Topic: Nintendo DS Hidden Gems

Drawn to Life, still have that lovely game and am trying to get my hands on the sequel.

If you can get hold of it, Suikoden Tierkreis! Should cost about £50-£60 but maybe more. If u like JRPGs then this one is a must. Not as good as Suikoden 2 but I think it's much better than 4 and 5 and close to being as good as the original.

9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors. It's one of my all time favourite games and seems to be well loved by its players, but it's not very well known. It's got such an interesting and gripping story.

Space Invaders Extreme

An excellent reboot of Space Invaders. It features extremely simple shmup gameplay that is almost rhythmic in it's style. It's also extremely challenging in later levels. It's a little short, but it has branching paths if you do good in a level, so playing through a level perfectly is important.

Tetris DS

I consider it to be the best iteration of Tetris out there. With several different modes that are different enough to be their own games. I think it's a blast to play!

Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero

This is the sequel to the Wii game Elebits, although the gameplay is hardly similar. It plays out in a Link to the Past sort of way where you solve puzzles and stuff. The boss fights are amazing by the way.

Mega Man Star Force (series)

Seriously wow if you haven't touched the Star Force series you missed out. It's kinda like battle network but I like the story and battles a bit better. Every battle is short and sweet and then you get those amazing boss battles that are intense. The story is fun to follow along with too.

Okay, time for the dumbest suggestion yet. Nintendo Touch Golf: Birdie Challenge. I know, a feaking golf game. But for some reason, I got totally hooked on it. So relaxing to play. What's odd is, I'm not in the slightest bit interested in golf but I love that game.

Seriously wow if you haven't touched the Star Force series you missed out.

I'll download it as soon as it comes to Wii U Virtual Console.

@Bass_X0 @Spin Yeah the Mega Man Star Force games are criminally underrated and overlooked, back in the day when they were on store shelves I kinda judged them as nothing but mere Battle Network Imitators and skipped them, but after giving them a shot in 2013 I came to immediately regret labeling the series initially, The battles have an insane amount of customization and freedom, and they were a lot more accessible than the Mega Man Battle Network series(which I also enjoy.) The storylines found in the 1st and 3rd Star Force games are surprisingly strong too, despite a few cheese moments or a few instances of awkward dialogue, they great character depth, growth and development, the 2nd game is much weaker in the story/writing department just putting that out there, it's way too cartoony at times and it basically just abandoned the tone and depth that made the first games storytelling very enjoyable, thankfully the third game brought the depth back to the storyline, and even took it up a notch to develop the main cast even more.

I really loved the series after playing them, and will gladly purchase them again if they ever come to the Wii U, Star Force became my 2nd favorite Mega Man series just behind the original Mega Man after I played through them, Star Force 3 is also in the running with a few other titles for my favorite Mega Man game ever made.

@3DiddyKong: So what genre are these Star Force games (I'm a complete MegaMan ignoramus)?

I need to visit this thread more often, I didn't realize discussion had turned to the Star Force series! It's criminally underrated, which is why I suspect there was never a fourth installment. Personally, I feel like the plot/mechanics got better with each game, but Star Force 3 (Black Ace/Red Joker) is by far the best.

@gcunit: I'd say it's a combination of a real-time tactical RPG and a trading card game. The battles are dynamic, and you win, buy, or trade for battle cards to use in said battles. There are many similarities to Mega Man Battle Network (its precursor series), but the battle system is very different from those games.

who remembers Advance Wars Dual Strike?
it was pretty popular when it came out, I think. but it's been a bit overshadowed by the two GBA games in recent years.
I've started playing it, and I forgot how good and robust it is. (I also forgot how bad I am at it.)

@gcunit Trinexx basically hit the nail on the head not much I can add to that, If you're ever curious about playing the series I recommend the 1st and the 3rd games wholeheartedly, and the 2nd if you enjoy your experience with 1 and/or 3, Star Force 2 is the most flawed game in the series and even as a big fan of Star Force I can't recommend it without warning that there's a lot of annoying issues that are present exclusively in that game and not the other two titles, It does have better visuals and more polished/refined battles than the original Star Force, but I felt MMSF2's mis-steps made it a much less enjoyable title than the original game.
I'd like to go more in-depth about what actually is wrong with Star Force 2, but I'm afraid I'd literally scare people off from playing it altogether, which isn't what I feel people should do, they should just know what they're getting into ahead of time, It's just a really bad pick to start the series off with.

@Trinexx The third game was by far my favorite, they really went out with a bang on that one, while the 2nd game made improvements to the battle system, in terms of polish and refinement, the 3rd game outright bends the rules and crafts a new experience out of it, While Star Force 1 and 2 definitely weren't strangers to the concept of performing combos, they weren't nearly on the same level as Star Force 3 is, MMSF3 is the most over the top game in all of the Mega Man RPGs yet it somehow maintains a feeling of control despite all of it's wild possibilities. I absolutely loved about every bit of Black Ace and Red Joker, gameplay, visuals, music, storyline etc. the game just gets so much right.

