Nintendo DS
From /v/'s Recommended Games Wiki
Contents |
[edit] Nintendo DS
If you would like the games in alphabetical order, simply click the arrow next to Title. Same goes with everything else.
- /v/'s recommended emulator for the Nintendo DS is NO$GBA, you can find the latest version on 4chan's /rs/, and several more apps in this thread[1], including frontends, skins, and a program to fix the crackling audio in New Super Mario Bros and others.
[edit] The List
| Box Art | Title | Genre | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avalon Code | RPG | An action RPG where you manipulate the "code" of things to change their characteristics. Has very nice 3D graphics (for the DS, that is). |
| A Witch's Tale | RPG | You accidentally unleash one of the most evil witches into the world when you open a guarded book. OOOPS! So instead of being killed by the vampire guarding the book, he instead decides to go on adventures with you to save the world from her evil. Basic RPG combat, but the designs are cute. |
| Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island | RPG / Sim | You play an extremely lazy girl who's family decides to send her to an island to enter an alchemy contest. Lots of character interaction and a good system for alchemy and combat. |
| The Dark Spire | RPG | Extremely difficult first person dungeon crawler with the option to turn on wire frame graphics to make it like an early 80's RPG (awesomeness). Be prepared to do some grinding. Generally goes for around 10$ ($5, if you're lucky), comes with a nice cardboard case and a free soundtrack. |
 
| Digimon World: Dawn/Dusk | RPG | An alright Digimon game, with all the monster collecting as usual. If you're tired of Pokémon, give this a whirl. |
| Dragon Quest IV | RPG | A remake of the NES title with the improvements the Playstation version received. Also has a new script, but for some reason party chat was removed. You control different characters in different chapters, and they all band together in the last (which is longer than all the others combined.) |
| Dragon Quest V | RPG | Another Dragon Quest remake, this time of one that never left Japan. It features upgrades that the PS2 version received, plus several new ones, and a new translation (with party chat being restored). You can use monsters in your party (which can be decked out with gear in addition to learning skills and magic ). The excellent story will make you cry bitch tears. |
| Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker | RPG | Solid gameplay, very good 3D, and has online functions. Monsters' skill sets are customized similar to Dragon Quest 8's, which grants bonuses, magic, and abilities respective to the types of skill sets you level up. In addition, monsters can be equipped with weapons. A good intro to DQM, despite lacking some of depth of 1 and 2 (Whoever said this is arguably the weakest in the series never played Caravan Heart, which has more problems to deal with than any DQM.). |
| Etrian Odyssey 2 | RPG | Brutal first person dungeon crawling. Offers tons of character customization. Be prepared for FOE FOE FOE FOE FOE FOE FOE FOE FOE FOE FOE FOE |
| Final Fantasy IV DS | RPG | A fully 3D remake of the SNES game. Includes voice-acted cut scenes and a new ability system designed to offer a modicum of customization in the least-customizable FF game to date. Also of note is the increased difficulty over previous ports of the game. The best version of FF4 currently available. |
| Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time | RPG | The latest in the Crystal Chronicles spin-off series. The DS and Wii versions are the same (as in literally the same game with the exact same graphics), though the DS one is played online more than the Wii one on /v/. |
| Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days | RPG / Action | An extension of the Kingdom Hearts series on the Nintendo DS. Takes a few concepts from Chain of Memories, but makes them much more accessible and lets them flow better with the traditional KH formula. Also features a mission mode that lets you play with a number of different characters, including Donald, Goofy, and Mickey. Unsurprisingly, there are massive yaoi undertones. Hope you like sea salt ice cream. |
| Knights in the Nightmare | RPG | The third in the "Dept. heaven' saga (along with Riviera and Yggdra Union). Do you like Bullet hell, annoying voices, incredible music, RPGs and Atlus? Yes you do. A really good game with lots of story, lots of characters and a XBOX HUEG tutorial. |
| Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story | RPG | The third entry of the series, Bowser's Inside Story is arguably the best of the series. If you hated Partners in Time for its obnoxious babies, lack of Fawful, irritating controls, complete linearity, or just not being as good as Superstar Saga, you will love this game. Be warned pirates, this game sports mean anti-piracy. |
| Mega Man Star Force | RPG | The spiritual successor to Battle Network. While it's definitely not as good as Battle Network, it's still worth a play if you liked them. Stay the fuck away from 2 though - unless you're fucking masochist. 3 happens to be fucking amazing. |
| Phantasy Star Zero | RPG | Phantasy Star Online's awesome little brother. Has online play, which is a blast. |
 
| Pokémon Diamond and Pearl | RPG | The first Pokémon main games on Nintendo DS. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, taking place in a whole new Region, Sinnoh, introduce more than 100 new monsters. Using Nintendo DS's Wi-Fi, it makes them the first Pokémon games to feature online battles and trades. |
