Dive into the 30 best DS games that defined a generation, showcasing the console's unique features and delivering an unforgettable gaming experience!
Introduction to Nintendo DS Games
Nintendo DS is a worthy successor in the series of portable gaming consoles from Nintendo, packed with innovative approaches and unconventional solutions that led to the creation of numerous unique games with distinct mechanics. This article highlights some of the best titles that have graced this iconic handheld device.
Tetris DS
No matter what gaming console you currently own, chances are there's a version of "Tetris" available on it. This puzzle game with blocks has stood the test of time as one of the enduring treasures of the gaming world for decades since its first appearance.
While it would be unfair to claim that "Tetris" remains entirely unchanged, regardless of the device you play on, the series continually seeks new ways to stay innovative, adapting to new technologies. Tetris DS utilizes the dual screens and touch controls of the DS, adding an exciting new dimension to the Tetris format.
Tetris DS features six new modes, including "Touch," where you can use the touch screen to move individual tetromino blocks, and "Puzzle," where you can plan your moves in advance. All background images and melodies are themed around Nintendo, and nostalgia hits hard while playing online or against the computer. This game is arguably one of the best ways to enjoy Tetris, especially on the go.
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Mario Kart DS
At first glance, one might not think that the Mario Kart series would fit well on the portable Nintendo DS. However, by compressing the acclaimed kart racing series into the scale of their mobile console, Nintendo clearly knew what they were doing.
Mario Kart DS remains one of the best entries in the series, featuring both familiar classic and original tracks, alongside competitive multiplayer modes. If you want to race against other DS or 3DS owners, you can use just one cartridge to play wirelessly.
With the two screens, most of the game takes place on the top screen, while the bottom shows your position on the map, your place in the race, or the items you've collected.
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New Super Mario Bros.
New Super Mario Bros. is the best-selling DS game of all time, and it's easy to see why. It's the perfect game for a portable console: pocket-sized yet incredibly thrilling adaptation of Mario platforming for the DS. This game pays homage to a series that has been around since 1981, and Nintendo did not disappoint, giving a nod to its most iconic character.
The story is simple: Princess Peach has been kidnapped by Bowser, and it's up to you to navigate through all the castles in the land to rescue her. The simplicity of New Super Mario Bros. is one of its advantages. It shines through in its stunning level design and incredibly fun gameplay, along with its memorable melodies and charming animations.
Navigating through the vast levels keeps you engaged, constantly reminding you of the core principles of what makes Mario so appealing. New Super Mario Bros. is not just a great Mario game for the DS; it's one of the best Mario games ever.
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The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo's most revered series, second only to Mario, and the publisher didn't hesitate to release it on Nintendo DS. Phantom Hourglass is the 14th installment in the Zelda series and serves as a direct sequel to the beloved GameCube game, The Wind Waker.
More importantly, it marks a soft reboot for the series with its fresh, animated new style. Everything is drawn in a cell-shaded style, giving the game a cartoon-like appearance that feels timeless.
Nintendo cleverly adapted certain gameplay mechanics to the unique features of the DS. A notable example is the movement system, where you can control Link solely with the stylus. This isn't the only stylus application; you can also direct your boomerang and control your ship throughout various water levels.
Phantom Hourglass isn't just a great action-adventure game; it's one of the finest examples of what the DS's stylus and touchscreen can achieve when used effectively.
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Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger has always been a staple in lists of the best SNES games, but the Nintendo DS port is the definitive version of one of the best JRPGs of all time. Square Enix took the time to create a more accurate translation, added several new locations, and introduced an arena mode, not to mention an entirely new thirteenth ending.
The project gathered a plethora of talent, including creators from Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, as well as an artist who worked on DragonBall-Z. With such a star-studded team, it's no wonder the plot is so epic and captivating, earning Chrono Trigger countless awards for Best Game and Best RPG ever created.
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999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
The initial lineup for the DS primarily consisted of typical portable console projects, such as ports from other platforms and sports games, but its unique dual-screen design became the perfect sanctuary for genres that had received less attention in the past, such as visual novels.
While most visual novels were ignored by Western audiences, 999 exploded the genre with its gripping story about nine strangers trapped on a sinking cruise ship, and the ten clever puzzles they must solve to escape. Completing the game without a guide requires all your brainpower, but if you do, you'll experience emotions like no other.
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Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Though the core gameplay of this visual novel isn't super innovative, all five cases are so well-written and the characters are so engaging that you'll find it hard to put Ace Attorney down once you start matching evidence, catching suspects in lies, and shouting “Objection!” for the first time.
If you ever thought about going to law school and passing the bar exam, Phoenix Wright provides a more interesting, enjoyable, and safe way to get involved in a courtroom drama.
