DS Game Reviews
Review The Sims 2: Castaway (DS)
EA's best selling franchise relocates to a somewhat less comfortable environment - but is this a situation worth surviving?
In the modern world of capitalism it’s a commonly accepted fact that when a company hits upon a successful concept they’ll flog it for all it’s worth. This is clearly demonstrated by EA’s highly lucrative Sims franchise...
MySims arrives on the DS. Is it time to remove Animal Crossing: Wild World from your DS cart slot?
On paper EA’s MySims seems like the perfect game concept for the Nintendo DS. The machine has already proven it can play host to vibrant ‘virtual worlds’ thanks to Nintendo’s best selling Animal Crossing: Wild World. The enduring allure of the...
Altus bring us yet another slice of Japanese RPG gaming - but can Luminous Arc present a solid challenge to the best the genre has to offer?
While it’s certainly true that we’re all hardcore Ninty fans here at Nintendo Life, it would be silly to suggest we don’t dabble with rival systems from time to time. One manufacturer that is almost...
Review Dragon Ball Z: Goku Densetsu (DS)
Cardmehameha!
[screenshot=468bc2098dbeb]Card Based CombatSorry, I had the overwhelming urge to begin this review with a play on words involving DBZ and cards… and that was the best I could do! Anyway, to the point. Dragon Ball Z is quite easily the most recognisable cartoon to come out of Japan. I remember the days of my childhood where I would...
Review Worms: Open Warfare 2 (DS)
Worms kinda lost it’s way big time. Some games welcomed the switch into 3D, making them feel fresher, fuller and on the whole a lot more enchanting. Worms was not one of those games.
Last year, Team 17 decided to bring the series back to it’s routes. DS and PSP iterations of the game reminded us why the game was so crudely popular on the PC way...
The big city is here... on the little DS.
Sim City is arguably one of the best simulation games out there: it practically wrote the book on the genre. On the PC it's a tried and tested formula. But, never before has it made a comfortable transition to any other format. So, has Sim City DS achieved the grandeur of modern day society, or does it bear...
Review Guilty Gear: Dust Strikers (DS)
The cult 2D fighting game series makes its debut on the Nintendo DS, but has the magic of the previous titles been retained?
The Nintendo DS often represents a rather difficult proposition for developers. The unique nature of the hardware can sometimes pose a significant stumbling block when it comes to porting existing franchises to the popular...
Review Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (DS)
Can EA atone for the shameful lineage of Harry Potter games with their latest instalment on the Nintendo DS, or will this particular spell fizzle out like the rest?
If you’ve had the forethought to read our recent preview of the Wii version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (let’s compress that down to HP:OotP from hereon in) you’ll...
The DS certainly isn't short of puzzle games. Does Namco Bandai's latest release have enough charm to stand out from the crowd and represent a worthwhile purchase?
Handheld consoles and puzzle games go hand in hand. Through the history of portable entertainment every major machine has played host to at least one truly ‘essential’ puzzler. The...
The 'lost' Final Fantasy is at last made available to the English-speaking world. Is it a glorious reinvention of a genre classic, or merely a pointless step back in time?
Given the stature of the Final Fantasy series, it’s somewhat surprising to think that only very recently has the entire franchise been made available to a worldwide audience. Up...
Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube764k Watch on YouTube Review Pokemon Diamond & Pearl (DS)
Was it worth the long wait? (Yes!)
Pokémon fans have received three lackluster Pokémon Games since the Nintendo DS launch over two years ago. Pokémon Dash, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team, and Pokémon Ranger were poor offerings, almost as if Nintendo had simply slapped Pokémon on some generic games. Finally, four years after Ruby and...
Dream On Studio’s tribute to Sega’s ‘House of the Dead’ hits the DS – is it the sleeper hit of the year or as sad and shambling as the flesh-eating zombies contained within?
Zombies, eh? They seem to be everywhere these days. After starring in a seemingly endless flood of low-budget gore fests in the seventies, the festering undead enjoyed...
Resurrected from the PC original released in 1994, Theme Park on the Nintendo DS places you as the designer, developer and manager in a realistic and believable finance-based simulator.
Created by video game legend Peter Molyneux, Theme Park has a very simple concept on the surface but when you persevere with the title you will find there is a great...
Review Meteos: Disney Magic (DS)
Arguably the best DS puzzler in existence returns with a brand new appearance – but has this alliance with the House of Mouse sullied the game name of the series?
It’s never pleasant watching someone you admire sell out. Be it a band, sports personality or comedian, many of our heroes fall victim to the irresistible allure of cold, hard cash...
Tetris meets Final Fantasy? That can't work, surely? We lift the lid on one of the most interesting DS releases of the year.
When developers mix widely opposing game genres it usually results in a bit of a mess. This is the main reason why I initially gave Puzzle Quest a fairly wide berth when I saw it in my local videogame store a few weeks back...