| Pokémon Platinum | RPG | Gotta catch 'em all, just like the three previous generations. The updated version of Diamond and Pearl, it includes a greater variety of Pokémon native to Sinnoh, graphical updates and a deeper storyline, as well as revamped gyms and battles brought up from 'snail' speed to 'turtle' speed. Includes tons of stuff to do over Wi-Fi and once the game is finished. |
| Soma Bringer | RPG | Diablo with animu characters. Very customizable with many options as to how to build your character. Full translation patch (aside from the glossary you'll never use), look on GBATemp. |
| Suikoden Tierkreis | RPG | A spin-off of the Suikoden series. You're able to recruit up to 108 members for your party. Looks pretty, but VA is sketchy (theprotagonistsoundslikehehad20cansofredbull). |
| Summon Night: Twin Age | RPG | Are you ready? Yeah! |
| Super Robot Taisen OG Saga | RPG | |
| Tales of Innocence | RPG | A full 3D Tales on DS, huzzah. Battle system is similar to Abyss's, leting you move around freely. Translation patch is currently in the works, ETA is summer 2009. check this |
| Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume | RPG | A spin-off of the Valkyrie Profile series in the form of an SRPG with the usual gameplay integrated in. Not as great as the originals, but still fun. It also has an original storyline where you aren't necessarily the good guy. |
| The World Ends with You | RPG | Using a rather daunting dual-screen battle system, this action-RPG manages to be appeal to the trendy and the weeaboo at the same time. Might want to get some screen protectors, because fighting will get scratches all over. Crisp 2D graphics and interesting music tracks draw you into the game, and the battles keep you there. Level up your 'pins' like Materia in FF7. Also includes stat modification through fashion accessories and food digestion. Even though that sounds horrible on paper, it works. |
| Xenosaga I + II | RPG | A retelling of the first two episodes of the Xenosaga trilogy for the PS2. The Episode II portion of the game, originally told through Jr.'s perspective, now focuses on Shion. Features new content and some parts of the script that were originally cut from Episode II. It should be noted the entire game uses the battle system from Episode I. It was only released in Nipponland, but an English translation patch is being worked on here. |
| Another Code (Trace Memory) | Point and Click Adventure | Another short, but fun adventure game. Usual point and click designs are present throwing in some puzzles to make use of the DS's features. |
| Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney | Point and Click Adventure | A revamp of the series, with a new protagonist. While considered one of the weakest in the series, it's still pretty rockin'. Includes DS exclusive features from PW1's extra case. |
| Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars | Point and Click Adventure | A port of the PC version. Features extra puzzles and some other gameplay changes. |
| Hotel Dusk: Room 215 | Point and Click Adventure | Explore the eerie Hotel Dusk while unraveling the mystery behind it. Fantastic atmosphere, great characters and a nice art style make this a must play. |
| Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney | Point and Click Adventure | The first in the series. Take control of Phoenix Wright while you object like the motherfucking fist of the north star. Has an extra case exclusive to the DS version. |
| Phoenix Wright: Justice For All | Point and Click Adventure | Second in the series, and while considered the weakest (along with Apollo Justice), the fuckwin final case makes up for it. Plus Franziska. |
| Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations | Point and Click Adventure | Phoenix's final game before he steps down, and it is one hell of a ride. The final case is mind blowing, and who can really hate the ever-manly Godot? |
| Theresia | Point and Click Adventure / Survival Horror | A first person survival horror game full of tons of traps and puzzles. The puzzles are a bit on the easy side, but the amount of traps that are placed just about everywhere levels it out. The way the game lays out the plot makes it very unpredictable, and the visuals are beautiful. |
| Time Hollow | Point and Click Adventure / Visual Novel | You receive a pen that lets you fuck with the past, including preventing accidents. However, just like every other "tamper with the past" plot, everything starts going haywire. A great game, but fairly short. |
| Dementium: The Ward | Survival Horror / FPS | A survival horror game for the Nintendo DS. Surprisingly scary if you wear headphones and don't mind mediocre graphics. |
| Moon | Survival Horror / FPS | Made by Renegade Kid, the devs who made Dementium, this game represents the team's second attempt at making a DS FPS/Horror game. This time, it's on the moon, hence the title. Responsive touch-screen controls, good looking environments and graphics, and fun boss fights. It's kind of on the short side, and never really TOO scary, but it's worth picking up. An improvement over Dementium. |
| Advance Wars: Days of Ruin | Strategy / TBS | Takes a large change of pace from the previous games, opting for a grimdark atmosphere and setting. Widely considered the most balanced Advance Wars game to date. |