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Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
The DS is home to a solid collection of Dragon Quest games, and while it may be tempting to declare the 9th installment as the best portable version, it still doesn’t hold a candle to Hand of the Heavenly Bride. How can you compete with an epic narrative that spans decades of a protagonist's life?
Yes, the graphics may not be as detailed as in some later entries, but they still represent a significant improvement over the original SNES game, and this slightly naive retro style is back in vogue today.
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Radiant Historia
Radiant Historia stands out among other RPGs for its dark narrative tone, sharply contrasting with its vibrant visual style. The intricate storyline revolves around time travel and includes two main timelines and numerous smaller branches.
Thanks to its unique combat system, which focuses on your character's position on a 3x3 grid, battles in Radiant Historia never get old, even during extended play sessions.
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Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story
What happens inside Bowser's body? Okay, maybe no one ever really wondered that, but Nintendo decided to answer it with a surreal RPG spin-off where Mario and Luigi literally enter the skin of their arch-nemesis to help him fight a common foe – a mushroom virus.
As with other titles in this series, battles occur in real-time and require the player to react quickly to what's happening, unlike other RPGs for Nintendo consoles. Furthermore, this installment is often considered one of the funniest and perhaps the best in the franchise, which is renowned for its superior storytelling.
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Castlevania: Dawn Of Sorrow
Dawn of Sorrow marked the first appearance of the Castlevania series on the DS, stepping away from the continuous battle between the Belmont clan and Dracula.
Players assume control of Soma, a reincarnation of Dracula, who fortunately escapes becoming the next vampire lord with the help of allies. An evil cult seeks to kill Soma so a new Dracula can be born, and you must do everything you can to prevent this.
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Metroid Prime: Hunters
Another genre pioneer, Metroidvania decided to break away from its own conventions and sharply change the scenery. This first-person shooter takes place between the events of Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime: Echoes and attempts to re-engage a waning audience.
Upon release, Hunters received numerous awards, marking this experiment as a success, but many fans of the original Metroid games were understandably outraged by the attempt to convert a revolutionary action-platformer into a throwback first-person shooter.
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Solatorobo: Red the Hunter
Solatorobo: Red the Hunter is one of the most unusual and ambitious DS games that many consider an underrated masterpiece.
In this quirky pirate adventure, players control bounty hunter Red and his team as they travel through flying islands amidst the beautiful landscapes of the Republic of Shepherd, aiming to stop the Curvaz gang.
Explaining even the general storyline and main game concept would take some time, but it's worth noting that the game world is incredibly deep and looks simply fantastic. It’s a shame that playing Solatorobo: Red the Hunter today isn't as easy. Let's only hope for a remake or re-release.
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Sonic Rush Adventure
Sonic and Mario may have been competitors once, but nowadays Sega and Nintendo have seemingly buried the hatchet. Sonic Rush Adventure is an impressive game that skillfully utilizes both DS screens to create a unique gaming experience.
Gameplay is very much like any other Sonic project, yet this is one of the best portable Sonic games, as if it were released back in Sega's Golden Age.
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Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
Set in Archanea, Shadow Dragon tells the tale of Prince Marth and his exile due to the machinations of an evil sorcerer and a treacherous dragon. This is the eleventh game in the series, but in classic convoluted JRPG fashion, it is also a remake of Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light from 1990 for the NES.
Like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem is known for its epic stories, turn-based battles, and character development throughout gameplay.
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Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 2 was one of the most popular DS games as early as 2005, and it's easy to see why. Spider-Man has always been a hit on consoles, particularly due to Sam Raimi's film trilogy. Essentially, the game is an adaptation of the film starring Tobey Maguire, so players who haven't seen the original may find it a bit chaotic. Nonetheless, few would have made serious narrative demands of superhero games during that time.
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Rayman DS
Rayman DS is a launch title for the Nintendo DS that aimed to draw people to buy the console.
If you've ever played Rayman 2: The Great Escape, you should know that Rayman DS is a direct port of the Nintendo 64 game, albeit with updated sprites and touch controls. However, fans of this Ubisoft platformer series have one simple rule: “The more Rayman, the better,” meaning they were thrilled to purchase a Nintendo DS.
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Hotel Dusk: Room 215
If you're a fan of detective novels, Hotel Dusk: Room 215 would definitely appeal to you. Playing on the Nintendo DS feels like holding a book.
Among modern games, Hotel Dusk comes closest in spirit to Heavy Rain. This captivating noir-style detective story requires you to engage with various colorful characters and weave through a web of lies to uncover the truth.