The Wonderswan puzzler is reborn on the DS - but has Mizuguchi's Q Entertainment done enough to elevate it to truly classic status?
When Gameboy creator Gunpei Yokoi was tragically killed in a car accident in 1997 he was working on what he saw as the successor to Nintendo’s machine – the bizarrely named ‘Wonderswan’. When the handheld was...
Review Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (DS)
A return to the text-based games of the past
Hotel Dusk is entirely a throwback to retro text based games with some gameplay that really shines. You play the game horizontally (Brain Age style) and only use the touch screen. By conversing with the local hotel guests, bits and pieces of the back story of the mysterious hotel come about, as well as...
Review Diddy Kong Racing DS (DS)
The Nintendo 64 classic returns on DS, but how does it compare to Mario Kart DS?
Ah Diddy Kong Racing, one of my old friends, how nice to see you again. How fitting is it that Diddy Kong Racing is Rare's first DS title. One of my favorite games for the Nintendo 64, the game that in my opinion took Mario Kart 64 and improved on it in every possible...
Review Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS)
Konami's evergreen vampire hunting series drops by for a second bite on the Nintendo DS, but can it maintain the blistering pace set by Dawn of Sorrow?
Those of you lucky enough to have experienced the sublime Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow will no doubt be very excited by this latest release for the Nintendo DS. Once again Konami have settled on the...
As I have already stated in my preview the concept for Cooking Mama is utterly fantastic. To think that there are still companies out there that want to be original, that want to make something new and that want make use of Nintendo’s technology is quite heart warming to me.
Cooking Mama might not be the best game you’ll ever play. In fact – I...
Elite Beat Agents are GOO!!! -Commander Kahn Tap, slide, and spin your way through awesome songs in this interactive rhythm action game for the DS!
Elite Beat Agents are GO! Elite Beat Agents is unique, to say the least. It’s a rhythm action game, and the closest comparison would be to the PS1 classic Parappa the Rappa. You only use the stylus...
Review Densetsu no Stafi 4 (DS)
Starfish are so adorable... but hard to understand in Japanese
For many, this may be the first time of hearing the name Stafi. Over in the land of the rising sun the name is held in high regard, with several Stafi games out for the GBA/DS. Alas, all four of the Stafi games have never gone to retail outside of Japan, a huge shame. So without further...
Here is a little fact for you: Superman is shit. Why people choose him as their favourite superhero I will never know. How can you relate to an alien character that perfectly resembles a human and wears his underwear outside his tights? Oh and couple that with the fact he is perfectly invincible and it all gets a bit pointless really, doesn’t it?
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Crash landing on DS, mini games a plenty, but how does this measure up to previous Crash titles?
From what I remember Crash Bandicoot was pretty much written off from the first moment when he landed onto PlayStation consoles all those years ago, at least by the non-Sony crowd, he's no Mario or Sonic, right? To his credit, Crash re-appeared again and...
Review Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS)
Another handheld Castlevania?
Since the release of the absolute classic Symphony of the Night on the Playstation, the Castlevania series has metamorphasized from the original side scrolling action/platformers to sprawling adventures games, packed to bursting point with collectables, enemies and areas. Recent 3D incarnations have been incredibly hit...
Review Naruto: Saikyo Ninja Daikesshu 4 (DS)
Kage-Bunshin No-jutsu!
Naruto has become somewhat of a smash hit sensation over in Japan and now we find that its influence has made it to the West. The anime is airing in the US and UK (although the Japanese is far superior to the American version), but as of yet we haven't seen too many games outside of Japan.[screenshot=44ed88bce07ed]Frantic...
It's proven on consoles, but how will Burnout translate onto the handhelds?
The wonderful world of Burnout: easily my favourite racing series of the last decade. With Burnout: Revenge I'd even suggest that the series has surpassed the infamous Ridge Racer franchise. Each game in the series has developed further and always seems to improve. It's a...
For those of you who would love to play Breakout again.
If you've ever had an addiction for the game Breakout or Arkinoid, you may have interest in the DS game Break 'Em All, especially with the price tag of $19.99. There are 12 power ups you can gain, 50 pre-set levels to play, and a massive number of randomized levels. Unfortunately, this may not...
Review Trauma Centre: Under The Knife (DS)
Get prepped for surgery, stat!
Trauma Centre is one of those games that I never imagined would become a game. You play as a new, rookie surgeon. That's right, a doctor! Using the touch screen, you perform a variety of surgeries on all sorts of patients. From burning away tumors, to massaging someone's heart to resuscitate them. The game's...
It's actually not that bad...
Monster House, of course, is based on the movie that just got recently released. I must say that I'm quite surprised that the game isn't bad, for a movie tie-in game. The game is in the same style as Smash TV or Total Carnage, with great run and gun action, and a bird's eye view. I have not yet gotten a chance to see...