| Advance Wars: Dual Strike | Strategy / TBS | Offers dual COs, which leads to insanely cheap and broken combinations. Despite this, it's still a great game with a fun Campaign and even more COs to use. |
| Blue Dragon Plus | Strategy / RPG / RTS | Very fun real-time strategy the employs the DS stylus, Blue Dragon Plus offers plenty of gameplay with a consistent difficulty curve that keeps you entertained. An actual sequel to Blue Dragon story-wise, so if you care about story, don't play this till' you finish the first. Has a bad reputation critically, but it's actually good, so fuck the magazines. |
| Disgaea DS | Strategy / RPG | A port of the PS2 version. Offers less available units and not as much voice acting, but also includes a couple of bonus characters (Plenair being one). If you can't get the PSP version, this is acceptable. |
| Final Fantasy Tactics A2 | Strategy / RPG | The sequel to the GBA game. It's more or less the same with more; laws can no longer make missions unwinnable, and jail has been removed, so the largest consequence of breaking the law is being unable to revive party members until the end of battle. Side-quests are much more varied and really carry the weight of the game through their stories. More classes, more races, more abilities. Shitload of content to keep you busy. Make sure not to stick to the main quest. |
| Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon | Strategy / RPG | A remake of the original Fire Emblem. You know, the one with Marth. Features online play and the usual Fire Emblem jazz. If you've played any Fire Emblem game before, you know exactly what to expect. One new addition is that you can change the characters' classes...which might sound like too much of a deviation from tradition, but it works well. |
| Front Mission DS | Strategy / RPG | A remake of the SNES title that never left Japan. Has a bunch of improvements and extras over the original, including secret missions and areas. |
| Hero's Saga Laevatein Tactics | Strategy / RPG | |
| Lock's Quest | Strategy / Defense | Fun little tower defense game, perfectly suited for the DS. Also has multiplayer. |
| Luminous Arc 2 | Strategy / RPG | Boasts some nice improvements over the original that make it worth playing. The first one has a great story but downgraded graphics and gameplay. |
| Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes | Strategy / RPG / Puzzle | Capybara, the guys who made Critter Crunch for the iPhone and PS3, took the Might & Magic franchise, gave it anime-inspired art, and SOMEHOW managed to properly mix a turn-based strategy RPG battle system with a match-three puzzle mechanic. AND IT TURNED OUT AWESOME. The battles take quite a bit of thinking to win, and the gameplay is probably some of the most original found in strategy RPGs. |
| Rondo of Swords | Strategy / RPG | A similar game to the Fire Emblem series, Rondo of Swords tells the story of the crown prince Serdic and his little band of allies as he tried to reclaim his lost homeland from the invading empire. The story is decent, with a few plot twists that can be seen coming a mile away. The combat is similar to Fire Emblem, but you attack by moving through an enemy unit, enabling you to attack multiple enemies and receive bonuses from allies. The battles are murderously difficult and ragequit inducing, forcing you to think about your tactics. |
| Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor | Strategy / RPG | Challenging game with over a hundred demons to recruit into your part. Tons of character customization, but boss battles are ragequit inducing. |
| Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow | Action / Adventure | The first DS Castlevania. Introduces the somewhat annoying animu style, but keeps the great Castlevania feeling. |
| Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia | Action / Adventure | Konami's latest Metroidvania. Ditches the dual character system from Portrait of Ruin for a glyph system. Challenging game that features a VERY hard level cap one mode. As expected, there's lots to do and explore. Play as a STUPID DISCIPLE! |
| Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin | Action / Adventure | This game is-- CHARLOTTE! JONATHAN! CHARLOTTE! JONATHAN! CHARLOTTE! JONATHAN! CHARLOTTE! JONATHAN! CHARLOTTE! JONATHAN! CHARLOTTE! JONATHAN! (Translation: not bad at all. Features a concentration on teamwork and team-up skills. You also have a lot of extra characters and a balls-to-the-wall hard mode. Protip: NEVER SELL ANYTHING unless you can get more of it.) |
| Chibi-Robo! Park Patrol | Action / Adventure | A very overlooked and underrated title, it's the sequel to the Gamecube sleeper hit. You basically grow flowers while fending off enemies. It's better than it sounds, trust me. |
| Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime | Action / Adventure | You play as a Slime from Dragon quest, trying to save other slimes who have been kidnapped. Great gameplay that has Zelda-like exploration and a number of boss battles take place in giant tanks, the story is cute, but average at best. |
| GTA: Chinatown Wars | Action / Adventure | Uses a top-down perspective similar to early GTA games. Looks pretty and plays extremely smoothly. Don't expect it to go easy on the story just because it's on the DS. |
