Update: A big thank you to everybody who has already voted when this went live over the weekend - to anyone who missed it, feel free to dive in below and help us rank the top 50 Nintendo DS games ever. Carry on!
Later this year we'll be celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Nintendo DS, a handheld console that drew scorn and confusion from many when it was first revealed, but evolved from its initial 'third pillar' status to conquer the handheld gaming market and influence Nintendo systems to this very day.
Soon we'll be posting up the 50 best Nintendo DS games ever and, as with our features on the Best Switch Games, Best 3DS Games and the Best Game Boy Games, the ranking will be entirely down to User Ratings from the Nintendo Life Games database. Readers can rate any game they like and after a minimum threshold has been reached, that game becomes eligible for the list according to its overall rating. The ranking is fluid and can fluctuate over time.
We've updated our database to include all Nintendo DS titles and we'd love for you to rate your favourites using the specially designed tool below. Once you're logged in, simply scroll through the alphabetical list and click the star to bring up a rating of 1-10. Click to score your favourites and you're all done! The search bar at the top of the list can be used to save scrolling through 19 (!) pages of games - simply type in the name you're looking for and rate it from the results that pop up. If you need a reminder on a particular game, feel free to click the game title and check out our vintage reviews and screenshots.
So, we invite you to debate sensibly, deliberate seriously, decide speedily and certainly don't stop until you've rated your favourite Nintendo DS games below...
15 years since the DS launched (in North America)?? And we thought the Game Boy's 30th anniversary made us feel old! Thanks for voting - we'll be sharing the results soon, but in the meantime feel free to reminisce about your favourite games with 'D____ S____' crowbarred into the subtitle below...
Comments (155)
No, Gavin. You can't tell me what to do. I am autonomous!
...Suzuki Super-Bikes II: Riding Challenge was pretty good tho...
Gosh... So many choices!
Okay, my NDS games I have so far:
USA
1. Animal Boxing
2. Camping Mama Outdoor Adventures
3. Cooking Mama 2
4. Cooking Mama 3
5. Crafting Mama
6. Gardening Mama
7. Final Fantasy III
8. Final Fantasy IV
9. Golden Sun Dark Dawn
10. Super Princess Peach
11. Hi Hamtaro! Ham Ham Challenge
12. Imagine Boutique Owner
13. Imagine Resort Owner
14. My Sims
15. My Sims Kingdom
16. My Sims Party
17. My Sims Agents
18. Pokemon Black 2
19. Pokemon White 2
Japan
20. Kurikin: Nano Island Story
21. Bomberman Custom Battler
22. Ochaken no Daibouken 1
23. Ochaken no Daibouken 2
24. Koinu no Heya
25. Ochaken no Heya 3
26. Ochaken no Heya 4
27. Minna no Convenni
28. Minna no Doubutsuen
29. Minna no Suizokukan
30. Kirei Zukin Seikatsu 2
31. Post Pet DS
32. Zettai Onkan Otoda Master (Best Price)
Europe
33. Super Teacher: The Crazy School
It's only when you see a list like this you realise how much dross got released to the DS. I know you have to use the full list for fairness but you could've cut 50% of those off and save us 10 pages. All the licensed tie ins aren't going trouble the final list!
Wish we get a Pokemon Conquest 2 someday. I really like that game.
Getting in early before people forget about Lock’s Quest! The finest original 3rd party offering!!!
I only got into the DS in 2016! For a long time I stuck with GBA (not that in played hand held very often) until I got a 2DS in 2013. However, I never bought any DS games until I saw a like new condition black DS lite in a charity shop, complete in box with Professor Layton and the Curious Village. I think the system had been turned on once! For £30 it seemed like a good deal as an update for GBA games and a nice donation to charity.
What a great system! I can’t believe I let it pass me by. The use of the dual screen and touch screen (which I thought was a gimmick back in 2004 on the ugly original ‘phat’ model) is used in a superb way at times (and this was years before touch screen smart phones became the norm). Much better use than anything I’ve since seen on the 3DS (and I like that system).
Since then I’ve built a small library of about 20 games and have also got a black DSi, but the lite is probably my favourite handheld, along with the GBC and 2DS/New 3DS.
Tetris DS has got to be my fave, but Elite Beat Agents and Contra 4 aren’t far behind!
I love that ALL 3 DS Castlevania games are on the photo
The DS was Pokemon dominated for me.
1. Pokemon Black/White
2. Pokemon Black 2/White 2
3. Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver
4. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum
5. Animal Crossing Wild World
6. Mario Kart DS
7. Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
The Ace Attorney games (Apollo Justice and the Miles Edgeworth spin-offs) deserve to be on the list, too, but I played them much more recently than the other games and haven't factored them in yet.