@3DiddyKong: I remember being nervous about reading all of the changes with Star Force 3, not thinking I would like them. Boy, was I pleasantly wrong. I think that's part of why I liked it so much - all of the endless possibilities in combat, particularly with Noise levels and forms. I've only played Black Ace since, like Pokemon, the general similarities mean that I normally pick up one version.

Pokémon Rangers: Shadows of Almia. Massive game with more than 30+ hours of gameplay, decent open world to explore (Might be rly boring at first but trust me, once u get to the ice palace doodoo gets real) (You catch Lucario, Heatran, Darkrai, Etc. in the end.)

Very good game

poop gets real in late part of the game

A definite must play.

@DeadlyChas3r
1. No profanity please...
EDIT: I'll leave the necrobump issue to other mods for this type of thread....>.>

The thread can stay open but yeah please watch the language.

Those looking for a slice-of-life/adventure/simulation experience will enjoy The Urbz: Sims in the City and The Sims 2. The Sims 2 is effectively a sequel to The Urbz with many of the same characters, mechanics and a similar touch-screen interface. Both games have a single-player campaign, however, there are plenty of activities and items to collect once the main game is completed. The Urbz is fairly lengthy while The Sims 2 is very short, and relies on the system clock to artificially prolong the experience. The Sims 2 is more fun to explore though, and the game randomly generates problems for you to solve even after completing the main game, so there always seems to be something for you to do. Those wanting to start at the beginning of this short but sweet series may also wish to consider tracking down The Sims: Bustin' Out on GBA (the Urbz recycles the engine from this game), which is unrefined in parts, but overall, the music, atmosphere, dialogue and characters are the best that the Sims handheld series has to offer (and is yet to be bested), and is one of those games that still hold very, very fond memories even after all these years (it was originally released in December 2003).

Orcs and Elves is also one of those games that I've just loved and played and replayed to death under every difficulty mode and unlocked every secret. Orcs and Elves is a throwback to dungeon crawlers of the late 80s and early 90s by John Carmack of iD Software (aesthetically, it strongly resembles the art style of the original DOOM and Heretic from the 90s) and plays out as a turn-based RPG. Such a fun, fun game, but unfortunately it must have performed really badly at retail as the mobile-exclusive sequel was never ported to the DS (nor any other device for that matter). These are the sorts of games I wish that would be released on the Wii U eShop, but sadly, third parties don't seem at all bothered to rerelease their catalogue titles.

Magical Starsign.

I love threads like this. A system like the DS that had such an enormous library is bound to have many hidden gems, and it is fun to seek them out. I went on a DS game buying spree a couple of summers ago and I'm still trying to play through them. I'm currently playing "The World Ends With You" for the first time and I can definitely say it's a fun, unique game. I look forward to buying a few of the games I see in this thread.

As far as some of my favorite hidden gems on the DS, here are a few:
-Picross 3D
-Civilization Revolution
-Worms: Open Warfare 2
-N+
-Elite Beat Agents
-Dragon Quest Rocket Slime
-Kirby Canvas Curse

I recently started collecting for the DS, so I've stumbled across a lot of great games. A few I'd recommend are Hotel Dusk Room 215, Glory of Heracles, and the Puzzle Quest Games. Hotel Dusk is basically a point-and-click noir mystery that's great all around, and feels much more real than many similar games, due to its downright fantastic writing. This one is somewhat hard to find, but isn't terribly expensive, as it can be found for less than $15 without too much effort. Glory of Heracles is a fairly by the books JPRG, but its ancient Greek setting and use of a mythos that most people are somewhat familiar with really sold me on it, as well as the sheer amount of various statistics, mechanics, and statuses that are involved in its combat system. The complexity may seem daunting, but it's surprisingly easy to grasp, but is still complex enough to interest players more familiar with JRPGs. This one is a little hard to find, and varies greatly in price. I've seen it go for anywhere between $5 and $35. Finally, the Puzzle Quest games are like a mix between Bejeweled and an old PC RPG like Baldur's Gate, relying on match three puzzles instead of a traditional combat system. The first one is more grand in scale, but consists almost entirely of puzzles, menus, and a world map, while the second takes place almost entirely within a massive dungeon and the surrounding town. Both are great, and incredibly cheap, normally going for about $5.

My list
1. Final Fantasy 4 Heroes of Light- I think this game inspired Bravely Default for 3DS. I like the changes they made to this FF game.
2. Final Fantasy 12: Revenant Wings-Yes a DS game, sort of like FF and Pikmin mixed together Completely different from any other FF game I've played, and I really liked the change! This game really caught my attention.
-I never hear anyone talk about these two FF games. I really enjoyed playing them!
3. Puzzle Quest. I bought this for about $2. Like candy crush within a medieval world and you can level up your hero and abilities. I also got part 2 (have to beat pt.1 first)- Puzzle Quest: Galactrix. Takes place in outer space. Not sure why creators went with another world.
4. Marvel Card Game. I've seen at low price. Generic title and tends to look grainy. However, good if you like card games. It's fun when you include different teams like X-Men, Fantastic 4, and Avengers Can get really tough at times.
5. The World Ends With You. Played this a long time ago, and I'm still waiting for a sequel! Cool game!!! I was impressed with the battle system. I was hoping they would make a new one for PS4
-I'm going to check out some of these other suggestions!