The Best Nintendo DS Games…That I’ve Played (May 2008)

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For the fourth time, this article is biased. These are MY favorite games, if you don’t like them, tough. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I’ve played a lot of Nintendo DS games as a game reviewer and as a game store manager, so I feel like I have some authority here; either way, here’s the best games that I have played:

1. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl: That’s right, Pokemon has etched it’s place back in heart as numero uno. Ever since I first played Pokemon Blue in 8th grade, I am a Pokemon fan. No, not of the the anime or any of the other crap. But that games are perfect. And the DS installment didn’t change the formula, but they did add some touch screen controls and, more importantly, online trading and battling. This game is so good, that I bought and played through both versions.

2. Yoshi’s Island DS: Remember this game on the SNES? It’s like that only WAY better. Two screens, sharper graphics (still hand drawn), and four babies! If you haven’t played the original (you should, it was redone on the Game Boy Advance), this series was a spin-off/prequel of Super Mario World (the oringal’s title was “Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island”) and takes place a beautiful hand drawn world where you, Yoshi, have to get Baby Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Donkey Kong to end of each level and to the next Yoshi. This game is leaps and bounds better than the already stellar, The New Super Mario Bros; and Yoshi’s Island DS really is one of the best Mario side-scrollers of all-time. If I haven’t praised this game enough yet, when I start playing it, it’s one of those games where you beat a level and then tell yourself, ‘just one more level’ and continue to do so for hours. There is seriously not a single complaint about this game.

3. Kirby Squeak Squad: I used to think that this game was a pretty weak Kirby game for whatever reason but I recently started playing this game again and I discovered a wonderful little platformer. It has all of the things that makes any Kirby game great and you can store items and enemies in Kirby’s stomach via the touch screen. On top of that, this game is much longer than most other Kirby games and the bosses are a little more difficult than previous Kirby bosses (but they still are not anything a 6 year old couldn’t handle). Also, Super Nintendo’s Kirby Super Star is announced on the DS!

4. Anno 1701: This was a Europe only release, but now it is a Gamestop/EB Games exclusive in the U.S. It blends Sim City with a RTS and it’s set in colonial America. You can defend your colony from pirates, other colonies, and wi-fi invaders. I have put many hours into this game, especially into it’s “continuous play” mode (as opposed to “story play”). Nothing is more fun then waging war and nearly bankrupting your colony just to take over some diamond mines and a some corn fields. Seriously, it is fun. This game was originally a stop-set for “Settlers” (which blew a big one) and is made by, strangley enough, Touchstone (a division of Disney) but it ended up being better than most RTS’s that I’ve ever played not just on the DS but on the PC as well. I really can’t say enough for this game. Go down to your local Gamestop and buy it. If you don’t like Gamestop for whatever reason, import it on the Britian’s ebay (www.ebay.co.uk) it’ll cost about the same $30 and you’ll get a cool European DS case (it’s see-thru and wider).

5. Animal Crossing: Wild World: Animal Crossing snuck up on me and it has had me hooked ever since. Like it’s GameCube installment, this game offers a life sim that is like no other. In other words, it isn’t complete crap (i.e. The Sims series, Harvest Moon, and MySims). You can pretty much do anything you want. I made fruit orchards and pretend that I own…well…an orchard. The game is awesome. If ou have a DS and you don’t have it, buy it. If you don’t have a DS, buy a DS and then buy this game. You will not regret the $150 investment.

6. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker: Think 3-D Pokemon, without random battles in the Dragon Quest universe. It’s a beautiful DS game with a story line that allows you to pander away from it and level up your monsters. You can also breed your monsters to make new ones and battle via wi-fi with your friends or random players. The more I play this game the harder it gets to put it down.

7. Mario Kart DS: In case you were wondering, this is the highest ranked Nintendo DS game at “critic-conglomerizer,” Metacritic.com, with a score of 91 out of 100. It’s kinda like Mario Kart 64 with better graphics, more characters and karts (yes, you get to pick your kart), better controls (even with the D-pad), and online. It also showcases tracks from all of the old Mario Kart games as well some great new ones. You can also play battle modes multi-player which is perfect because no one can screen-cheat.

8. Sonic Rush: To be honest, I have not played Sonic Rush Adventure (The sequel to this game) and it may be better than Sonic Rush, but in its own right, Sonic Rush is a side-scrolling Sonic game with better graphics and a lot faster. Yes, faster. It’s not that difficult of a game, but it’s a blast. Once I get a chance to play Sonic Rush Adventure, I’ll let you know how it is compared to this.

9. Omega: This is a relatively cheap Japanese-only release that is very much worth the import. it has two puzzle games, one is an aquarium puzzle game which is more of a novelty, but is fun it own right. The real game is the omega puzzle game which puts a group of gears with multi colored balls in them on the touch screen and a mirror image of those gears on the top screen. You can move the gears on the bottom screen, but it also moves the same gear on the top screen. If you aren’t too confused yet, you have get the balls into certain parts of the gears. If you are confused, just buy the game, I got it for $7 on Play-Asia.

