@melvin You will never get any deals on the DSiWare games you've listed (and there's a lot of them). They're sold at the store price only. May as well buy them.

DsiWare games don't go on sale, and wow that's a lot of games O_O

Also, a lot of those games aren't even out yet...

The 'main' game from start to finish is fantastic and I had a blast with it. After that you can unlock all of the different modes and toys, but by that time you'll feel mildy burnt out on the experience and your overall tune on the game may be slightly less great than it once was.

For what it is, the main game for me was a 9/10 although it may of been a wee' bit short and not quite challenging, but the brilliant whacked out mini games, story lines, touch controls and characters make up for it! But after spending the extra time unlocking everything and completing the other modes the entire experience felt like an 8.5/10

You can get it for cheap, and it's definitly worth checking out. Some of the toys are so bizzare haha, i love messing around with that Sponge cake.lol

Which one do you think is better: Advance Wars Dual Strike or Advance Wars Dark Conflict? Both are in the bargain tin and I want to choose one of them. I've read thar DC is quite difficult for newcomers and I don't have much experience in the Advance Wars saga, sincerely.

Dark Conflict is better IMO. Dual Strike his horribly unbalanced but it is very flashy and has loads of COs and lots of extra modes. Dark Conflict has online play, better balancing and a better story with a darker tone but it basically gives the core Advance Wars experience. It also doesn't have any COs from the earlier games. It really depends on your tastes.

I enjoyed Dual Strike alot more. The Extras give the game a much higher replay value.
Days of Ruin has little to offer once you’ve beaten the (albeit more challenging) campaign, while DS has plenty; war room, survival mode, combat, shop, achievements, unlockable hard mode etc. etc.

I bought Dragon Quest IX over the weekend, but haven't gotten to play it yet. Now I'm reading all this great stuff about 999...

I honestly can't decide if I should keep DQIX, or return it for 999. What would you guys recommend? I don't really have a preference between RPGs and...uh...whatever 999 can be called. I just like good, high-quality games, no matter what the genre. (Apart from sports maybe.)

If you could only pick one, which would it be?

Return it. A Niche game like 999 gets rare quick. If you actually have a store that has the game in stock, get it while you can DQ9, on the other hand, isn't going anywhere.

Are you sure?

@melvin - I know I've said nothing, but zezhyrule speaks the truth. DSiWare games don't go on sale ever, and there are about 4-5 games in your cartridge list that aren't out yet.

@Chicken - If you can only get one at the moment, get 999. DQIX will probably be there later, 999 probably won't.

@CB Get 999. One of the best stories in a game I've seen. It's an adventure game - specifically a visual novel. You'll love it, I think.

Alright. I'm thinking I might actually just pick up 999 in addition to DQIX, rather than instead of. Haha. I know I should be saving money, but I keep hearing such good things about both. I'm in the mood for DQIX, but don't want to miss out on 999. The type of game 999 is seems like it might lend itself well to a long plane ride, too...and I've got two of them coming up soon.

Thanks dudes!

What about these?
DK Jungle Climber
Rythem Heaven
Picross
Viva Pinyata
Super Scribblenaughts
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

The 3DS and having to save a bit of money are making me think twice about certain DS games I don't actually wan't 100%
I'm still interested in the above titles, but Bowser's Inside Story has me pretty turned off because of the fact that it's an RPG, but everything else about it looks insanely quirky, funny and fantastic. I was 8 hours into Chrono Trigger and called it quits because I finally had enough of the turn based combat, so I'm thinking the same deal may happen here.

And what about Rythem Heaven? DK Jungle Climber is a bit pricy and I'm not quite sure about Picross. Viva Pinyata looks pretty great though, visually I just loved the amtosphere, colors and world that it took place in during the XBOX 360 version, too bad I didn't exactly enjoy it gameplay wise. And of course there' Super Scribblenoughts which easily spikes my interest because I really wan't to see what kind of crazy and random things you can make come to life, but the other part of me isn't exactly sure about the less than stellar platforming. I mean really, coming up with weird and bogus creations is the only appealing thing about it, but that may even got old pretty fast.

Rhythm Heaven, Super Scribblenauts and M&L: Bowser's Inside Story are all awesome. I highly recommend them all.

Rhythm Heaven is plain old fun. A single button press (actually press-and-flick) is all that's required for all of the games. You'll need a good sense of rhythm to finish them because they can get quite tough. The games are really varied and the music is great. If you like quirky Japanese titles this will appeal a lot.

Super Scribblenauts isn't about platforming. It's about puzzle solving in the most creative ways you can conjure. Even just milling around in the free play mode making up stuff is really fun! The Super version has less repeat items although there are still plenty. But a spotted winged bathtub is just really cool. And a red gentlemanly velociraptor. And a hairy evil ladder. And a giant striped bazooka. PINK NINJA FAIRIES!! ...And so on.

Even if you don't like RPGs, Bowser's Inside Story will satisfy imo. It's not complex and the gameplay is almost action-like where you have to time button presses. There aren't many complicated stats and it's all presented in a way that's easy to figure out. It is turn-based but during the enemy's turns you can time button presses to guard against their attacks too. The battle system is great fun. You should check out some videos or something and see what you think.

I recently played cave story on the pc and really enjoyed it. I was wondering if there is something simular for the ds. I know cave story can be downloaded as dsiware but since I've played the pc version I am looking for something new but simular.

I guess the Castlevania games are sort of similar...

Games like Cave Story are side-scrolling run and gun games - though Cave Story is by no means the originator of the subgenre.

The DS has a few: Contra 4, Metal Slug 7 and Commando: Steel Disaster. I'd recommend Contra 4 highest of those, it's a fantastic and very hard old-school game and it's the only of the three which has multiplayer. DSiWare has Chronos Twin which is pretty good. The GBA has a number of them, most notably Metroid: Zero Mission and Gunstar Super Heroes - but of course you'll need a Phat or a Lite to play those.

I'd recommend Contra 4 for sure, it's definitly better than Metal Slug 7 and it's easily one of the greatest contra's out there...Yet Metal Slug 7 was quite the blast to play. But get ready, because you'll be seeing the color BROWN alot. Not much creativity going on that's for sure, but it's still a solid and intense and rewarding experience nonetheless.

@Waveboy

Rhythm heaven is great fun if you just have a few minutes here and there to pick up and play. The music is catchy and the minigames are charming and quirky. It's a very simple game, but I've found it difficult to master (and not in an unfair way...in a challenging way), and I have a pretty good sense of rhythm. I'd definitely recommend it.

Bowser's Inside Story has great humor too I think. Another quirky title. Battles are turn based, but more engaging than the average RPG. You choose an attack, and then you have to execute it. If you time your button presses right, attacks can last longer and/or be more powerful (and if you mess them up, they won't be very effective). You can also defend/dodge attacks with good timing. My only complaint was that it was a little on the easy side. The story's no Chrono Trigger, but it's cute and funny (very appropriate for Mario).

I haven't played the other games, but hopefully that will give you a bit of an idea to help choose.

Wellll You've convinced me.
Yet I'm definitly going to pass on Viva Pinyata....I can't see myself playing it for too long and the only real reason why I liked the XBOX 360 original was because of the gorgeouse beautiful and colorful atmosphere and characters. I'd rather have it as screen saver than actually play the game, it's just so eye popping and stunning to look at. As for DK Jungle Climber, it's pricy on eBay that's for sure....And I'm still 50/50 on it.

Anyways, what about Picross? I'm kind of leaning towards no on that one. If I wan't to get my itty bitty puzzle fix on, than I'll go with Tetris DS instead.