Animal Crossing: Wild World, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Retro Game Challenge, Elite Beat Agents, and Space Invaders Extreme would be my top five.
I loved Tony hawk's American sk8land, was so much better than the console equivalent, brought it back to Pro skater basics!
I played New Super Mario Bros. so much when I was a kid, I used to be able to tell what level was being played just by the music and sounds alone. That game and Mario Kart DS were my first proper introduction to gaming, and such amazing games to start with too!
Big Bang Mini and Soul Bubbles are some hidden gems on DS if anyone is interested. Wouldn't say they make my top 10 but they're definitely worth playing.
Dragon Quest 9
Perfect score in Famitsu Magazine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famitsū_scores
I am hoping Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes gets some love. It really is the pinnacle of the puzzle RPG genre.
Elite Beat Agents and the Ouendan games are top for me.
The Phoenix Wright series comes in not far behind.
A lot of great choices. The Advance Wars games are fantastic. I'm also getting into Dragon Quest for the first time, so I'm hoping to have a lot of fun with IV, V, VI, and IX.
Also dat Chrono Trigger port.
Best games . . .
Look, all I know is that the DS Lite is still probably Nintendo's slickest looking system of all time imo (black version for me). The thing is just gorgeous:
I wish the new Switch systems looked half a slick, especially the kinda cheap and Tonka-toyish looking Switch Lite, which doesn't really come close as far as I'm concerned:
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Contra 4
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
Easily my five favorite games on the system. Interesting how they're all third-party exclusives.
This made me realise I have played every pokemon ds game except conquest and typing. I wish I didn’t sell my ds, wii and gameboy collection to fund a wiiU. (Yes I sold a CIB pokemon heartgold with pokewalker for €0,50, I will always regret that.)
Hopefully all the Pokémon games are accounted for this time.
Here's what I voted for mainly hoping they show up on the 50th greatest games:
-Sonic Rush
-Hotel Dusk
-Trace Memory
-Big Bang Mini
-Cooking Mama 2
-Lego SW Complete Saga
-AAI Miles Edgeworth
-TWEWY
A lot of people don't like the Kingdom Hearts games on the DS, and I see why, but 358/2 Days is probably my favorite KH.
I don't expect to see it on the list but I still ranked it high.
I found that this database is missing Bejeweled 3, only Bejeweled Twist is there, which is inferior imo!
How long will this poll be live for? You can't just ask someone for their top 10 games lol! (Well...me anyway :/ )
So many hours playing Clubhouse Games. Still play it now and then sometimes. Love that jazzy music.
When the ds came out I was very young- so I only really played very few games, mostly games that if I played now I would hate, and wouldn’t be able to play since I gave them away; the likes of club penguin, some dinosaur game and fifa(ugh).
The decent titles I can think of (and I still have) are the standard games everyone had, Mario Kart ds, new super Mario bros, animal crossing wild world, Pokemon mystery dungeon and the legend of Harry Potter years 1-4, a piece of art in my opinion.
Pokemon white, Professor Layton and the curious village and the Legend of Zelda phantom hourglass for me.
Darn. I just got Pokémon Conquest and the two Advance War games very recently so I haven’t had the chance to play them. I guess I’ll just stick to what I know but Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: EoT is still taking my #1 spot since it’s the one game I refuse to overwrite my save for just for all the good memories I have with it.
Mario and luigi bowsers inside story is my absolute favorite, and some others i really love is 9hours 9 persons 9 doors, The world ends with you, Ace attorney, sonic colors, and fire emblem shadow dragon
These are the games that I put the most amount of time into. Listed Alphabetically since I don't have a ranked order yet.
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
Advance Wars: Dual Strike
Aliens: Infestation
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Clubhouse Games
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition
Mario Kart DS
New Super Mario Bros.
Scribblenauts
Super Scribblenauts
These are the ones that I can think of off hand. I thought of several more, but then realized that those were 3DS games, not DS games. So, If I can think of more, I'll post them later. But for now, these are the DS games that I played the most.
i did not know a doctor who game for the ds existed before now...
The world ends with you, Dragon Quest IX, Pokemon Platinum. Advance Wars, Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing..
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2
Fossil Fighters
Fossil Fighters Champions
Mario Kart DS
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Mario Party DS
New Super Mario Bros.