| Legend of Zelda, The: Phantom Hourglass | Action / Adventure | The cel-shaded Link returns in new, pixely form on the DS. The controls work well and the graphics are good for the DS, but it isn't one of the better Zelda titles. If you can get past the forced stealth, unkillable enemies and arbitrary time limits in the dungeon you have to make your way through every time you beat a dungeon, you'll be able to enjoy it. Also it's a direct continuation to Wind Waker so, if you never played that one, brace for some spoilers. |
| Lunar Knights | Action / Adventure | A fun, somewhat clunky action game part of the Boktai series. Works off an in-game system rather than real solar sensors, |
| Metroid Prime Hunters | Action / Adventure | An FPS that handles fairly decently. Controls sort of need some getting used to, otherwise online multiplayer is pretty |
| Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword | Action / Adventure | Looks very nice, and the controls are spot on most of the time. You hold your DS sideways to play, which is always fun. |
| Resident Evil Deadly Silence | Action / Adventure | A port of the Playstation original. Features updated controls and a new game mode. |
| Freshly Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland | Action / Adventure | A quirky game where you take control of everyone's favorite little faggot, Tingle. Everything runs off rupees; combat, the goal of the game, everything. This was released in Japan and Europe, but not the U.S obviously because of general American up-tightness towards sex issues. |
| Legacy of Ys: Books I & II | Action / Adventure | The Ys series has a cult status here in America. Gameplay is similar to Zelda whereas story feels old-school Final Fantasy-ish. This package has both of the first two games, although, it's noted that the 3D backgrounds are a little ugly. People often recommend the Turbo CD version or the PSP ports over the DS ones. Does come with an extra area and boss, however. Also comes with fancy packaging and a soundtrack. |
| Bomberman 2 | Puzzle | Ditches the minigame system of the Touch! games in favour of a traditional Bomberman experience, which also has a ton of customization options (this affects your stats and skills). Also has online multiplayer, which is always a plus.This game was only released in Japan and Europe for some reason. |
| Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure | Puzzle / Platformer | A hybrid platformer/puzzler that fucking owns. The top screen is a standard platformer, while the bottom is a puzzle game that ties neatly to the gameplay. Plus, it features a stereotypical British man. Just icing on the cake. Bully! |
| Meteos | Puzzle | Sakurai's puzzle brainchild. Plays like Tetris Attack on crack, which is, not surprisingly, fucking awesome. |
| Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits | Puzzle | Doesn't really make much use of the DS's features, but hey, who needs 'em. Still a great game that's easy to play, but hard to master.US version is missing a extra character, so get the European version. |
| Picross DS | Puzzle | A bunch of Picross puzzles on your DS. Everyone likes picross puzzles. Be on the lookout for Rittai Picross, a 3D version of Picross. |
| Planet Puzzle League | Puzzle | Puzzle League's great gameplay coupled with the DS's touch-screen and online multiplayer make for a fantastic version of an old classic.There's also a 1-player version for DSiWare, which is good if you don't like carrying extra cards around. |
| Professor Layton and the Curious Village | Puzzle | Lots of brain teasers and logic puzzles to wrap your head around, plus an enjoyable storyline and quirky characters. This reminds me of a puzzle... |
| Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box | Puzzle | Continues the story after the first Layton. Still awesome and look, professor! I found a puzzle! |
| Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary | Puzzle | Includes classic and Fever modes along with a bunch of gimmick ones. A great package unless you really hate the aesthetics of the Fever series. An English patch is available, and it calls Satan "Satan" instead of "Dark Prince". |
| Soul Bubbles | Puzzle / Action | Not totally unlike LostWinds on the Wii. In this game, you control a 'spirit herder', someone who saves lost souls by guiding them to salvation (ie: the end of each level). To do this, you collect them in a bubble, and blow the bubble to the end. There are power ups in the form of masks which do various new maneuvers, like cutting (trimming the environment for safe passage, or splitting the bubble into smaller bubbles for example). This game is very, very relaxing. If you live in North America, you can only get this game at Toys R Us stores, oddly, but it's priced at 9.99$, so don't hesitate. |
| Space Bust-A-Move | Puzzle | Fans of the Bust-A-Move franchise will appreciate this entry on the DS, far better than the earlier Bust-A-Move DS simply for not requiring touch-controls.The game even features boss fights that aren't just two-player CPU battles, ain't that something? |
| Tetris DS | Puzzle | You all know how this works by now, you faggots. Play through tons of 8-bit Nintendo-themed worlds in the main endless mode. Play through twists on the Tetris formula in others. There's even a Balloon Fight-themed touchscreen mode! Hell yes, this could very well be mankind's greatest achievement. |
| WarioWare Touched! | Puzzle/Minigame | Wacky microgames. If you've played WarioWare before, you know what to expect. Utilizes the touchscreen for most of the microgame sets, but for one set in particular the DS' mic is used. |
