to find its way back into my life even though I truly thought I'd resolved it for good months ago. I really think I need to focus on dealing with that aspect of my life and maybe the other ones will fall into place as well. Actually as I find myself typing this, I think it sounds like exactly what I need to do right now. Hopefully, I see you guys back here in a few months but right now I need to take a break from both my internet and gaming life to focus on my real life. Peace.

[Peanut]

Wow. That totally sucks, man. Don't be gone for too long. You're like the only person on here who ever agrees with me. :lol:

[Brodie]

I bought a bunch, and sold a bundle back. Heres what I got and sold back:

New Super Mario Bros: still own. 10 out of 10.
Mario 64: 10 out of 10
Mario vs Donkey Kong: Sold, 7 Out of 10
Sonic Rush: 5 out of 10
Spider-Man 2 : SOLD, 3 out of 10

[LogicDonny]

Elite beat agents and castlevania POR were the last 2 big ds games that excited me.. Now so far on the list, nothing new and exciting.. I got the psp to keep me busy till the new zelda comes out..

I own the ds lite so I have it with me whenever I play online with castlevania with my friend.

[Barkworm]

Take care, Duke. I hope everything goes well.

[Shredder]

I guess it also depends on what kind of games you like to play. If you like adventure/mystery games, try Trace Memory (short but fun, makes good use of the unique features of the DS), Touch Detective (also short, but unique and fun), Lost in Blue (sequel coming soon), or the upcoming Hotel Dusk. Personally, I think the DS is perfect for these types of games.

A few of the other DS games I like/have played:
-the Tony Hawk games (American Sk8land and Downhill Jam)
-NSMB
-Resident Evil DS
-Nintendogs
-Yoshi's Island DS (even if I'm the only one :P)
-Sonic Rush
-Mario 64 DS
-Trauma Center
-Point Blank
-Clubhouse Games
-Kirby DS
-Puyo Pop
-Some of the Brain games (best in small doses)

The only complaint I have about the DS is that some of the games are pretty short. Still, it's one of my favorite systems and I'm looking forward to future games for it. To address the original post, I hope you don't give up on the DS. I think there there ARE good games on the system, but you may have to hunt around a little to find some of the more under-appreciated games. Let me know if you'd like some recommendations.

[Peanut]

or the upcoming Hotel Dusk.

Word on the street is that game is sh*t hot. I'm actually kind of excited for it.

[Mecha Cow]

Is that the game with that whole black-and-white film noir style going on? It looks cool, though of course I have no idea when it will be out.

[Barkworm]

Isn't that game being developed by CING?

[Shredder]

Yes, Hotel Dusk is by Cing (the same company that made Trace Memory). This has been one of my most anticipated games ever since I heard about it several months back. I have it pre-ordered and it should be out January 22. It looks incredible, check out some of the screenshots: http://www.gamespot.com/ds/adventure/hotelduskroom215/screenindex.html

I like how it seems to have a really unique visual style, plus you hold the DS vertically like a book while playing, which as far as I know is a first for the system. The game also makes use of the touch screen and other features of the DS itself, much like Trace Memory. I haven't heard any reviews yet, but everything sounds good so far. I'll let you guys know as soon as I get it!

[LogicDonny]

Yes, Hotel Dusk is by Cing (the same company that made Trace Memory). This has been one of my most anticipated games ever since I heard about it several months back. I have it pre-ordered and it should be out January 22. It looks incredible, check out some of the screenshots: http://www.gamespot.com/ds/adventure/hotelduskroom215/screenindex.html

I like how it seems to have a really unique visual style, plus you hold the DS vertically like a book while playing, which as far as I know is a first for the system. The game also makes use of the touch screen and other features of the DS itself, much like Trace Memory. I haven't heard any reviews yet, but everything sounds good so far. I'll let you guys know as soon as I get it!

It will probably be short and sweet..