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Bangai-O Spirits
DS is an often-underappreciated platform when it comes to action games and shooters, and Bangai-O Spirits is a prime example. Everything about this game pushes the boundaries of reason, from its absurd plot to the outrageous number of missiles that can fill the entire screen during intense moments.
It seamlessly combines hardcore shooting with intricate puzzles and consistently keeps you on edge with inventive plot twists and sharp changes in pace, ensuring no two levels are ever identical.
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Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is another captivating adventure from the creators of Phoenix Wright, but set in a completely different style.
The main character, Sissel, is a spirit suffering from amnesia, and your task is to find out what happened to him while you traverse both the ghostly and real worlds. Being a spirit, Sissel must rely on inanimate objects to navigate the ghost world, but he can also manipulate corpses and question them about the circumstances of their deaths. However, after that, he has only four minutes to return and attempt to prevent their deaths. This highly original concept opens up a vast array of possibilities for players, making it hard to tear away from Ghost Trick until the final moments.
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Kirby: Canvas Curse
The greatest DS games are those that reinterpret popular franchises through the unique features of this portable console, and Kirby: Canvas Curse is a great example. Instead of directly controlling the pink ball known as Kirby, you use your stylus to draw paths for him to follow. You have a limited amount of ink to create lines, so you must ensure your reserves don't run out too quickly while maneuvering Kirby effectively. Enemies can also be tackled with the stylus, often leading to frantic tapping on the screen, which is still quite enjoyable. Ultimately, this resulted in one of the most inventive games in the series.
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Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future is one of the best point-and-click games of all time. Externally, it resembles a mix of a full-length animated film and static images (if you've played Gorogoa, you'll quickly catch on).
Using the stylus, players can tap on characters to receive clues or solve puzzles. You can also occasionally tap on objects to see if there's anything inside.
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Advance Wars: Dual Strike
After spending years in relative obscurity in Japan, the Advance Wars series burst onto the international scene in the early 2000s, becoming one of Nintendo's biggest hits for portable devices. Dual Strike epitomizes the entire series, utilizing strategic elements from the two previous GBA games while adding nine new commanders with the ability to control two simultaneously during battle, balancing each other's strengths and weaknesses.
While early Advance Wars games looked great on GBA, the accessibility to additional unit info during battle combined with the ability to use the touchscreen for map creation makes Dual Strike the best in the series and a true gem in the Nintendo DS catalog.
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Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Can you think of a better setting for an open-world game than a vibrant, living city full of dangers and intrigue? Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars perhaps offers the best open world on the Nintendo DS and is one of the most critically acclaimed games in the console's history. The GTA series is known for its adult content, so be ready for serious themes and plenty of crime and violence (which is quite atypical for DS games, in general).
Rockstar faced a unique challenge in releasing a game from their most famous series on a mobile platform: how to maintain the scale and madness of the series within the technological constraints of the system? Instead of looking to the future for the answer, they returned to their roots and made Chinatown Wars a top-down game similar to the early installments of the series from the 1990s.
As a result, Chinatown Wars looks a bit old-fashioned, but the gameplay is anything but. All the fun and anarchy of modern Grand Theft Auto thrives here, and that's all that matters. Moreover, this version of the game features exclusive DS features not available on other platforms, such as blowing into the microphone to call a taxi or using the touchscreen to manage your PDA, GPS, map, and switch radio stations.
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Nintendogs
If you want the experience of pet ownership without the responsibility (and, of course, mess) of taking care of a real animal, Nintendogs is the game for you. In this, perhaps the most well-known game for the Nintendo DS, you can get a pet and care for it just like in real life: play, walk, and feed it. You can choose from dozens of dog breeds, so collect them, name them, and love them all equally.
At first glance, it might not sound that exciting, but Nintendo uses the unique features of the DS to create intriguing ways to interact with your virtual pet. You can talk to them using the system's virtual microphone, or give them a good rub down in the bath using the stylus and touchscreen. You can even play with your virtual dog by tossing a disk or ball around the game environments using the stylus.
You can interact with your dog however you like, but don’t get too attached; there are cats in the sequel. How can one possibly choose between such two adorable options?
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The World Ends With You
Publisher Square Enix made a serious departure with The World Ends With You, one of its first games for the Nintendo DS. This was a completely new story set in the bustling retail district of Shibuya, a stark contrast to the fantasy worlds for which Square Enix is primarily known.
Of course, things aren’t that simple in the game because beneath Shibuya lies an alternative level of reality where the dead fight for another chance at life in a long-standing tournament called the Reapers' Game.