| Daigasso Band Brothers DX | Music / Rhythm | Play a wide variety of songs with a bunch of instruments. Nearly 4000 songs to play via download. You can't download them on a flash cart, instead you need to find saves with songs pre-loaded. |
| Elite Beat Agents | Music / Rhythm | Tap beats in tune with the music while men in suits dance in the background to help people get by. Help a retired baseball player fight a fire golem, inspire Leonardo Da Vinci to draw the Mona Lisa, save the world from aliens. Way more awesome than it sounds. AGENTS ARE GO! |
| Kira Kira Pop Princess | Music / Rhythm | Loli rhythman, dancan, and dressan up. Most manly game ever. What more do you want? An undub to get rid of the terrible English voices? Here Original Japanese title was Pinky Street Kira Kira Music Hour. There's also a sequel that lets you use the rival girl from this game. |
| Maestro! Jump in Music | Music / Rhythm | You follow Presto, your happy-go-lucky bird protagonist, on hunt for all the music notes in the world, having been nicked by the big baddy in the bizarre opening movie. Your goal is to help him overcome the various obstacles in his path, using your stylus to pluck strings and hit monsters. You can even sing along with the mic (don't worry, it's optional). OH SOLE MIOOO. |
| Lego Rock Band | Music / Rhythm | Basically Rock Band: Unplugged for the DS. |
 
| Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan / Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 | Music / Rhythm | Same idea as Elite Beat Agents, except instead of American pop/rock you get J-pop and J-rock instead. Near-Gurren Lagann levels of HOTBLOODEDNESS to be found. The sequel allows you to choose which cheering squad to play as (sort of). OUENDAN! Obviously, Japanese only, but if you played Elite Beat Agents, you won't have a problem. |
| Pop Town | Music / Rhythm | The sequel to Pop Princess, as mentioned above. Has a hard mode. Original Japanese title is Pinky Street Kira Kira Music Night. |
| Rhythm Heaven | Music / Rhythm | The sequel to the GBA cult classic. Basically a bunch of rhythm based minigames. Yes, you do scream looking like a retard in some of them. Highly addictive. |
 
| Taiko no Tatsujin DS 1 and 2 | Music / Rhythm | IT'S LIKE I'M REALLY A DRUMMER! It's in Japanese. Also check out the sequel for more songs and stuff to do. |
| Bangai-O Spirits | Shoot 'Em Up | A sequel to the Dreamcast classic. While it doesn't live up to the original, it's still a great game on its own right. Features a shitton of levels and its own level editor. This game will make your ds lag. |
| Big Bang Mini | Shoot 'Em Up | 90 levels, multiplayer, looks pretty nice plus the interesting touchscreen gameplay makes for a great shmup. |
| Contra 4 | Shoot 'Em Up | Balls to the wall hard, just like Contra should be. Some were concerned that it wouldn't live up to the other titles of the series, seeing as it wasn't developed by a Konami 1st party. Luckily, the 3rd party that tackled it really fucking loves the Contra series, so it turned out great. |
| Geometry Wars Galaxies | Shoot 'Em Up | When you turn on this game, you better be fucking ready. This is the most intense shooter on the DS. Expect colours, particles, killer shapes, and a huge fucking multiplier. Adds a nice RPG element where you level up a drone to save your ass, like a true bro. Remember to use a fucking screen protector on your lower screen because the game will fuck it up if you don't. |
| Little Red Riding Hood Zombie BBQ | Shoot 'Em Up | It's a fun, typical shmup, but bosses are taken from fairy tales and shit, except zombified and horror themed (?). It can be rage inducing hard at times.
Update: You lucky European DSi owners can get the full game on DSiware for just 800 points. |
| Metal Slug 7 | Shoot 'Em Up | It's what you'd expect from a Metal Slug game, right down to the RAWKET LAWN CHAIR. Not the strongest in the series, though still worth a shot. The art is just as smooth as other entries, but because of the DS' resolution it had to be scaled down, which makes it look kind of weird.
Update: A remake with adhoc multiplayed is coming soon to PSP. |
| Nanostray 2 | Shoot 'Em Up | Addresses the original's content problems by offering multiple schemes, allowing for a much better experience. |
| Space Invaders Extreme | Shoot 'Em Up | EXTR3ME SPACE INVADERS FUCK YEAH11! Basically Space Invaders, but set to a rhythm. |
| Space Invaders Extreme 2 | Shoot 'Em Up | The slightly improved sequel to Space Invaders Extreme. |
| Ketsui Death Label | Shoot 'Em Up | Boss Rush version of the popular shooter by Cave. Loads of difficulties and a weird ass multiplayer. It's got some weird Japanese humor on it if you can understand moonspeak. |
| Animal Crossing: Wild World | Sim | It's Animal Crossing. Nothing too out of the blue. Move to a town inhabited by friendly anthros (it's not nearly as furry as it sounds). Work off the debt of your house (it's not nearly as boring or tedious as it sounds)! Now with DS-specific features, like stylus control and the option to design clothing by drawing on the touchscreen! |
| Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands | Sim | Great control improvements on the previous installments with the option of choosing to play with the stylus OR the gamepad. Same great Harvest Moon gameplay with characters introduced in the previous game. |
| Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times | Sim | Also known as Enchanted Folk and the School of Wizardry. Animal Crossing clone with Harry Potter mixed in. What's not to like? |
