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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 encouraged
05:26to return daily for small periods of time, something that definitely works better on something you can
05:31take around with you. If you look at the portable Animal Crossing games in comparison to the home
05:36console versions, that's made even clearer. New Horizons sold 32.63 million, New Leap sold 12.93
05:43million, and this game sold 11.75 million, while the original GameCube game only sold 2.71 million,
05:52and the Wii game City Folk only sold 4.32 million. Animal Crossing clearly belongs on handheld,
05:57and Animal Crossing Wild World was the first game in the series to truly demonstrate
06:01that. Animal Crossing Wild World isn't much different than the original game, and it doesn't
06:06really need to be. It was a way for people to play Animal Crossing on the go. Nobody really expected it
06:11to be a huge shake-up of the Animal Crossing formula. Yeah, there's no point going back to this game with
06:15both Animal Crossing New Horizons and Animal Crossing New Leap existing now, but it's still easily one of the
06:21best DS games, and brought joy to a lot of people. Number 14, New Super Mario Bros.
06:26We've seen it time after time. A great game is retroactively ruined because its developers decided
06:32to throw it into the photocopier and give us numerous near-identical games. New Super Mario
06:37Bros. is one of the best 2D Mario games ever made. It's just a shame that its legacy was completely
06:42ruined by the rest of the New Super Mario Bros. series. New Super Mario Bros. feels like the logical
06:47next step for 2D Mario after Super Mario Bros. World. It introduces new power-ups like the blue shell,
06:53which allow you to slide along the ground. The mini mushroom, which serves as an interesting take on
06:58power-ups essentially being a power down, which you need to access certain secrets, thus giving you a nice
07:03risk-reward system. And then there's the mega mushroom, which allows you to grow giant and cause mayhem
07:08throughout the mushroom kingdom. New Super Mario Bros. has the most creative bosses out of any 2D
07:13Mario game, as they're giant versions of pre-existing Mario enemies instead of the usual Koopalinks.
07:19Yeah, it 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. Super Scribblenauts
07:29is a game where you can make anything. While the original Scribblenauts was also a great DS game,
07:34Super Scribblenauts introduces adjectives, making it automatically better. Not only can you now create
07:40any object you want, you can also add characteristics to it. The aim of Super Scribblenauts is to solve
07:45problems throughout 120 different levels using your godlike power. It's a lot of fun thinking
07:50of creative solutions to the puzzles put in front of you. The series was improved later on with
07:55Scribblenauts Unlimited, which set the missions in open worlds, but that's not on the DS so it's
07:59not eligible for this list. Super Scribblenauts is just as impressive, having to create models for
08:04practically every object known to man, which couldn't have been an easy job for the developers,
08:09but is phenomenal for us. Number 12, Mario and Luigi. Bowser's Inside Story.
08:14Who would have thought that a game about getting vored by Bowser would end up being one of the
08:18best Mario RPGs ever made? In Mario and Luigi Bowser's Inside Story, a giant Bowser accidentally
08:25swallows Mario and Luigi. At this point in the game, you control both Mario and Luigi as they
08:30explore Bowser's insides, and Bowser himself as he explores the Mushroom Kingdom. Interestingly,
08:35what you do as Bowser can affect what happens to Mario and Luigi and vice versa. Bowser is easily
08:41one of the best Mario characters, so getting to control him in anything but a sports game is
08:45great. Whilst the Mario and Luigi series has always had interesting locations to explore,
08:50the inside of Bowser is definitely one of the best. I mean, where else could you fight Goombuel?
08:55Weird amalgamations of Goombas and Amoeba. Speaking of which, give us Goombuel for Smash.
