DS Game Recommendations

[rudyjuly2]

After knowing extremely little about the DS or DS Lite, some posters at OS have informed me a great deal. I think I am going to get one for my wife for her birthday (late October) although there is a sale at the Toys R Us and Best Buy (in Canada at least) right now. The DS Lite with Brain Age is C$160 (Best Buy) and Toys R Us has the Brain games for C$19.99 and New Super Mario Brothers for C$34.99 along with Kart and other games for sale. I'm tempted to pick it up now.

Anyway, some members talked about starting up a favourite/recommended DS games list and I thought I would compile some of their thoughts into a new thread for everyone. Any other recommendations past, present or future are welcomed.

From dbeth: I got a DS Lite this summer and have NSMB, Nintendogs, and Brain Age (working on getting Mario Kart). I can't get the thing away from my wife, and she's not a big gamer. She always told me that she wasn't a big Mario fan, but got into the Brain Age and N'Dogs. However, she is currently halfway through World 8 on NSMB and addicted to it in the worst way. It's quite funny, actually.

My wife is currently into Mario Bros, Brain Age, and will be Mario Kart (she's a Kart racing fan). She also enjoys Tetris...but we're awaiting Mario Kart.


From dave360: My wife is the same way man. The DS been the perfect system for her to play at school and sitting on the porch while she's killing time. She loves Nintendogs, Trauma Center, and there's a game coming out Tuesday called Cooking Mama which uses the stylus much in the same way Trauma center does, but you make recipes. The game sounds dull to me, but from looking at screens and videos, it may be another winner for sure. She's very excited about that.

As far as what's good for the DS, here's what my wife and I have played and loved

1. New Super Mario Bros
2. MarioKart
3. Trauma Center
4. Nintendogs-I don't see the point of it, but my wife likes it
5. World Championship Poker-The AI ain't half bad and it's a steal used at 14.99. I just wish it were online


Games that I've not played but are really good according to others
Tetris DS
Advance Wars
Phoenix Wright
Ages of Empires


From pk500: Brain Age and Brain Training are awesome. I don't own a DS, but every time I see one at a kiosk with Brain Age and Brain Training running, I instantly lose 10 minutes of my day. My 5-year-old son really enjoys Brain Training, as it's a stimulating way for him to learn numbers, letters and memory skills.

From Brain_05: Gamerankings DS Top 30

Title Plat Company Reviews Avg. Vote Avg Score
1. Mario Kart DS DS Nintendo 76 9.1 92.1%
2. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow DS Konami 68 8.8 90.4%
3. Advance Wars: Dual Strike DS Nintendo 56 8.8 90.3%
4. New Super Mario Bros. DS Nintendo 53 8.9 89.5%
5. Meteos DS Nintendo 68 8.4 88.4%
6. Kirby: Canvas Curse DS Nintendo 63 8.5 87.9%
7. Animal Crossing: Wild World DS Nintendo 64 8.7 86.2%
8. Super Mario 64 DS DS Nintendo 77 8.6 86.1%
9. Metroid Prime: Hunters DS Nintendo 57 8.6 85.9%
10. Tetris DS DS Nintendo 52 8.4 85.9%
11. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time DS Nintendo 50 8.7 85.8%
12. Tony Hawk's American Sk8land DS Activision 40 8.3 84.9%
13. Nintendogs: Labrador and Friends DS Nintendo 76 8.4 84.1%
14. Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends DS Nintendo 76 8.4 84.1%
15. Nintendogs: Chihuahua and Friends DS Nintendo 76 8.3 84.1%
16. Sonic Rush DS Sega 56 8.6 82.6%
17. WarioWare: Touched! DS Nintendo 68 8.5 82.4%
18. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney DS Capcom 57 8.4 81.8%
19. Age of Empires: The Age of Kings DS Majesco Games 31 8.5 81.4%
20. Trauma Center: Under the Knife DS Atlus Co. 52 8.4 80.8%
21. Metroid Prime Pinball DS Nintendo 46 7.9 80.1%
22. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day DS Nintendo 51 8.5 77.6%
23. Super Princess Peach DS Nintendo 53 7.0 76.6%
24. Bomberman DS Ubisoft 38 7.1 76.4%
25. Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble DS Capcom 35 8.0 76.3%
26. Feel the Magic: XY/XX DS Sega 68 7.7 76.2%
27. Puyo Pop Fever DS Atlus Co. 23 6.9 76.0%
28. Bust-A-Move DS DS Majesco Games 20 7.8 76.0%
29. Electroplankton DS Nintendo 49 7.2 75.9%
30. Ultimate Spider-Man DS Activision 20 7.3 75.8%