| Princess Debut | Sim/Rhythm/Dating | You get to live the dream and be the little girl. In addition, you're also a princess. The ball will be held soon, and it's up to you to find yourself a dance partner/love interest. Dancing is done through stylus movements ala EBA, with difficulty depending on the song style. Find cute outfits, new songs, and possibly your true love in the manliest game of all time. |
 
| Rune Factory 1 & 2 | Sim | Harvest Moon with RPG elements. Surprisingly fun and addictive. Also check out the sequel if you liked this, pretty much the same. |
 
| Trauma Center: Under the Knife 1 & 2 | Sim | Operate on mutant viruses. Plot is wacky and over the top, Gameplay is excellent and some of the best use of the DS's touch screen. The sequel is just as good. |
| Bleach: Dark Souls | Fighting | A surprisingly solid fighter, even if you don't watch/like Bleach. Lots of characters to choose from, online play and a card power-up system (that's optional if you don't like them). |
| Jump! Ultimate Stars | Fighting | A Smash-Bros-esque fighter with a fuckton of animu characters (unfortunately, though, only JUMP!-exclusive ones) and cameos. Has online play, but everyone uses cheat codes. Full translation available. |
| Mario Kart DS | Racing | The Mario Kart everyone loves, Blue Shells and all. Lots of tracks and online is fun (if you don't mind the snaking). |
| Boing! Docomodake DS | Platformer / Puzzle | Despite the name, this was indeed released out west. A very cute and addictive platformer with interesting puzzle-solving elements starring a mushroom. Fun fact: This game is actually an advertisement, because the character Docomodake is the mascot for NTT Docomo cell phone services. There's no in-game ads or phone references though, so don't worry. |
| Giana Sisters DS | Platformer | Take the Amiga cult classic and add a shitload of new levels, music and spritework. Because of shitty publishers, this game has only been released in Germany and Australia. The brothers would be history otherwise. |
| Kirby Squeak Squad | Platformer | The most traditional Kirby DS title, and incidentally the weakest. It follows the standard "suck shit up for abilities" system. A fun game, even if the touchscreen feature is sort of annoying. Called Kirby Mouse Attack in Europe for some reason (because Squeak Squad shortens to S.S., and Nintendo wants to sell to Germans too). |
| Kirby Canvas Curse | Platformer | Tries something completely different. Instead of sucking things up and platforming like usual, you draw paths for Kirby to roll on. The game is touch-screen only. |
| Kirby Superstar Ultra | Platformer | A remake of the SNES classic with some new content. New game modes, slightly updated visuals and new FMVs. A must have for any Kirby fan. |
| N+ | Platformer | A port of the popular flash game. Features a map editor and sharer and multiplayer modes. |
| New Super Mario Bros | Platformer | A Mario Bros game with nice, crisp graphics and the great gameplay you'd expect. A bit on the easy side, but most Mario games have never been known for their crushing difficulty. |
| Scribblenauts | Platformer/Puzzle | Get the Starite. How do you get the Starite? By summoning nearly anything (no living people, nothing vulgar, nothing licensed) with your handy dandy notebook. Fun for everyone for at least an hour, after that it depends on whether you're the sort who'll solve everything with MIND CONTROL DEVICE and LASSO or someone who'll try for new things. Good for playing in short bursts. Surprisingly full of existing memes. |
| Super Mario 64 DS | Platformer | It's a port of Super Mario 64, but lets you play as Yoshi, Mario, Wario and Luigi (read: mostly Luigi). Each has their own specialties and abilities as well. Has 150 stars, oh and some mini-games. |
 
| Sonic Rush / Adventure | Platformer | 2D Sonic games similar to the Advance series. Surprisingly good (well, better than Sonic Team's latest efforts at least).Rush Adventure is a bit weaker than Rush, especially where music is concerned, but it has a number of mini-levels that provide some decent challenges. |
| Tingle's Balloon Fight DS/チンクルの バルーンファイトDS | Platformer/Arcade/Fighting | If you've ever played Balloon Fight, you know what to expect. Balloon Fight is Nintendo's version of Joust and is arguably better. This version features backgrounds remind you of Wind Waker, and your main character is of course Tingle. Multiplayer (2-4) in this game is a BLAST, especially if you're just looking to waste some quick time, and Balloon Trip mode is surprisingly addicting. This was only released in Japan for their Club Nintendo, but even so, it's not particularly hard to find. |
| Umihara Kawase Shun Second Edition Kanzenban | Platformer/Puzzle | Use a rubbery fishing line to get through physics-based puzzle platforming levels of ball-busting difficulty. Contains both the SNES and PS games, brand new levels, an extras gallery and it's not a buggy piece of shit like the PSP port. More importantly, Umihara has the biggest chest of any obscure vidya female. |
| Yoshi's Island DS | Platformer | Keeps the same gameplay that made the original Yoshi's Island so great. The blind spot between the two screens can get annoying at times, though. Compared to the original, this sequel has worse music and animation, which is a little odd considering the DS' power over the SNES. Still a fun romp if you're into Nintendo Hard. |
[edit] Nintendo DSiWare
The DSiware hasn't started out the strongest, but there's some great stuff to check out there if you're a DSi user.