Pokemon Black/White
Pokemon Black/White 2
Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver
Pokemon Platinum
Pokemon Rangers
Super Mario 64
The Legendary Starfy
Yoshi's Island DS
My top choices have to be 999, TWEWY, and Ghost Trick. I also loved the Professor Layton games, pokemon games, Ace Attorney games... the DS sure had some great stuff!
Feel the Magic: XY/XX isn't listed, just FYI. I know Project Rub is technically the same thing, but you also listed both Prof. Layton/Diabolical Box AND Prof. Layton/Pandora's Box, so...
And man, you forget just how much shovelware was on the DS until it's all laid in front of you.
Absolutely love DS and its game selection. I know I'd write a huge wall of text that no one would read if I were to elaborate so I'll just rate games instead.
TWEWY, Elite Beat Agents, Ace Attorney, Dragon Quest IX, HeartGold... the list goes on! Truly the best library of a single console.
Wowzers. So many choices. But my top 10 DS games are...
1. Pokémon Black/White
2. Super Mario 64 DS
3. Kirby Super Star Ultra
4. New Super Mario Bros
5. Mario Kart DS
6. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story
7. Kingdom Hearts: Re:coded
8. Tony Hawk’s American Sk8land
9. Yoshi’s Island DS
10. Grid
Mario Kart DS easily my favourite. I consider it the best Mario Kart as well, in front of DoubleDash
We all love Castlevania and Kirby, but don't forget about the little guys! Lots of gems like Monster Tale and Scurge: Hive on that list.
Ah, the memories... I remember being in my grandfather’s truck in the parking lot of a Target when I opened my first ever real game system: a Diamond & Pearl themed DS Lite, complete with LEGO Star Wars 2 and a bonus DVD of a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon anime episode. This system is what started it all for me! I hope some of my favorite games make it to the list!
I was worried this list wouldn't have Cory in the House; its proper name is "Disney's Cory in the House," for those who love the game as much as I do, and want to give it 10/10.
All of the DS Castlevania games are among my favorite DS games. Kinda disappointing that we never had a proper Metroid game since that is my favorite Nintendo IP.
Just finished going thru the database and there were 32 pages so I don't know about those 19 pages mentioned in the article.
The DS is among my favorite systems. The games I gave the top rating are the ones I would still return to. Some of the less mentioned ones are:
Contra 4
Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (Yay for the 3DS Fan-Translation!)
Final Fantasy 4 Heroes of Light
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Echoes of Time
Pac-Pix
Sonic Colours
Sonic Rush
@SpicyBurrito16 Finally someone else that enjoyed Re:Coded. I never understood why people hated it. The graphics are amazing for the DS and the leveling up system is sweet.
@nintendolie The only correct answer.
Dragon Quest Monster Joker 2 is acepted too.
@Bomberman64 when Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded released, I didn’t really like it that much. But then, I decided to revisit the game, and I gave it another chance. And it’s was really good. Sure it has some flaws, but I still enjoyed it.
Okay this list is huge!
Vote all JRPG
I struggled with this one, didn't spend as much time with the DS as I'd thought... top games were Phantom Hourglass, Mario Kart, and Pokemon HeartGold.
I didn't wind up giving anything a 10 though. I couldn't think of one killer game that really felt like it deserved a 10. Normally Zelda is my highlight with each console, but the Zeldas for the original DS were in my opinion the weakest since the NES era. I think that might be part of the reason I never connected as strongly with the system as a whole.
Phantom Hourglass and The World Ends With You are probably my top games. Good memories with both.
My picks (in no particular order):
Animal Crossing Wild World
Rhythm Heaven
Pokemon Platinum
Pokemon Ranger
Brain Age
Wario ware
Pokemon HeartGold
-Hotel Dusk
-Trace Memory
And I always wanted to play Solatorobo: Red the Hunter but I never find it for a decent price
Wish the poll included dsiware games, Shantae: Risky’s Revenge was one of my favorites games on the ds.
Just voted for my picks, Sonic Rush, Sega Superstars Tennis (great for a quick play on a handheld IMO), Mario Kart DS, Diddy Kong Racing DS and GoldenEye 007.
Fond memories playing these, especially Sonic Rush, use to play that with classmates over local wireless and Download Play a lot.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky is without a doubt my favorite Game on the DS.
My 2nd Favorite would be Retro Game Challenge.
Mario Kart DS remains my choice for #1. Hundreds of hours spent playing that with friends. Best handheld multiplayer game ever.
Broken Sword
Hotel Dusk
Phoenix Wright
Rayman
Phantom Hourglass
Trace Memory
Trauma Centre: Under the Knife
I still have Zero Escape and Spyro: Shadow Legacy to play and played a lot of GBA games on the Lite too.