08:59The game was later remade for the Nintendo 3DS, with Mario and Luigi, Bowser's Inside Story,
09:04and Bowser Jr.'s Journey. Whilst not a bad remake, there's one problem. You can already play the original
09:10Mario and Luigi Bowser's Inside Story on the 3DS, as the system is backwards compatible with the
09:15Nintendo DS. Number 11, Tetris DS. Yes, Tetris DS is one of the best DS games ever made. Did we
09:22stutter? Tetris is an addictive puzzle game that anyone can understand. The thing is, at this point
09:27in time, we all own at least 10 different versions of Tetris. A Tetris game is going to need to do
09:32something special to warrant a purchase. What about numerous different modes, which celebrate the legacy
09:37of Nintendo? There's a Marathon mode, where you have to get through all 20 Nintendo-themed levels,
09:42and after you beat that, you can unlock Endless mode. Mission mode gives you a variety of missions
09:47to complete, which is a nice change of pace from regular old Tetris, and there are enough missions
09:51to keep you busy. Push mode is a competitive mode, where you must push your opponent's floor upwards so
09:56they lose. Touch mode is Tetris with the stylus. Catch mode involves you catching falling Tetris pieces,
10:02and puzzle mode involves you selecting the tetriminoes needed to clear out
10:06pre-determined unfinished lines. Each mode is a lot of fun and helps make this one one of the best
10:11versions of Tetris ever. Number 10, Super Mario 64 DS. Developed to demonstrate the power of the
10:17Nintendo DS, Super Mario 64 DS was astounding at the time of its release. It solidified the idea that
10:23the DS was essentially a portable N64. To many people, Super Mario 64 DS was the first time they saw a 3D
10:30game on a handheld, and it was mind-blowing. Many problems do exist here that didn't in the original
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 four playable characters to make up for it. Not only that,
10:51it adds a ton of fun mini-games, new levels, and new stars in the pre-existing levels. If only
10:56Nintendo could mix Super Mario 64 DS with the original version to make the definitive Super Mario 64
11:02experience, then all would be right with the world. Number 9, The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks.
11:07Who would have thought The Legend of Zelda and Trains would mesh so well? One is a series that
11:12at its best encourages exploration, and one is literally on a one-way track with a prefix destination.
11:18The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks uses the train as a way to get link between numerous smaller
11:22areas that he can explore, something that suits handheld gaming really well. The train gameplay isn't
11:28exactly as compelling as the regular Zelda gameplay, but it's fun enough. The fact that the train is
11:32customizable is also a nice little touch. You're spending so much time on the train that it's nice
11:37to be able to design it to look appealing to you, even if the customization is slightly limited.
11:42While the game is named after riding a train, that's not the highlight of Spirit Tracks.
11:46The highlight is Princess Zelda. You'll be spending more time with Zelda here than in any of the other
11:52Legend of Zelda games, and she's a great character in Spirit Tracks. She's probably the best companion
11:57in the series, although when her competition is Navi and Fi, it's not that hard.
12:01Number 8. 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,
12:14Pokemon Platinum's even better, and Pokemon Black and White are some of the best in the series.
12:19It's Pokemon Black 2 and Pokemon White 2 which really shine. Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 took
12:24everything that worked in the original Pokemon Black and White and removed what didn't. The
12:28game's region no longer hides all the non-generative 5 Pokemon in the post-game. You can now find
12:34Pokemon from Generation 1 all the way to 5 all over the region. The region's size has also been
12:39expanded, so there's even more to explore, and there's more post-game than most Pokemon games
12:44combined. The story isn't as good as the original, but it's still one of the best ever told in the main
12:49series games, touching on topics such as a Pokemon's free will. Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 definitely
12:54feel like a last hurrah for Game Freak, since after that, the series' quality definitely dropped.
13:00Number 7. 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 by
13:25finding evidence to use in the courtroom. Yeah, it's not exactly an accurate defense attorney simulator.
13:30In the original three games, you mostly play as defense attorney Phoenix Wright, yet in this
13:36particular game, you also get to play as Phoenix Wright's mentor Mia Fey. Trials and Tribulations
13:41serves as a great conclusion to the original trilogy, and it gives us insight into Phoenix Wright's past,
13:47which makes him an even more compelling character. All the five cases you'll take on are excellent,
13:51and while some are better than others, there's still some of the best in the series.
13:54Number 6. Mario Kart DS Since each Mario Kart game improves upon what came before,
14:00there's not a lot of reason to go back to the older ones, though there are a few exceptions to that
14:05rule, and one of them is Mario Kart DS. Mario Kart DS has a few features you can only get there,
14:10creating your own kart emblem, but also its missions. It is absolutely the peak of single
14:16player Mario Kart because of these missions. There are six sets, and each set has eight levels
14:20and a boss fight. Some of them are just races, but a few of them are actual fights where you need to
14:25use your kart and power-ups as weapons. There are 16 new tracks and 16 returning tracks,
14:30including fan-favorite courses like Waluigi Pinball and TikTok Clock. Mario Kart DS also introduces
14:35the character of Rob to the series, this being the first time a non-Mario character has been in a
14:41Mario Kart game. And you thought Endgame was a huge crossover. Number 5. Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow
14:46If you wanted a good Castlevania game during the 2000s, your best bet was to look on the Nintendo
14:52handhelds, and if you did, you'd likely find the amazing Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow. This one is a
14:57direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow. You play as Soma Cruz, a super-powered high school student,
15:02because 90% of everything made in Japan takes place in a high school. The game takes place in
15:07the future because this isn't your grandpa's Castlevania. Just like Aria of Sorrow, the main
15:11gimmick is Soma's ability to take powers from enemies that he defeats. A new addition is the
15:16magical seal system, where you'll use the touchscreen to create seals to trap bosses, because it wouldn't
15:22be a DS game without some tacked-on touchscreen use. It's just a really solid Castlevania game that
15:27desperately needs to be bundled into a collection, since it currently costs an arm and a leg to purchase.