[sroz39]

Re: DS Game Recommendations

My fiance is big into the NSMB game, Brain Age Academy and Sonic Rush. I'm more into the Big Brain Academy and Advance Wars. I'm not normally into RTS games, but Advance Wars is kick-***. I may give Age of Empires a shot as well.

Quick question: Anyone try True Swing Golf yet? I'm a golf nut and was ecstatic at Links 2004 becoming BC for the 360 recently, but this game intrigues me to no end. Any opinions?

[JohnnytheSkin]

Re: DS Game Recommendations

As a "reasonably" new DS Lite owner, here are games I own, in order of preference:

1) New Super Mario Bros
2) Big Brain Academy
3) Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time
4) Advance Wars Dual Strike
5) Brain Age
6) Super Princess Peach
7) Mario 64 DS

It's a bit unfair to rank them, since they are all great games. I guess in reality it's how long each one has been in my DS, with Big Brain and Brain Age taking up a lot of my wife's time as well (my Brain Age is 23, her a 29...while on Big Brain she's an A and I'm stuck at A- ).

You really can't go wrong with this amazing little system. I can't believe I play it as much as I do. I can't wait for 'Children of Mana' and 'Final Fantasy III' this fall, not to mention the rumored 'Earthbound' collection.

Enjoy!

[rudyjuly2]

Re: DS Game Recommendations

What do people think of Mario Kart? Anybody picking up the new Mega Man game coming out on September 12th?

[dave360]

Re: DS Game Recommendations

Mario Kart is great and it's online rudy.

[dbeth]

Re: DS Game Recommendations

I just put an order in for Mario Kart this weekend...should be getting it later this week. Can't wait!!

I'm almost...almost tempted to get a black DS after they come out tomorrow just so I can play it again! Also, then my wife and I can have some Kart battles!

Any decent Poker games out there? Dave mentioned World Champ. Poker is pretty good, but is it the only one on the DS?

[Behindshadows]

Re: DS Game Recommendations

I've found Brain Age and Big Brain Academy to be super addictive...I've caught myself playing them for hours, try to get my score higher...

Also the NEW super mario brothers was fun for like a week.

Then it was back to Metroid and Mario Kart...

[goh]

Re: DS Game Recommendations

Phoenix Wright and Elite Beat Agents are the only games I have any intrest in on it.

[rudyjuly2]

Re: DS Game Recommendations

I didn't realize there was an older link that was very similar. Rodster posted some recommendations as well:

1)Brain Age
2) Mario & Luigi Partners in Time
3) Sonic DS
4) Castlevania DS
5) Nintendogs
6) Mario Kart DS
7) New Super Mario Bros

Animal Crossing and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (rare) got good reviews along with Trauma Center.

Mega Man ZX is getting about 81% on Game Rankings while Lego Star Wars II only had one review at 79% so far.

Edit: Lego Star Wars II is getting hammered for glitches on reviews now and is under 70%.

[pk500]

Re: DS Game Recommendations

I bought a DS Lite last week and LOVE it. I have three games.

1. Clubhouse Games. Forty-two different games on one cartridge. Cards, classic board games, bowling, etc. A MUST-BUY for the DS Lite. We're talking hundreds of hours of fun for $30, plus worldwide Wi-Fi play.

2. Brain Age. It's not even a damn game, but it's addicting as hell. I can't stop trying to lower my brain age. Great game for older kids, too. Really fun.