I put my votes in for:
Mega Man Zero Collection
Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow
Kirby Squeak Squad
Mega Man ZX
@AlienX Have you played the sequel to Hotel Dusk? Since you say "Trace Memory" instead of "Another Code", I assume you're from NTSC region, where the masterpiece called "Last Window" wasn't released. Another Code / Trace Memories, Hotel Dusk, and Last Window, are some of my fondest memories of the DS.
my personal favs out of a small library:
Mario and Luigi: BIS
NSMB
Mario 64 DS
Kirby Mass Attack
Also I've played ports of all the Ace Attorney 1-4 but im not sure if that counts?
No one's mentioning Spirit Tracks yet, which IMO is easily better than Phantom Hourglass because it doesn't have the giant boring stealth dungeon you have to do over and over again.
Also: GTA Chinatown Wars is one of my favourite GTA games.
Oh, and I played Meteos so much it permanently marked my touch screen with vertical swipes.
Not mentioned yet either: Wario Ware Touched
Animal Crossing: Wild World
Hotel Dusk
Clubhouse Games - which was my first taste of handheld online gaming.
And Resident Evil: Deadly Silence. I remember being amazed that a full PlayStation CD's worth of data could fit on a tiny DS cartridge. In a time after the REmake came out, I still love playing the original, and the DS incarnation was quite good!
(EDIT: I mistakenly typed New Leaf when I meant Wild World)
@flapjack-ashley i think its just the normal ds, not 3ds
Bowsers inside story is probably my favourite game on the system, followed by Pokemon BW2 and HG/SS.
I was 15 when the DS phat released, so it was the perfect time for me to get into it. I had disposable income, but the job was part time so I had tons of free time, and almost no friends so I wasn't spending it going out. This means that I basically spent most of my money buying any DS game that caught my eye. Thats probably why its my most nostalgic console ever (That and tons of Super Mario 64 multiplayer with my brother and 1 friend, as well as puyo pop)
Avalon Code
999
Ghost Trick
Rhythm Heaven
Kirby Super Star Ultra
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Ace Atorrney (All of them)
Elite Beat Agents is the gave I keep going back to.
@AlienX I loved the story of Kingdom Hears 358/2 Days and it touched me. It makes Re:coded a mess in comparison.
idk l hardly played a lot of dsi games because l never owned that many.
l guess it will be mk ds because l played that dsi game the most.
New Super Mario Bros. Mario Kart DS, Ghost Trick and, you better believe it, Michael Jackson: The Experience.
Oh! Oh! Soul Bubbles, that game was wonderful, I hope some of you guys experienced that little gem.
Definitely missing a game or two. One that I noticed was Dragonball origins 2
Dragon Quest IX Sentinels of the Starry Skies is my favorite DS game
The three Castlevania games had better do well in this poll. They're the DS games I've spent the most time with by far.
...aside from Pokémon, come to think of it.
Every game I gave a 9+ to:
-Ace Attorney 1-3
-Ghost Trick
-Mario Kart DS
-Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
-Kirby Canvas Curse and Superstar Ultra
-999
-Okamiden
-The World Ends With You
-Radiant Historia
-Rhythm Heaven
-Retro Game Challenge
-Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
-a couple of Pokemon games
-Tetris DS
-Advance Wars DS
-Meteos
-Sonic Rush Adventure
Rhythm Heaven, Wario Ware and Professor Layton for me. And Shin Megami Tensei.
Pokemon mystery dungeon explorers of sky is my favourite, but dragon quest 9, spectrobes, spirit tracks, and bowsers inside story are amazing too
Ouendan 1 and 2 were such fun, which made the 3DS region lock more annoying to me. I was a big fan, bought an early silver launch model, then the DS lite. I played so many games on the DS, recently picked up a new 2DSXL and am going to get back into DS games using that, as games look decent on there at their original resoultion. Still not bothered with the Switch, ha!
The Advance Wars games on DS are pure gold, so fun! Mario Kart DS blew me away when I first played it. It looks so amazing running at 60fps on the little DS screen! All the Castlevania games are great too. And all the DS games I've mentioned run at 60fps. I wish I could say the same about Fire Emblem 3 Houses and the Kirby game on Switch!
Ok idk but I think twewy is the best game on the system. It's definitely not for everyone but you can't argue that the battel mechanics are unlike any other and you can spend hundreds of hours and still find new things, wich is something most ds games don't offer.
