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A generation-defining handheld. What's the best DS game??
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00:00The Nintendo DS family are the second best-selling game consoles of all time,
00:04so when we say everybody owned a DS, we're really barely exaggerating.
00:09The best thing about the multiple models is that they all give you access to a wide variety of
00:13amazing Nintendo DS games from all kinds of genres. Some, believe it or not, are even more
00:19entertaining than PictoChat, and if you can't get on board with that, let me run through the list.
00:23I'm Jess from WhatCulture, and here are the 20 best Nintendo DS games of all time.
00:28Number 20, Sonic Rush.
00:30While everyone was busy laughing at 3D Sonic as he made a fool of himself over and over again,
00:342D Sonic was actually starring in some excellent adventures on portable systems.
00:39The excellent dimps who made the great Sonic Advance trilogy continued their streak of amazing
00:44Sonic games on the DS with the excellent Sonic Rush. Sonic Rush has you controlling Sonic and
00:49Blaze as you attempt to stop Dr. Eggman, no surprises there, and his alternate dimensional version,
00:55whose name I don't really want to say, but you get it.
00:58Sonic Rush adds the boost ability from the 3D games, which works surprisingly well in 2D.
01:04Using this, Sonic Rush emphasizes speed more so than arguably any other Sonic game.
01:09It has its pros and cons, the biggest pro being that it feels amazing to go so fast,
01:14while the biggest con is that the level design can be a tad basic at times.
01:18Nonetheless, this is easily one of the best games on the DS,
01:21and is a must-play for any Sonic fans. The game is also composed by Twitter famous legendary video
01:26game composer Hideki Naganuma. You know, the guy who's obsessed with Big Chunkers and Catgirls.
01:32That one.
01:33Number 19, WarioWare Touched.
01:36Whilst the Nintendo DS family has no shortage of WarioWare games, with WarioWare Snapped for DSi,
01:41and the excellent WarioWare DIY, which allows you to make your own micro games,
01:46the top DS WarioWare game is easily WarioWare Touched. For those who haven't played a WarioWare
01:51game, the WarioWare series involves you completing mini-games in a short amount of time with little
01:56instruction. It's rapid fun that you won't be able to put down. WarioWare Touched is just a really
02:01solid WarioWare game, coming with 180 micro-games separated across 9 separate stages. Each of these
02:08stages also contains a boss fight, which are fun final challenges. The short narratives that are
02:12established to justify the 9 stages are also a lot of fun. The cast of the WarioWare series is
02:17great, and it's a shame they don't really appear in Mario games. They're way more interesting than
02:2299% of Mario characters. The game makes use of the DS, especially its touch capabilities, hence the
02:28name WarioWare Touched. It's just a great time. All the WarioWare games are good, but this is one of the
02:33best.
02:34Number 18, The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass.
02:37After a bunch of edgy teenagers complained about the art style of Wind Waker because they wanted Zelda
02:42to be cool and dark instead of just a good game, the more cartoony Zelda games had to go into hiding
02:47on Nintendo's handheld systems. A direct sequel to Wind Waker, The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass
02:53feels a lot like a portable version of that game. It has the sailing that Wind Waker is known for,
02:58a lot of the same characters, and the same art style. Although this is the DS, so don't get your
03:02hopes up too high when it comes to its visuals. The biggest problem with the game is the Temple of the
03:06Ocean King. The Temple of the Ocean King is a dungeon where you have to constantly wait to avoid
03:11getting killed by immortal enemies. You have to do it quickly as you're timed, and you have to revisit
03:16the dungeon multiple times throughout the game. Other than that, it's a great Zelda title that
03:21instills the sense of adventure that the series is known for. It's one of the best DS games. Just
03:26prepare yourself for the worst dungeon in the entire series.
03:29Number 17, Kirby Superstar Ultra. Kirby Superstar Ultra is definitely one of the best remakes on the DS.