3. True Swing Golf. No frills, but a very intuitive golf experience thanks to using the stylus on the touch screen to swing in the same motion as a club. If you're not into golf or golf games, skip this. But if you are and you seek something different -- albeit more stripped -- than Links or Tiger, give this a try for $20.

Trauma Center and Mario Kart DS are next on my hit list.

The DS Lite has been a complete breath of fresh air in gaming for me. Pure fun. No concerns about graphics or AI flaws or any of that sh*t that mars console gaming. Just fun gameplay in spades.

Take care,
PK

[23]

Re: DS Game Recommendations

Last week? PK you're late to the party and have been missing out for a long time.

[pk500]

Re: DS Game Recommendations

Last week? PK you're late to the party and have been missing out for a long time.

Yep.

But I'm a one-machine guy, always have been. I sold my Xbox, all games and accessories in the last month and moved to the DS Lite to satisfy my gaming jones.

The unique titles and touch-screen interface are breaking the staleness of console gaming for me, the portable pick-up-and-play nature of the games suits me much better as gaming has been de-emphasized quite a bit in my life, and the price of the hardware and games certainly is right!

No regrets whatsoever. Having a f*cking ball with the DS Lite, and I'm not even online yet. I don't miss my console at all.

Take care,
PK

[rudyjuly2]

Re: DS Game Recommendations

PK, you've got a Phoenix Wright sequel next year, Yoshi coming out next week, Castlevania (old and new), and other great games out there too. My wife has four games right now - Brain Age, New Super Mario, Mario Kart and Trauma Cednter. She wants Nintendogs, the new Yoshi and Phoenix Wright. Elite Beat Agents has also intrigued her. I need to get more time in with Brain Age.

[23]

Re: DS Game Recommendations

Yep.

But I'm a one-machine guy, always have been. I sold my Xbox, all games and accessories in the last month and moved to the DS Lite to satisfy my gaming jones.

The unique titles and touch-screen interface are breaking the staleness of console gaming for me, the portable pick-up-and-play nature of the games suits me much better as gaming has been de-emphasized quite a bit in my life, and the price of the hardware and games certainly is right!

No regrets whatsoever. Having a f*cking ball with the DS Lite, and I'm not even online yet. I don't miss my console at all.

Take care,
PK

That's one thing I can say. There is no regrets whatsoever with my buying a DS Lite. I enjoy the games and love the pick up and play titles.

Having a portable system with good games is the way to go. I enjoy it far more than my PSP, which i like mostly for watching movies on the go.

[dbeth]

Re: DS Game Recommendations

Here's what happened with my DS experience (Rudy...it may be similar):

Got a DS Lite a week after it came out in June and got Brain Age and NSMB. Loved them both. My wife (who isn't that big of a gamer at ALL), swore she would never play Mario. She started then...and I saw her love for the DS. So, I got her Nintendogs for her b-day. Fun for a while, but back to Mario.

A month or 2 ago, I got Mario Kart (I know...late to the party) because we both love kart racing games. Less of Brain Age now....now bounce between the 2 Mario games.

Things got to a point a month ago where she would play the DS and Mario Bros., I kid you not, 2+ hours a day after we'd get home from teaching. I never got to touch the machine anymore. So....

SHE BOUGHT ME MY OWN BLACK DS!!

So, I got Clubhouse games. Addicting as sin, and now we can play 2-player games...Mario Bros., Mario Kart, Clubhouse Games, etc. Perfect.

She's a DDR-type game fan....and I noticed Elite Beat Agents last week. Downloaded the demo at Wal-Mart last night: That's the next game we're getting...for sure!

She now has 4 games on her x-mas list (Trauma Center, Tetris, Big Brain Academy, Elite Beat Agents).

I agree with you PK, the DS has made gaming fun again for me, and brought a whole new gamer into the fold. She actually asked me this week, "Honestly, how interested are you in the Wii??" The DS gives me hope for Nintendo and their plans for the Wii. They know what games are supposed to be...GAMES!!! Pick up + Play = Having Fun. Simple.

Side Note: A little local media store in town that takes trades, sells and rents games/movies/etc is having a drawing for a Wii. 2 items for the local food pantry = 1 entry ticket. I'm getting all over that!!