10. Picross DS: This is the best puzzle game ever (maybe second to Dr. Mario, maybe). You can take your time and work through a puzzle all day, whenever you get a chance. It’s kinda like Sudoku only without the headache and you get a cute, little picture at the end!

Honorable Mentions
The first is SimCity DS. The DS is the best system for RTS’s (Sid Meier’s Civilization DS is coming to it soon!) and sims like the SimCity franchise because the touch screen gives you better-than-a-mouse control of the game, because of that SimCity DS makes this list. The only downside is the small screen, but you get used to it quickly and won’t complain about it. As for the graphics, they are somewhere in between the SNES version and Sim City 3000. The game is also online which is kind of hard to figure out but once you do , you can check out other people’s cities and trade some landmarks. Super Dodgeball Brawlers will be out in a week or so and let me tell you something, it is a great reincarnation of the NES original with a graphics update and some added features. If you haven’t played a Super Dodgeball game before it’s a dodgeball match with one ball and 7 players per team. You can pass the ball around on your side, build up a special throw and unleash it on your opponents. And new to this game, you can punch and kick the other team when they get close to your side of the court (hence the “brawlers” in the title). If you can’t wait for this one to come out, Super Dodgeball Advance on the GBA has been out for a while. Imagine a Super Smash Bros. game on the DS with characters from 28 popular animes and mangas. That game exsists…in Japan, it’s called Jump Ultimate Stars. Due to licensing issues this game will most likely never make its way out of Asia, but this game is worth importing. You can customize fighting teams with characters from series such as Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, Bleach, Full Metal Alchemist, One Piece, and Yu-Gi-Oh. You then can train your team and take them online to fight other players. If you want to spend less on this game looks for Jump Super Stars, the first game in this series (it doesn’t support wi-fi though). Even being an Asia exclusive game, Jump Ultimate Stars is the fourth best Nintendo DS game according to Metacritic.com (Metacritic averages all of the major game review scores from magazines, websites, and tv shows to get one score). If you live in the Seattle area, Pink Godzilla in Chinatown carries both games and sells them for around $50. If you don’t live in Seattle check out pink godzilla or play-asia. The New Super Mario Bros. is a great 2-D Mario game, with phenomenal graphics and it may be up higher on other people’s list, but the game got too boring and repetitive for me by about the third world. But I have no doubt that if you buy this game, you will like it just because it is a great Mario platformer. Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is a unique RPG and a wildly addicting one. It’s a mix between a ‘hunt-and-gather RPG’ and shooting the heck out of each other’s tanks. Just buy it and you’ll see what I mean. In Trauma Center: Under the Knife you are a young surgeon who has to operate on many patients via the touchscreen and endure a storyline that could be straight out of a daytime drama. There are also two installments of this game on the Wii (but I’d say that the DS version is best). Electroplankton is a crazy little music game that is like no other, in fact, I can’t even explain it. But if you want to pick this game up, try to find the Japanese version because it will actually be cheaper (there was barely any U.S. version made) and it comes with exclusive headphones (you are making music!). Trace Memory is puzzle/mystery/text-based game that is as fun as it is challenging. It’s also very cheap at $10 at most places (and even cheaper if you can find it used! I saw it for $7 at some places). Trace Memory has a spiritual sequel called Hotel Dusk: Room 215; I didn’t like it as much as Trace Memory, but it was definitly a great game on its own. Starfox Command is like Star Fox 64 with better graphics, touch screen controls (don’t worry, they work well), and an RTS between level map which is simple but it adds a nice dynamic to the franchise that I wouldn’t mind seeing in future Starfox games (hopefully on the Wii!). Lastly, I am picking Tiger Woods PGA Tour. Like other sports series, the Tiger Woods PGA Tour Series is largely over looked on the DS mainly because sports games don’t fare well on handhelds; but if you are a golfing fan, the Tiger Woods games are great because the graphics are great and you control the swing with your stylus wchih is very intuitive. Just a warning about this game: my original DS is permantly scratched from swinging the club too much (or maybe too hard) on this game, but the screen protector on my current DS has stopped that problem. In fact, invest in a screen protector no matter what. Just be sure to find the static cling ones, because other ones leave a residue on your screen (I used to manage a game store and I wouldn’t take a DS in on trade if they had that residue from the bad screen protectors).

So that’s it, my top ten (more like 23-ish) games. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they are there to stay, or at least until next month.

And, by the way, feel free to comment and let me know how “wrong” I am. Seriously though, if you know other games that are not on the list tell me and everyone else about them, the more the merrier!

*Note: If you want to see past month’s lists, click on the category entitled :”The Best DS Games…That I’ve Played”.

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