03:35It takes the best Kirby game, Kirby Superstar, and makes it even better by adding a ton of new games
03:40and making them all look a bit more pretty. Kirby Superstar was already home to numerous
03:45separate short Kirby games, but Kirby Superstar Ultra adds even more. Spring Breeze, a game from
03:50the original, which was essentially a remake of Kirby's Dream Land, is given a harder version
03:54with Revenge of the King. Meta Nightmare Ultra allows you to play through the pre-existing games
03:59as Meta Knight, all connected to make one big game. Helper to Hero allows you to play as one of 20
04:04characters as you fight against 14 different bosses. Finally, Kirby Superstar Ultra adds the true
04:10arena, a final challenge in a game that beforehand had very little difficulty in it. If that wasn't
04:15enough, the game also adds three new sub-games, because apparently Kirby Superstar Ultra wants to
04:21take up literally all of your life. Number 16, Advance Wars. Dual Strike. Advance Wars is one of the
04:27most underappreciated franchises Nintendo has ever published. It seems to be something that most
04:32Nintendo fans are at least vaguely aware of, but most of them haven't even thought of playing a game in
04:37the series. Luckily for anybody who wants to get into the franchise, if you own a DS, one of the
04:42best Advance Wars games exists on the system. Advance Wars Dual Strike. Wait, never mind. Like most DS
04:47games, it's ridiculously expensive. You should probably just wait for Advance Wars 1 plus 2
04:52reboot camp for Switch. That'll probably be alright. Anyway, Advance Wars Dual Strike is a great
04:57entry in the series, even if you have to sell your kidney to afford to play it. The game puts you in
05:02control of Jake and Rachel of the Orange Star Army as you fight against the Black Hole Army. It's a
05:07turn-based strategy game where you need to navigate a map, killing the troops of the enemy army, and
05:11it's a lot of fun. Advance Wars Dual Strike and the wider Advance Wars series definitely isn't for
05:16everybody, but if you like strategy games, you'll most likely love it. Number 15, Animal Crossing Wild
05:21World. Animal Crossing always seemed like a good fit for handhelds. It's a series where you're
05:26encouraged to return daily for small periods of time, something that definitely works better on
05:31something you can take around with you. If you look at the portable Animal Crossing games in
05:35comparison to the home console versions, that's made even clearer. New Horizons sold 32.63 million,
05:42New Leafs sold 12.93 million, and this game sold 11.75 million, while the original GameCube game only
05:49sold 2.71 million, and the Wii game City Folk only sold 4.32 million. Animal Crossing clearly belongs on
05:57handheld, and Animal Crossing Wild World was the first game in the series to truly
06:01demonstrate that. Animal Crossing Wild World isn't much different than the original game,
06:05and it doesn't really need to be. It was a way for people to play Animal Crossing on the go.
06:09Nobody really expected it to be a huge shakeup of the Animal Crossing formula. Yeah, there's no point
06:14going back to this game with both Animal Crossing New Horizons and Animal Crossing New Leaf existing now,
06:20but it's still easily one of the best DS games, and brought joy to a lot of people.
06:24Number 14, New Super Mario Bros. We've seen it time after time. A great game is retroactively ruined,
06:30because its developers decided to throw it into the photocopier and give us numerous
06:34near-identical games. New Super Mario Bros. is one of the best 2D Mario games ever made.
06:40It's just a shame that its legacy was completely ruined by the rest of the New Super Mario Bros.
06:45series. New Super Mario Bros. feels like the logical next step for 2D Mario after Super Mario Bros.
06:50World. It introduces new power-ups like the Blue Shell, which allow you to slide along the ground,
06:55the Mini Mushroom, which serves as an interesting take on power-ups essentially being a power down,
07:00which you need to access certain secrets, thus giving you a nice risk-reward system.
07:05And then there's the Mega Mushroom, which allows you to grow giant and cause mayhem throughout the
07:09Mushroom Kingdom. New Super Mario Bros. has the most creative bosses out of any 2D Mario game,
07:14as they're giant versions of pre-existing Mario enemies instead of the usual Koopalinks. Yeah,
07:19it isn't as good as the likes of Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World, but it's closer in
07:24quality to those games than you might expect. Number 13, Super Scribblenauts.
07:28Super Scribblenauts is a game where you can make anything. While the original Scribblenauts
07:32was also a great DS game, Super Scribblenauts introduces adjectives, making it automatically
07:38better. Not only can you now create any object you want, you can also add characteristics to it.