You play as Neku Sakuraba, an anti-social teenager tasked with defeating demonic creatures known as "Noise" to gain a second chance at living. All this unfolds within a dynamic combat system dubbed the "Stride Cross Battle System," utilizing both DS screens, each representing a different combat zone.
This creates a unique and cohesive gameplay experience, complemented by an engaging soundtrack and vibrant visual stylization, cementing The World Ends With You as one of the iconic games for the Nintendo DS.
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Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes A Day!
Brain Age, a puzzle game from Nintendo, promises to keep your brain sharp with just a few minutes of training each day. A rather ambitious goal, but considering the capabilities of the game, it doesn't seem so impossible.
Brain Age 2 includes a variety of mini-games that weren't in the first installment, such as number memorization, matching, and sequencing, and even "rock-paper-scissors." Many beloved mini-games from the first installment remain, such as Sudoku. All modes are well thought out and entertaining, and they genuinely aim to fulfill the game’s main goal: to train your mental faculties to enhance cognitive abilities.
At the start of the game, you must take a test to determine your "Brain Age," which can range from 20 to 80.
As you progress through more and more puzzles and challenges, your brain age will begin to rise confidently, and the results of your mental exercises will become increasingly noticeable. Learning has never been so enjoyable – or fun – as in Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes A Day!
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Scribblenauts
While the Nintendo DS is clearly a console for all ages, it's hard to argue that for young gamers, it has become particularly appealing. Luckily, the Nintendo DS has a plethora of games that focus more on family and child entertainment.
Scribblenauts, developed by 5th Cell Studios and published by Warner Bros Interactive, is one of the most unique titles on the Nintendo DS, allowing you to use your imagination to solve over 200 puzzles. In Scribblenauts, the pen (or, in this case, the stylus) is indeed mightier than the sword. In the game, you can summon any object to help solve problems by simply writing its name on the touchscreen. The game's database contains tens of thousands of different items and nouns that you can use to tackle increasingly complex puzzles.
Just write a word, and the object will suddenly appear, allowing you to collect enough "starites" to complete the game. Kids will surely have a blast with their creative thinking while solving these puzzles.
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Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver
Though Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver are simply enhanced remakes of Gold and Silver for the Game Boy Advance, the DS versions boast updated graphics, new gameplay mechanics, and the ability to choose a Pokemon that will accompany your character everywhere. If you've never played the Pokemon series before, this is an excellent place to start.
To become a Pokemaster, you will explore the Johto and Kanto regions in search of new Pokemon to catch, train, and battle. Fight against other trainers and level up your team to acquire new abilities or evolve into entirely new Pokemon. As you take down gym leaders and earn badges, you'll encounter the villainous Team Rocket, and to reach your goal, you must defeat them. Filling your Pokedex has never been easier or more fun than in these remakes.
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Animal Crossing: Wild World
Animal Crossing games are famous for their almost infinite gameplay and the vast array of activities they offer, providing some of the most delightful and relaxing feelings in the video game realm. In Wild World, you land in a randomly generated town and gradually enhance your home, garden, furniture, clothing, and all your belongings.
The pace of your life is entirely up to you, and the only real goal in Animal Crossing is to pay off your mortgage. You can simply do what you enjoy – interact with neighbors, fish, plant trees, or participate in local events and festivals.
Wild World is completely open in terms of action and offers incredible customization options based on your needs. The entire world syncs with the real date, year, and time, so various in-game events occur naturally according to the seasons and days of the week. With the DS touchscreen, you can model your clothing, write letters to friends, or move your character around.
The Animal Crossing series primarily revolves around interacting with others, giving you the freedom to gather or accomplish anything you can imagine without the crushing time constraints typical of most other games.
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Conclusion
Nintendo DS games remain a nostalgic treasure for gamers, showcasing creativity and innovation that brought unique experiences to our hands. Which game are you excited to revisit or play for the first time?
FAQs
- What makes the Nintendo DS stand out among other consoles?
The Nintendo DS stands out due to its dual screens and touch controls, enabling a unique gaming experience with innovative gameplay mechanics. - Are there any good multiplayer games for the Nintendo DS?
Yes, titles like Mario Kart DS and New Super Mario Bros. offer exciting local multiplayer experiences that make them great for playing with friends. - Can I still buy Nintendo DS games today?
While many DS games are hard to find in official digital stores, some titles have been re-released for the 3DS and Switch, so you may find them there. - What is the most popular Nintendo DS game?
New Super Mario Bros. holds the title of the best-selling Nintendo DS game of all time, appealing to both fans of the series and newcomers alike. - Why is Tetris DS considered a classic?
Tetris DS is loved for its innovative gameplay that utilizes the DS's unique features, as well as its nostalgic connections to the enduring puzzle game franchise.
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