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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,
07:59so it's not eligible for this list. Super Scribblenauts is just as impressive, having to
08:03create models for practically every object known to man, which couldn't have been an easy job for
08:08the developers, but 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 explore
08:30Bowser's insides, and Bowser himself as he explores the Mushroom Kingdom. Interestingly, what you do as
08:36Bowser can affect what happens to Mario and Luigi and vice versa. Bowser is easily one of the best
08:41Mario characters, so getting to control him in anything but a sports game is great. Whilst the
08:46Mario and Luigi series has always had interesting locations to explore, the inside of Bowser is
08:51definitely one of the best. I mean, where else could you fight Goombuel? Weird amalgamations of
08:56Goombas and Amoeba. Speaking of which, give us Goombuel for Smash. The game was later remade for the
09:00Nintendo 3DS, with Mario and Luigi, Bowser's Inside Story, and Bowser Jr.'s Journey.
09:06Whilst not a bad remake, there's one problem. You can already play the original Mario and Luigi
09:11Bowser's Inside Story on the 3DS, as the system is backwards compatible with the Nintendo DS.
09:16Number 11, Tetris DS. Yes, Tetris DS is one of the best DS games ever made. Did we stutter?
09:22Tetris is an addictive puzzle game that anyone can understand. The thing is, at this point in time,
09:27we all own at least 10 different versions of Tetris. A Tetris game is going to need to do something
09:32special to warrant a purchase. What about numerous different modes, which celebrate the legacy of
09:37Nintendo? There's a Marathon mode, where you have to get through all 20 Nintendo-themed levels, and
09:42after you beat that, you can unlock Endless mode. Mission mode gives you a variety of missions to
09:47complete, 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,
09:56so they lose. Touch mode is Tetris with the stylus. Catch mode involves you catching falling Tetris
10:02pieces, and puzzle mode involves you selecting the tetrimonos needed to clear out predetermined,
10:07unfinished lines. Each mode is a lot of fun and helps make this one one of the best versions of
10:11Tetris ever. Number 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 four 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
11:01Super Mario 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
11:08and Trains 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 pre-fixed destination. The Legend of Zelda
11:19Spirit Tracks uses the train as a way to get linked between numerous smaller areas that he
11:23can explore, something that suits handheld gaming really well. The train gameplay isn't exactly as
11:28compelling 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. The
11:46highlight is Princess Zelda. You'll be spending more time with Zelda here than in any of the
11:51other Legend of Zelda games, and she's a great character in Spirit Tracks. She's probably the
11:56best companion in 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.
12:18It's Pokemon Black 2 and Pokemon White 2 which really shine.
12:22Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 took everything that worked in the original Pokemon Black and White
12:27and removed what didn't. The game's region no longer hides all the non-generative 5 Pokemon in
12:32the post-game. You can now find Pokemon from Generation 1 all the way to 5 all over the region.
12:37The 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.
12:44The 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.
12:52Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 definitely feel like a last hurrah for Game Freak, since after that,
12:58the 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,
13:08only released in Japan before being improved in every way for the DS and given to us overseas.
13:13The entire original trilogy for the Nintendo DS are great, but this particular one is easily the
13:19best. In the Ace Attorney series, you play as a defense attorney trying to prove that a bunch of
13:23cartoony people are innocent by finding evidence to use in the courtroom. Yeah, it's not exactly an
13:28accurate defense attorney simulator. In the original three games, you mostly play as defense attorney
13:34Phoenix Wright. Yet in this particular game, you also get to play as Phoenix Wright's mentor,
13:39Mia Fey. Trials and Tribulations serves as a great conclusion to the original trilogy,
13:44and it gives us insight into Phoenix Wright's past, which makes him an even more compelling
13:48character. All the five cases you'll take on are excellent, and while some are better than others,
13:53they're 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
14:04that rule, and one of them is Mario Kart DS. Mario Kart DS has a few features you can only get there,
14:10creating your own cart emblem, but it sounds super complex, but you'll quickly learn how to do it.
14:15Number 3, Castlevania Order of Ecclesia. Castlevania Order of Ecclesia is peak Metroidvania Castlevania,
14:22arguably even better than Symphony of the Night. Order of Ecclesia allows you to explore numerous
14:27different locations, as opposed to one giant map. It still has the exploration you're looking for in
14:32these kinds of games, but it's got the addition of the variety that the level-based Castlevania
14:37games brought to the table. Another notable aspect of Order of Ecclesia is that it features
14:42the first female Castlevania protagonist, Shanoa, who is one of the coolest main characters in the
14:47series. The system to take enemies' abilities from earlier Castlevania games has been expanded with
14:52the glyph system. These are your weapons and magical abilities, and the fact that you can equip multiple
14:57at a time allows for dual wielding and the ability to combine glyphs together. It's a much more in-depth
15:02system than anything you've seen before, and allows you to truly play how you want to.
15:07Order of Ecclesia also has a beautiful gothic-inspired look, which makes the game look distinct.
15:12It's such a shame that like most DS games, it's ridiculously expensive. Please Konami, stop making
15:18pachinko for two seconds and give us Order of Ecclesia on wooden systems, we're begging you.
15:22Number 2 – Professor Layton and The Lost Future
15:25Detective games that feature a man who is reminded of puzzles by literally everything
15:30and some kid he hangs out with, the Professor Layton series are some of the most charming games
15:34ever made. Okay, the actual mysteries don't end up making much sense even when the game explains them
15:39to you, but that kind of doesn't matter when the characters are so likable and there's so many
15:43brain teasers that'll keep you busy and make you feel smart. While the entire trilogy are
15:47amazing games, it's Professor Layton and The Lost Future or Unwound Future if you're American,
15:53which is easily the best. This one serves as a great conclusion to Professor Layton's story,
15:57with the games that came out afterwards mostly being prequels. We won't spoil anything,
16:02but if you don't cry at the end, you might not have a heart.
16:04Number 1 – Pokemon Heart Gold and Pokemon Soul Silver
16:08These games are peak Pokemon. Remakes of the Generation 2 games, Pokemon Gold and Silver,
16:14Heart Gold and Soul Silver are still yet to be topped. The games have to prove upon everything
16:19wrong with the excellent Generation 2 games, not that there was much that was wrong with them. No
16:23longer are the games –
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