07:43The aim of Super Scribblenauts is to solve problems throughout 120 different levels using
07:48your godlike power. It's a lot of fun thinking of creative solutions to the puzzles put in front of
07:53you. The series was improved later on with Scribblenauts Unlimited, which set the missions
07:57in open worlds. But that's not on the DS, so it's not eligible for this list.
08:01Super Scribblenauts is just as impressive, having to create models for practically every object known
08:06to man, which couldn't have been an easy job for the developers, but is phenomenal for us.
08:11Number 12, Mario & Luigi, Bowser's Inside Story. Who would have thought that a game about getting
08:16vored by Bowser would end up being one of the best Mario RPGs ever made? In Mario & Luigi,
08:22Bowser's Inside Story, a giant Bowser accidentally swallows Mario & Luigi. At this point in the game,
08:27you control both Mario & Luigi as they explore Bowser's insides, and Bowser himself as he
08:33explores the Mushroom Kingdom. Interestingly, what you do as Bowser can affect what happens to Mario &
08:38Luigi, and vice versa. Bowser is easily one of the best Mario characters, so getting to control him
08:43in anything but a sports game is great. Whilst the Mario & Luigi series has always had interesting
08:49locations to explore, the inside of Bowser is definitely one of the best. I mean, where else
08:53could you fight Goombuel? Weird amalgamations of Goombas and Amoeba. Speaking of which, give us
08:58Goombuel for Smash. The game was later remade for the Nintendo 3DS, with Mario & Luigi, Bowser's
09:03Inside Story, and Bowser Jr.'s Journey. Whilst not a bad remake, there's one problem. You can
09:08already play the original Mario & Luigi, Bowser's Inside Story on the 3DS, as the system is backwards
09:14compatible with the Nintendo DS. Number 11, Tetris DS. Yes, Tetris DS is one of the best
09:20DS games ever made. Did we stutter? Tetris is an addictive puzzle game that anyone can understand.
09:26The thing is, at this point in time, we all own at least 10 different versions of Tetris. A Tetris
09:31game is going to need to do something special to warrant a purchase. What about numerous different
09:35modes, which celebrate the legacy of Nintendo? There's a Marathon mode, where you have to get
09:39through all 20 Nintendo-themed levels, and after you beat that, you can unlock Endless mode.
09:45Mission mode gives you a variety of missions to complete, which is a nice change of pace from
09:49regular old Tetris, and there are enough missions to keep you busy. Push mode is a competitive mode,
09:54where you must push your opponent's floor upwards so they lose. Touch mode is Tetris with the stylus.
09:59Catch mode involves you catching falling Tetris pieces, and puzzle mode involves you selecting
10:04the tetriminoes needed to clear out predetermined unfinished lines. Each mode is a lot of fun,
10:09and helps make this one one of the best versions of Tetris ever.
10:12Number 10, Super Mario 64 DS. Developed to demonstrate the power of the Nintendo DS,
10:18Super Mario 64 DS was astounding at the time of its release. It solidified the idea that the DS was
10:24essentially a portable N64. To many people, Super Mario 64 DS was the first time they saw a 3D game
10:31on a handheld, and it was mind-blowing. Many problems do exist here that didn't in the original game,
10:36but it introduces enough improvements that Super Mario 64 DS is many people's preferred way of
10:42playing the game. It's not ideal playing a game that was clearly designed to utilize an analog stick
10:47with a D-pad, but the game has 4 playable characters to make up for it. Not only that,
10:51it adds a ton of fun minigames, new levels, and new stars in the pre-existing levels.
10:55If only Nintendo could mix Super Mario 64 DS with the original version to make the definitive Super
11:01Mario 64 experience, then all would be right with the world.