15:32Unfortunately, given it's looking like the next Castlevania collection will focus on the
15:37Game Boy Advance games, we might be waiting a while.
15:39Number 4, The World Ends With You
15:42Taking place in a hyper-stylized version of Shibuya, starring Neku Sakuraba, a kid who
15:46dresses up weird even for a world where everybody dresses weird, The World Ends With You is the
15:51best JRPG on the Nintendo DS. Yes, we said it. The story centers on the Reapers game, a game where
15:57those who died can participate to be rewarded in the afterlife or be given a second chance at life.
16:03Neku and his partner must team up to beat each day's mission within the Reapers game.
16:07It's both a story worth experiencing for yourself and ridiculously complex, so you're going to want
16:12to keep a notepad on hand. It's very obvious that Kingdom Hearts creator Tetsuya Nomura worked on this.
16:18The gameplay is super interesting. You control both Neku and his partner simultaneously,
16:22each on a different screen. It sounds super complex, but you'll quickly learn how to do it.
16:27Number 3, Castlevania Order of Ecclesia
16:30Castlevania Order of Ecclesia is peak Metroidvania Castlevania, arguably even better than Symphony of
16:36the Night. Order of Ecclesia allows you to explore numerous different locations as opposed to one giant
16:42map. It still has the exploration you're looking for in these kind of games, but it's got the addition
16:46of the variety that the level-based Castlevania games brought to the table. Another notable aspect of
16:52Order of Ecclesia is that it features the first female Castlevania protagonist, Shanoa, who is one
16:57of the coolest main characters in the series. The system to take enemies' abilities from earlier
17:02Castlevania games has been expanded with the glyph system. These are your weapons and magical abilities,
17:07and the fact that you can equip multiple at a time allows for jewel-wielding and the ability to
17:12combine glyphs together. It's a much more in-depth system than anything you've seen before and allows
17:17you to truly play how you want to. Order of Ecclesia also has a beautiful gothic-inspired look
17:23which makes the game look distinct. It's such a shame that like most DS games, it's ridiculously
17:28expensive. Please Konami, stop making pachinko for two seconds and give us Order of Ecclesia on
17:32modern systems, we're begging you. Number 2, Professor Layton and The Lost Future
17:37Detective games that feature a man who is reminded of puzzles by literally everything and some kid he
17:43hangs out with, the Professor Layton series are some of the most charming games ever made. Okay,
17:47the actual mysteries don't end up making much sense even when the game explains them to you,
17:52but that kind of doesn't matter when the characters are so likable 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,
18:01it's Professor Layton and The Lost Future or Unwound Future if you're American, which is easily the
18:06best. This 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,
18:15you might not have a heart. Number 1, Pokemon HeartGold and Pokemon SoulSilver. These games
18:21are peak Pokemon. Remakes of the Generation 2 games, Pokemon Gold and Silver, HeartGold and SoulSilver
18:27are still yet to be topped. The games have two separate regions to explore, making them easily
18:32the largest Pokemon games. Your Pokemon can walk behind you, letting you connect to them more than any
18:37other game, and as remakes, they improve upon everything wrong with the excellent Generation
18:412 games. Not that there was much that was wrong with them. No longer are the games buggy, no longer
18:46is Kanto barely populated, no longer does the game have the graphics of a Game Boy game, although that
18:51can't exactly be blamed on Gold and Silver. The game's story is also a bit more fleshed out, and there's
18:56more post-game added to the already huge post-game. The game also came with the Poké Walker, a way to walk
19:02with your Pokemon in real life way before Pokemon Go did it. The Poké Walker, for some reason, was one of
19:07the most accurate pedometers at its time of release. How do you try to make a fun accessory for your monster
19:12capturing game, and then accidentally make one of the best pedometers on the market? We don't know, but we're not
19:17complaining.
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