Problem, you have two separate listings for the second Layton game (pandora's box/diabolical box)
My favouries in no particular order:
Aliens: Infestation
Contra 4
Broken Sword
Secret Files: Tunguska
Resident Evil: Deadly Silence
Safe Cracker
Konami Arcade Classics
Namco Museum DS
Jake Hunter D.S.: Memories of the Past
Last Window
Edit: Almost forgot one of the most important ones
Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy
(that almost feels like its a survival horror game)
@Shambo Yep, had it released here I definitely would have picked it over Dusk, I also figure it might be more recognizable than Last Window.
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia is my number 1.
This game is 10 times better than Bloodstained.
Yeah, I gave Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter ten stars. What of it? It's basically the DS's Mother 3 in terms of thematic complexity and emotional impact.
And of course, I'm contractually obligated to praise Kirby Mass Attack. That one's friggin' excellent.
@MushHill_Act1-1 Amen to that! You've got a great list there. =]
Pokemon platinum
Pokemon black
Pokemon black 2
Pokemon rangers guardian signs
Pokemon soul silver
For the sake of fairness I'm going to ignore the fact that some of these games have received updated releases later on on the 3DS (Also ignoring Chrono Trigger since I associate that one much more with the SNES).
Here's my top 10 DS games:
1. Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey
2. Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon
3. Advance Wars Days of Ruin
4. Dragon Quest 4 Chapters of the Chosen
5. Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor
6. Etrian Odyssey 3
7. Pokemon Black/White 1
8. Dark Spire
9. Castlevania Order of Ecclesia
10. Retro Game Challenge
I hope Nintendo doesn’t let Dual Screen gaming die. How about this idea: allowing a player to use a Switch Lite as a controller for a docked Switch, opening up Dual Screen gaming. I’d bite, especially if they opened up DS/3DS back catalogs. Ohhhh wishful thinking, how you comfort me so.
Nintendo should’ve released retail DS games on the 3DS eShop. I’d spent a couple of hundred dollars on DS games that I never got.
There's no Slitherlink on the Nintendolife database? That one received a well-deserved 10/10 from Eurogamer!
@shgamer I forgot that great Aliens game, ended a bit abruptly but was a great 2D take on the films.
The World Ends With You tops the list for me. It’s pretty much just my favourite game. However, Ghost Trick deserves full marks too - couldn’t really give it less than a 10, even if I love TWEWY more.
Must admit, I’m really looking forward to seeing this list. Where does Super Robot Wars make it? Which Castlevania takes the prize? (Well, it’ll be Dawn of Sorrow, but which one comes third?)
@Ristar24
Yes, it is a very good 2D action adventure.
Done. So many great titles but kicking the system off with Super Mario 64 DS set the bar pretty high. New Super Mario Bros is overrated IMO.
Missing some games out of my top 10 list:
And seemingly many more are missing.
999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
There are some games missing from this list, including apparently all of the DSiWare titles, and at least one physical release — Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. (I give it a 7/10.)
My top 10.
1. Advanced Wars: Days of Ruin
2. Legend of Zelda, The: Spirit Tracks
3. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
4. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
5. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
6. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
7. World Ends with You, The
8. Okamiden
9. Legend of Zelda, The: Phantom Hourglass
10. Dementium II
Advance Wars Dual Strike.
Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver
Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon
Pokemon Platinum
Crono Trigger
Also did we skip the Game Boy Advance and Game Boy color? Or did I miss them?
I really enjoyed Custom Robo Arena 😊 (9* instead of 10*, due to the final boss difficulty) and Final Fantasy III, the later I bought it again a few years ago. Also had fun in multiplayer with MK DS even with the CPUs. I loved to use the Mushrooms to steal the last balloon to them. And of course, Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (DS), which I like a lot.
@impurekind mmmm. Well I could maybe, maybe agree with you. 8 have a enamel navy Japanese import and its gorgeous!
Been playing advance wars today and still a blast.
The gba sp was alsoma fave from a design POV.
@oats-81 I played Clubhouse Games so much, the connectors on the game card are going bad.
Metroid Prime Hunters for me. Between 100%ing it like 4 - 5 times and playing it to death vs. Bots and online, I must've put close to a 1000 hours in that game. Easily my most played game ever if I don't count MMOs.
And even here the touch screen excelled, because what an unexpected treat it was for FPS games. So fast and accurate. I miss that stuff.
Orcs and Elves was the last iD Software game (pre-Bethesda) on a Nintendo platform until Doom in 2017.