11:04Number 9, The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks. Who would have thought The Legend of Zelda and
11:09Trains would mesh so well? One is a series that at its best encourages exploration,
11:14and one is literally on a one-way track with a prefix destination. The Legend of Zelda Spirit
11:19Tracks uses the train as a way to get link between numerous smaller areas that he can explore,
11:24something that suits handheld gaming really well. The train gameplay isn't exactly as compelling as
11:29the regular Zelda gameplay, but it's fun enough. The fact that the train is customizable is also
11:34a nice little touch. You're spending so much time on the train that it's nice to be able to design it
11:38to look appealing to you, even if the customization is slightly limited. While the game is named after
11:43riding a train, that's not the highlight of Spirit Tracks. The highlight is Princess Zelda.
11:48You'll be spending more time with Zelda here than in any of the other Legend of Zelda games,
11:53and she's a great character in Spirit Tracks. She's probably the best companion in the series,
11:57although when her competition is Navi and Fi, it's not that hard.
12:018. Pokemon Black 2 and Pokemon White 2
12:04Pokemon was ever-present on the Nintendo DS. We got two whole Pokemon generations on the handheld,
12:10alongside numerous spin-offs. While Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are great games, Pokemon Platinum's
12:15even better, and Pokemon Black and White are some of the best in the series. It's Pokemon Black 2 and
12:20Pokemon White 2 which really shine. Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 took everything that worked in the
12:25original Pokemon Black and White and removed what didn't. The game's region no longer hides all the
12:30non-generative 5 Pokemon in the post-game. You can now find Pokemon from generation 1 all the way to
12:365 all over the region. The region's size has also been expanded, so there's even more to explore,
12:41and there's more post-game than most Pokemon games combined. The story isn't as good as the original,
12:46but it's still one of the best ever told in the main series games, touching on topics such as a
12:51Pokemon's free will. Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 definitely feel like a last hurrah for Game Freak,
12:57since after that, the series' quality definitely dropped.
13:007. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations
13:04The original Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney trilogy were Game Boy Advance games, only released in Japan
13:09before being improved in every way for the DS and given to us overseas. The entire original trilogy
13:15for the Nintendo DS are great, but this particular one is easily the best. In the Ace Attorney series,
13:20you play as a defense attorney, trying to prove that a bunch of cartoony people are innocent,
13:25by finding evidence to use in the courtroom. Yeah, it's not exactly an accurate defense attorney
13:30simulator. In the original three games, you mostly play as defense attorney Phoenix Wright,
13:35yet in this particular game, you also get to play as Phoenix Wright's mentor, Mia Fey.
13:40Trials and Tribulations serves as a great conclusion to the original trilogy, and it gives us insight into
13:45Phoenix Wright's past, which makes him an even more compelling character. All the five cases you'll
13:50take on are excellent, and while some are better than others, they're still some of the best in
13:54the series. 6. Mario Kart DS Since each Mario Kart game
13:58improves upon what came before, there's not a lot of reason to go back to the older ones,
14:03though there are a few exceptions to that rule, and one of them is Mario Kart DS.
14:07Mario Kart DS has a few features you can only get there, creating your own cart emblem, but also
14:12its missions. It is absolutely the peak of single player Mario Kart, because of these missions.
14:18There are six sets, and each set has eight levels and a boss fight. Some of them are just races,
14:23but a few of them are actual fights, where you need to use your cart and power-ups as weapons.
14:27There are 16 new tracks and 16 returning tracks, including fan-favorite courses like Waluigi Pinball
14:32and Tick Tock Clock. Mario Kart DS also introduces the character of Rob to the series,
14:37this being the first time a non-Mario character has been in a Mario Kart game. And you thought Endgame
14:43was a huge crossover. 5. Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow If you wanted a good Castlevania game during the
14:492000s, your best bet was to look on the Nintendo handhelds. And if you did, you'd likely find the
14:54amazing Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow. This one is a direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow. You play as Soma
15:00Cruz, a super-powered high school student because 90% of everything made in Japan takes place in a
15:05high school. The game takes place in the future because this isn't your grandpa's Castlevania. Just like
15:10Aria of Sorrow, the main gimmick is Soma's ability to take powers from enemies that he defeats. A new
15:15addition is the magical seal system, where you'll use the touchscreen to create seals to trap bosses,
15:21because it wouldn't be a DS game without some tacked-on touchscreen use. It's just a really
15:25solid Castlevania game that desperately needs to be bundled into a collection, since it currently costs
15:31an arm and a leg to purchase. Unfortunately, given it's looking like the next Castlevania collection
15:36will focus on the Game Boy Advance games, we might be waiting a while.