[edit] The List
| Screenshot | Title | Genre | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Popstar: Road to Celebrity | Sim/RPG/Rhythm | Yeah, I recommended it. Plays a bit like an raising RPG (like Digimon, Princess Maker, Sims, or other such games without the sexual content), a rhythm game, and has visual novel and customization aspects. Uses the DS features quite well, such as using the mic to record a song, and buttons and the touchscreen for performances. The story isn't too shabby either. The only negatives are the lack of songs, you can't take anything you do back (auto-saving takes place after pretty much every action), and it takes up a bit of memory blocks. Other than that, it's worth a shot (if you're man enough). |
| Army Defender | Arcade/Shmup/Defense | This game is like a mix between Space Invaders and a typical tower defense, with just a light dash of Ikaruga (on the offensive). Don't go wildly shooting, because you might hit your supply planes, which give you with weapons that hit both colors, and your score multipliers are highly important. Get enough points and a gauge fills that lets you literally unleash the fucking fury on every enemy onscreen. Your score also nabs post-battle rewards such as cannon upgrades, extra fury usages, and continues. |
| Aquia | Puzzle | A curious underwater themed puzzler that involves sliding and matching tiles from different sides. There's a few different modes to play and different cursors to use as well. Each different cursor changes how you'll be sliding tiles around. There's quite a bit of variety to be found here. |
| Base 10 | Puzzle | A curious math game. Involves you connecting numbers in order to form 10. There's different modes here as well. Although the challenge mode is more interesting. |
| Bird & Beans/Pyoro | Puzzle/Action | That critter minigame from the first Warioware. Eat (shoot in 2) falling seeds to prevent them from breaking your bridge and bonking you. Has an alternate version with different point rules that really change things up, so it's like you're getting two games in one. |
| Bomberman Blitz | Puzzle(?)/Bomberman(?) | Multiplayer Bomberman action that lets you take on wireless competitors locally or go wi-fi and take on the world. Features that same frantic gameplay tied to the Bomberman name. For 500 points, it's pretty much a steal. |
| Boxlife | Puzzle |
Cut and paste tiles together in order to make cube patterns. Once the pattern is folded into a box, You move on to the next. The challenge in one mode is to make as many boxes out of preset patterns as possible. The other mode involves and endurance against infinite box patterns. This actually lets you get a few different items to customize your box world, which may put it above the other games for some players. |
| Castle of Magic | Platformer | Castle of Magic is a port from mobile gaming, but don't let that discourage you from trying this out. This game takes aspects from several successful platformers and utilizes them quite well. A neat optional feature lets you snap pics using the DSi camera at booths in stages and get powerups based on the prominent color of the pic. It's abit on the short and easy side, which makes it great for beginners to platforming and a nice nostalgic breeze through for veteran retro-buffs. |
| Dragon's Lair | Adventure (?) | Dirk the Daring is back and ready to take on Dragon's Lair in a new generation. This game revolves around picking different actions to do, responding to various elements in game. This and other similar titles are known for their punishing difficulty, but also their hilarious death sequences. The resolution quality took a slight hit in the port, but it's still as close as can be. Best of all, unlike say, the iPhone version, there's ZERO load times. |
| Dragon Quest Wars | Strategy | Select a group of 4 monsters from 6. You can have duplicates if you wish. Each monster has different abilities and a few have different properties. The interaction of physical and magical skills, along with reactions, really puts a lot of strategy in this seemingly simple title. Has a short tutorial mode, but the real meat is the Wi-Fi, which lets you battle people from all over the place, and wireless, which lets you take on people locally. Both run extremely smooth. Bears slight resemblances to Advance Wars, but plays a bit differently. |
| Flipnote Studio | Drawing App |
Make drawings and animations, watch animations of other people online, upload your own stuff as well (requires a computer for a few more functions), or if nothing more, write a some handy notes for yourself. A bit basic, but it's free and gets the job done quite well.It just depends on how much effort you put into it. |
| Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! | Puzzle |
A bit more streamlined than the original DS release, as it lacks a few functions, but it's mostly for the best. It's also more accessible to left handed people now. Plays similar to Lemmings, except your touching of objects and obstacles is how you'll keep your Mini-Marios safe to reach the exit. The base game alone is already quite expansive with about 100 levels. Add to that a construction mode that lets you upload, download (up to about 120), and play customized stages for free, and you've got one of the DSi's best offerings. Surprisingly fun and accessible, even to those who aren't into this sort of genre. If you bought the original release on DS, you get shop channel points back. |
| Mighty Flip Champs! | Dual Screen Puzzle | Made by the company who made Shantae and LIT. This is about flipping between different screens in order to reach an exit. You can't jump, which might appeal to fans of Solomon's Key and Fire n' Ice. It's hard to grasp without visuals, so here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocJ8Az0M7bU |