I friggin' loved Orcs and Elves. It was a classic-style dungeon crawler in a fantasy setting with very Doom-like graphics, and I don't even like the fantasy genre, but I've played O&E numerous times, completing it at every difficulty. One of my absolute favourite games. A sequel was released exclusively for mobiles (pre-smartphone era) but was never seen since.
My favorite games (in no particular order):
Brain Age
Rythm Heaven
Pokemon ranger
Pokemon HeartGold
Pokemon Platinum
WarioWare DS
Animal Crossing Wild World
The World Ends With You
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Mario Party DS
Favorite DS game is Metroid Prime Hunters easily. The system is home to plenty of my favorites though like Sonic Rush, New Super Mario Bros, WarioWare: Touched, Tetris DS, Animal Crossing: Wild World, LoZ: Phantom Hourglass, Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol, Pokémon Black, etc in their respective series.
I voted for any game that I have owned.
@Silly_G This comments thread is good for recommendations, never heard of Orcs and Elves but as a fan of Dungeon Master, looks like my type of game, be looking that one up!
Man, I’ll have to go reach into my memory banks!
At least:
Ghost Trick, the Castlevania games, the Ace Attorney games, Layton games, Glory Days 2, Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier, Elite Beat Agents, Rhythm Heaven, Supersonic Warriors 2, Meteos, Civilization Revolution, Contra 4, Dark Spire, SMT, Etrian Odyssey, The Last Window, Warioware, so many good games on DS.
TWEWY, elite beat agents, Dragon quest (s), FF tactics, NSMB, Rhythm Heaven, LoZ:PH, Bowser's inside story, ...
I bought a DS and clubhouse games for my grandmother...
@KIRO Yeah, the [black] GBA SP was also rather lovely, and so compact. And so too was the Game Boy Micro for that matter (very slick).
Actually, here's a list of quite a few consoles I just love the look of:
https://inceptionalnews.wordpress.com/2016/07/28/video-game-consoles-ive-always-loved-the-look-of/
Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
GTA: Chinatown
Pokemon Pearl
Mario Kart DS
Few others i can't think of right now.
DS was a good handheld but it was filled with a ridiculous amount of shovel ware.
I will say this though, the DS wasn't just Nintendo's best selling hardware of all time, it actually made Nintendo into the company we know today, after the GameCube, Nintendo's fortunes were at their lowest it had ever been. They concentrated on power over fun and it hadn't paid off... twice...
The GBA while great, sold less than the Gameboy, the GameCube got hammered something awful and Microsoft had just thrown it's hat into the ring. It was a tough time for Nintendo.
Then came the DS... oh man everything changed, especially with the DS Lite. The DS allowed Nintendo to make the risk they made with the Wii, i didn't much like the Wii but i can't deny it really did bring home the bread. Definitely the most profitable venture Nintendo had done, all because the DS was a ridiculous hit.
Star Patrol
Henry Hatsworth
Theme Park
999
Pokemon Soul Silver
Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon
Mario and Luigi - Partners In Time
Crono Trigger
Glad to see a lot of love for the grossly underrated Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.
Releasing it on PSP and iOS seemed pointless as they also have access to the Stories and PS2-era games, and it defeated the purpose of why Chinatown Wars had been made in the first place.
What made Chinatown Wars so great is that it was tailor-made for the DS and was in so many ways better for it than its console brothers. My imagination was racing when it was first announced, and while it did not live up to my expectations from a graphical standpoint, it was certainly a hell of a lot more fun than I had anticipated.
The Urbz: Sims in the City, the sequel to the excellent GBA version of The Sims: Bustin' Out, tipped me into buying a DS, my very first console, handheld or otherwise. Knowing that another sequel, The Sims 2, was also on its way, with very completely different games on both DS and GBA, was also a deciding factor (the DS game was pretty good, albeit light on content, while the GBA game was utter crap; little did I know that the worst was yet to come).
I couldn't afford any other games for a while, after having bought the console and Urbz, so I must have completed The Urbz eight times before buying any more games.
I didn't have much money during those days, but if I had, I would probably have three times the library than I have now.
@Heavyarms55 Dont worry they haven't been done yet. So far there's been polls for switch, 3ds and now ds
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky.
I’ve played all kinds of DS games, and nothing comes close.
The ones I remember playing the most and the ones I voted for were
▪Animal Crossing Wild World
▪Pokémon Diamond & Perl
▪Pokémon Heartgold & Soulsilver
▪Pokémon Ranger
▪TloZ Phantom Hourglass
▪Mario Kart DS
▪Mario Party DS
▪Super Mario 64 DS
▪Professor Layton 1-3
▪Bomberman Land Touch!