15:394. The World Ends With You
15:41Taking place in a hyper-stylized version of Shibuya, starring Neku Sakuraba, a kid who dresses up weird
15:47even for a world where everybody dresses weird, The World Ends With You is the best JRPG on the
15:52Nintendo DS. Yes, we said it. The story centers on the Reapers game, a game where those who died can
15:58participate to be rewarded in the afterlife or be given a second chance at life. Neku and his partner
16:03must team up to beat each day's mission within the Reapers game. It's both a story worth experiencing
16:09for yourself and ridiculously complex, so you're gonna want to keep a notepad on hand. It's very
16:14obvious that Kingdom Hearts creator Tetsuya Nomura worked on this. The gameplay is super interesting.
16:19You control both Neku and his partner simultaneously, each on a different screen.
16:24It sounds super complex, but you'll quickly learn how to do it.
16:27Number 3, Castlevania Order of Ecclesia. Castlevania Order of Ecclesia is peak Metroidvania Castlevania,
16:34arguably even better than Symphony of the Night. Order of Ecclesia allows you to explore numerous
16:39different locations as opposed to one giant map. It still has the exploration you're looking for in
16:44these kind of games, but it's got the addition of the variety that the level-based Castlevania games
16:49brought to the table. Another notable aspect of Order of Ecclesia is that it features the first female
16:55Castlevania protagonist, Shanoa, who is one of the coolest main characters in the series.
16:59The system to take enemies' abilities from earlier Castlevania games has been expanded with the glyph
17:05system. These are your weapons and magical abilities, and the fact that you can equip multiple at a time
17:10allows for dual wielding and the ability to combine glyphs together. It's a much more in-depth
17:15system than anything you've seen before and allows you to truly play how you want to. Order of Ecclesia
17:20also has a beautiful gothic-inspired look, which makes the game look distinct.
17:24It's such a shame that like most DS games, it's ridiculously expensive. Please Konami,
17:29stop making pachinko for two seconds and give us Order of Ecclesia on wooden systems, we're begging you.
17:34Number 2 – Professor Layton and The Lost Future
17:37Detective games that feature a man who is reminded of puzzles by literally everything
17:42and some kid he hangs out with, the Professor Layton series are some of the most charming games ever made.
17:47Okay, the actual mysteries don't end up making much sense even when the game explains them to you,
17:51but that kinda doesn't matter when the characters are so likeable and there's so many brain teasers
17:56that'll keep you busy and make you feel smart. While the entire trilogy are amazing games,
18:00it's Professor Layton and The Lost Future or Unwound Future if you're American, which is easily the best.
18:06This one serves as a great conclusion to Professor Layton's story, with the games that came out
18:11afterwards mostly being prequels. We won't spoil anything, but if you don't cry at the end, you might not have a heart.
18:16Number 1 – Pokemon HeartGold and Pokemon SoulSilver
18:20These games are peak Pokemon. Remakes of the Generation 2 games, Pokemon Gold and Silver,
18:26HeartGold and SoulSilver are still yet to be topped. The games have two separate regions to explore,
18:31making them easily the largest Pokemon games. Your Pokemon can walk behind you, letting you connect
18:36to them more than any other game, and as remakes, they improve upon everything wrong with the excellent
18:41Generation 2 games. Not that there was much that was wrong with them. No longer are the games buggy,
18:45no longer is Kanto barely populated, no longer does the game have the graphics of a Game Boy game,
18:51although that can't exactly be blamed on Gold and Silver. The game's story is also a bit more
18:55fleshed out, and there's more post-game added to the already huge post-game. The game also came with
19:00the PokéWalker, a way to walk with your Pokemon in real life way before Pokemon Go did it. The PokéWalker,
19:06for some reason, was one of the most accurate pedometers at its time of release. How do you try to make a fun
19:11accessory for your monster capturing game, and then accidentally make one of the best pedometers
19:15on the market? We don't know, but we're not complaining.
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