| Paperplane | Puzzle/Flight | That paper plane minigame from the first Warioware. Starts easy, but gets challenging to keep up for a while. Good for chilling out or when you want something quick to take on. Features 3 different modes: Endless (shoot for a high score) , Time Attack (shoot for a low time), and race (which lets you race using a single DSi, pretty tricky, but it works). |
| PiCTOBiTS | Puzzle |
A cool touch based puzzler involving falling rows, squares, and columns of different colors and you use respective pictobits in order to clear them out. This makes a eventually forms pictures on the top screen, thus beating the stage. Features remixes of old NES game songs from a cool retro band, YMCK, while you play. You can also use coins you get in-game to buy the songs to jam out to or buy "dark" stages, which are damn tough extra puzzles to take on. Highly recommended for old-schoolers, puzzle buffs, and retro fans alike. |
| Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon | Pinball | This Ancient Greek-themed pinball game is about as close to real pinball as you can get. The physics are spot on, there are LED displays, and scoring events that take place. Sadly, like a real machine, there's only one table. On the bright side, this was made by the team that worked on Metroid Prime: Pinball, which assures you're getting a quality pinball title. |
| Pop Island | Capture the Flag | Cute little block critters play capture the flag on a variety of maps. Different characters have different attributes, such as the penguin, who surfs speedily on water, but slows to a crawl on land. Use firecrackers to knock a rival far away and make it drop its flag (if it's holding one). For local multiplayer, you can send at demo version to a friend if they don't have it and take them on. |
| Precipice | Adventure/Puzzle | Takes some elements from Intelligence Qube (overcoming cubes and bombs, along with your decreasing playfield) and tower climbing games. It also has a decreasing energy meter, to add challenge (think Adventure Island). Much harder than it lets on at first. |
| Rayman | Platformer | It's Rayman, and it's out on the DSiWare store RIGHT NOW for 800 points. Do you not have it already after reading this sentence? THEN GET IT NOW, IT'S FUCKING RAYMAN. (Updates include a touchscreen map, time challenge bonuses, and a surprise involving checkpoints and the DSi camera. Smile!) |
| Zengage | Puzzle | Sliding puzzles that involve matching colors. Think along the lines of a Rubik's cube, but with more variety in final solutions. |
[edit] Nintendo DS Homebrew
Chances are, you're from /v/, you like DS, you have a flashcart.
So load up with some homebrew, it can be pretty worth while.
[edit] The List
| Screenshot | Title | Genre | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moonshell | Media Player | Turns your DS into a media player, supports music in MP3/OGG/MOD/SPC/MDX (no PCM)/GBS/HES/NSF/XM/MIDI/WMA/low bit rate AAC audio. Supports video in DPG format (use dpgenc.exe to make DPG video files) Supports text files and image files too. |
| Licks Media Player | Media Player | Turns your DS into a working iPod? Sure why not? Yes you can actually play music on a psuedo-Pod |
| LemmingsDS | Game Port | It's Lemmings, on your DS. Need I say more? Includes all the levels of the original Lemmings and Oh No More Lemmings, as well as a couple extra ones. Also accepts custom levels and music. Plays very well. |
| Organiser application | Now your DS can be a handy dandy | |
| DS Reader | E-book reader | Read your E-books and Text files on your Nintendo DS.
Supports custom font files |
| Nes DS | NES Emulator | Play most NES games on your DS flawlessly, supports savestates, rewind, fast forward. |
| Lameboy | Gameboy/Color Emulator | Play most Gameboy/Color games on your DS flawlessly, supports savestates, scaling (with a filter), speed up (to about 2x), and a ton of options.
You can even use the DS rumble pack with Pokémon Pinball! |
| NeoDS | Neo Geo Emulator | Lets you play Neo Geo games on your DS, surprisingly well!
You'll need to convert your Neo Geo games into a .neo format for the emulator though. |
| SNEmulDS | SNES Emulator | The best SNES emulator for the DS (but that's not saying a lot)
Some games are buggy, some totally unplayable, sound glitches, graphical glitches galore, but you can actually play a few games on this at a good speed with no problems. Be sure to check the compatibility list over here. |
| jEnesisDS | Genesis Emulator | A Genesis/Megadrive emulator for the DS. Plays games very well with limited vertical scaling.
Don't complain about the lack of horizontal scaling, you can at adjust the screen using L/R or "follow D-pad" in the options. |
| ApprenticeMinusDS | Master System+Game Gear Emulator | Master System+Game Gear on the go without a Nomad or spare AA batteries. Features rewind and save states. Most games work perfectly, but a few don't or work with some minor glitches. This is included with newest jEnesisDS versions, which it compliments well. Sadly lacks FM music support. |
| Pocket Physics | Sandbox | A miniature homebrew version of Crayon Physics, draw shapes which are subject to gravity and physics.
Unlike Crayon Physics, there are no objectives, so go nuts and be creative. |
| Phidias | Paint Application | Turn your DS into a canvas! Supports brushes, saving and loading of bitmaps, blurring, and smudging. |
| Colors | Paint Application | Another great art application, based on modern painting techniques |
| Brix DS | Puzzle game | A clone of a flash game that works pretty well on the DS. Made by a french guy. You have to click on the gray blocks to make them disappear and keep the TNT from touching the ground after they're all gone. |
| OpenTyrian DS | Game Port | A ported version of opentyrian, which on it's own is a port of one of the greatest classics in PC sidescrollers, Tyrian |
| TouhouDS | Shoot 'Em Up | A handheld version of the popular japanese shmup series. Still in the works, but looks promising. |