▪Transformers Autobots
▪Harry Potter 5
Rebought a DSLite recently to transfer Pokémon which has prompted me to dive back into some DS games, it's got a really wide catalogue and a lot of solid titles. As a whole I think 3DS is one of my favourite consoles, largely because it's got an even better catalogue, backed up by the virtual console and DS compatability.
I'm going to make this my first ever comment on here, been reading and following since 2012 but never commented, can't resist posting a top 10 on an article like this though ... No particular order, just alphabetical!
1. Batman: The Brave and the Bold
2. Chibi-Robo! Park Patrol
3. Custom Robo Arena
4. Dragon Quest IX
5. Infinite Space
6. Kirby Superstar Ultra
7. Lunar Knights
8. Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time
9. Solatorobo: Red the Hunter
10. Sonic Rush
...
Honourable mention. 999, Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors.
Lovely to meet you all ... Mwah
Gonna be honest, the DS was mostly a Pokémon machine for me. So pretty much all mainline games are in my top 10. And then followed by the Ace Attorney games and the Professor Layton series
I enjoyed chrono trigger, Dragon quest V, radiant historia, Zelda Phantom hourglass, Castlevania, pokemon games, rhytm heaven, rune factory
I only have a handful of DS games:
Super Mario 64 DS
New Super Mario Bros.
Star Fox Command
Pokémon Pearl
Pokémon Black
Metroid Prime Hunters
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Spyro: Shadow Legacy
Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2
The Ace Attorney Trilogy (on the 3DS)
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
@astrofan1993 Out of all of these, I'd say my least favorite was Star Fox Command. So many things, from the time limits, to the game being very stingy on items, to the turn-based map screen, hampered the gameplay experience for me. It could have been a great game if they omitted or altered those features.
Spyro: Shadow Legacy was probably another one that wasn't too great, either. It was more of an RPG-style game, and wasn't as cartoony as previous entries in the series. Even the GBA Spyro games were better than Shadow Legacy.
And while The Force Unleashed doesn't hold a candle to its console brethren, it still holds up as a game, at the very least.
Metroid Prime Hunters could be quite frustrating for completionists, given that you had to use your scan visor for literally everything, even for the second forms for every boss.
But if there is one game I can say is my favorite, it's Super Mario 64 DS. Super Mario 64 was already my favorite Mario game (and favorite video game, period), but the DS version expanded on the original game, making so much better in my opinion.
So many to choose from...
These are the ones I gave a 10 rating...
*999
*Ghost Trick
*Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations
*WarioWare Touched
*Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
*Elite Beat Agents
*Super Princess Peach
I find these are the ones I replay the most.
Pokémon platinum, explorers of Sky, spectrobes, and transformers rotf
Have to agree with all the praise for Advanced Wars, Pokemon, Chrono Trigger, Animal Crossing, Chinatown wars., etc., but also spent loads of time on 42 All Time Classics, even bought two copies as I lost one.
@Baker1000 but to be fair, that might cut out someone's favourite
For example, I selected Monster Racers and Dino Master
Dragon Quest IV is my favorite Nintendo DS game.
I voted Nintendo Touch Golf. It is, no joke, my favourite Nintendo DS game.
Fossil Fighters Champions and Sonic Rush baybee
I declared my love for Bomberman series many times before, i'll do it again. Touch! and its sequel are among best installments of this franchise, Bomberman 2 is also very good. I haven't played that much of Story DS, but it seems like a solid JRPG.
Also every game where Shu Takumi was involved is a masterpiece. You should play Ghost Trick, your kids and grandkids should play it, ghosts of your ancestors should play it too.
Amazing how many I bought on the console. Probably the most I have ever bought on a single console.
Hard to pick favorites after Tetris DS, which is obv at the top of my list...but I'll try
Went through all 19 pages! That added a lot of games to my Collection page, lol.
DS had the holy trinity of Castlevania games, I'll be really disappointed if they don't show on top of the poll results
@Hissscratch139 you mean lego harry potter right? i played them on the wii, a lot of fun : )
N+ by Metanet
The reason I purchased a 3ds (even though it was a ds game) and the reason I purchased a PlayStation 4 (to play N++)
There's so many games for that beloved system but each time I think of it the first game that always pops in my mind is GTA China Town Wars, such a quality handheld title.
I had the PSP as well back in the day and thought that reverted back to the birds eye view of the earlier games would make it worse than the PSP ones but boy was I wrong. But Vice City Stories had the best sound track.
The DS is a truly magnificent system.
My faves:
Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes
SD Gundam G Generation DS
Chrono Trigger
Rocket Slime
Jump Superstars
Space Invaders Extreme
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Jump Super Stars
Hotel Dusk is an underrated gem
Looking forward to seeing the results. I sold my DS and most of the games to fund the 3DS back in 2011. I often think about rebuilding my collection now especially as some of the games are pretty cheap on eBay. The top 50 list will be a good resource for me to use to make sure I pick up the best ones. The DS lite and Professor Layton was my entry way into becoming a Nintendo fan. I soon got sick of puzzle games and started to explore Zelda and RPGs and never looked back.
@Knighty_IX Looking at your list is making me nosatlgic...
Ghost Trick
Tetris DS
Jump Ultimate Stars
definitely Zero Collection!
Here are my personal top 10 favorites of the games I played, with honorable mentions to loosely connected "similar" games that I left off the main list to try to give it some variety:
1. Mario Kart DS
HONORABLE MENTION: Metroid Prime: Hunters
2. Animal Crossing: Wild World
HONORABLE MENTION: Scribblenauts
3. Kirby: Canvas Curse
HONORABLE MENTION: Electroplankton
4. WarioWare D.I.Y.
HONORABLE MENTION: Retro Game Challenge
5. Trauma Center: Under the Knife
HONORABLE MENTION: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
6. Professor Layton and the Curious Village
HONORABLE MENTION: Hotel Dusk: Room 215
7. New Super Mario Bros.
HONORABLE MENTION: Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
8. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
HONORABLE MENTION: Pokemon Black
9. Picross 3D
HONORABLE MENTION: Tetris DS
10. Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day!
HONORABLE MENTION: Nintendogs: Lab & Friends
@oh_no_melon Only one other than me who mentions Bangai-O. For me, it's not only my favorite DS game, but my favorite game of all time.
Couple of games not getting love in the comments:
Contact (really strange RPG gave me serious Earthbound-like feeling)
Metroid Prime Pinball
Diddy Kong Racing (my favourite thing was replacing the sound effects with whatever I wanted and drawing my own art for parts of the levels - great customization options)
Love finding new games I've not heard of but that make people's favourites lists:
@NF6429 Spectrobes added to the collection - thanks
@Reigestugatensho @nilcam Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars added to the collection - thanks
@johnlawrence92 Lunar Knights added to the collection - thanks
@Silly_G Orcs & Elves added to the collection - thanks
@wazlon @AlienX Big Bang Mini added to the collection - thanks
@gcunit : Nice.
I recall the rave reviews surrounding Big Bang Mini, but never got around to picking it up.
I have too many barely played (and many not played at all!) DS/3DS games as it is, so I'm not looking to expand my collection any further. It's Switch all the way from here with only the odd 3DS session.
Space Invaders Extreme 2 was a blind-buy that I just happened to spot. It was only AU$20 at the time, so I thought why not. I enjoyed my time with it, though it didn't seem to be packed with a lot of content. I seem to recall that download play sold me on it (among the very best features of DS/3DS games).
Puzzle Bobble Galaxy was one that I kicked myself for not grabbing as soon as I had seen it (and it was only $20 too, from memory). I would never see it again. There was a new instalment that I believed was a launch period game on 3DS but reviewed poorly.
I usually ignore Pokémon spin-offs as they simply don't stack up to the main series games, but I really enjoyed Learn With Pokémon Typing Adventure. It's another one of those rare instances where I have completed a game 100%, and the keyboard is really neat too. Later in the game though, the difficulty can be absolutely brutal. I would recommend it for seasoned typists.
@gcunit Not sure if you've played Zubo either. Can't see anyone has mentioned it here but it's a turn based RPG where all your attacks deal damage depending on how well you can tap to the rhythm of the music. It's unique, quirky and fun. Best played with earphones.
@wazlon Thanks for the extra recommendation. As it happens, due to the DS splurge this comments section inspired, I've ordered a few more over the last couple of days, and Zubo was one of them - sounds fun.
@The_Legged_One One of my all time favourites. I just love the style, atmosphere, story and puzzles.. so basically everything. ^^'
@gcunit I've ended up ordering a few DS games too. Just couldn't help myself.
reading through all these comments I really feel like I missed out. I never really took any notice of Nintendo until the switch came out. I bought a wii when it was first released but someone at work was desperately trying to find one for his daughter that Christmas and I was only playing on my new PS3 so i re boxed it and made sure she had a happy xmas. I loved the OG psp but it did not get a great deal of use after a first few months. Before that I was always mainly a PC gamer, still am really. But maybe I will go out grab a new 2DS and just load up on the top games voted here and see what I missed out on
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