Nintendo DS Appreciation Thread

[strider]

13 years old now, and a handheld that's easy to forget about because there's so much shovel ware on it.

Despite that it also has a cracking selection of games, and like an idiot I've decided to start collecting for it. Again

Recently sold some magic the gathering cards, so I'm using that cash to kickstart my collection.

My plan is to simply build it by selling off other stuff I don't play.

 

I already owned the three Castlevanias, Tetris DS and Puzzle League, Elite Beat Agents (which I'm slinging) and Flower Sun And Rain, so everything else here is new.

Prices are very decent for the most part at the mo too, so it seems a good time to start delving into the system.

 

Spirit Tracks - £15

Really enjoyed this when I first played it. It's a little easy, but I enjoy Zelda titles, so look forward to getting back into it.

 

Rhythm Paradise - £3

Never played it, but I hear constantly good things about it. Seems silly to not take a punt at the price.

 

Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise - £6

An astonishing port that crams virtually every aspect of the 360 game (which I love) into a handheld. It originally started off as a portable game, too.

 

Mario Kart DS - £20

A little steep, but it was trade in at CEX so I won't argue. It's also excellent, although multiplayer no longer works.

 

GTA: Chinatown Wars - £12

My favourite GTA game, the drug smuggling minigame is stupidly addictive.

 

Metroid Prime Hunters £6

It takes a little while to get to grips with the controls, but the actual adventure is really solid.

 

Scrabble £2

A guilty pleasure to play at lunch times.

 

 

 

 

[MidWalian]

I've never played the DS Castlevannias so have been thinking of them lately.

 

Also considering getting a DSi XL as my old DS Lite hinges are broken and you can even see the ribbon cables.

 

Dragon Quest IV and V are excellent on the DS, get them! The little machine had plenty of great titles.

[Vimster]

Tempted to replace my DS Lite with a DSi XL, but the 3DS plays DS games fine, by all accounts, even imports.

 

Weirdly the one game I put more time into than anything on the DS is something I'm sure lots would deem shovelware: Puzzler World. it's basically loads of crosswords, wordsearches and the like, most of them aren't exactly taxing but it's really addictive. And I recently discovered the lead programmer on these Puzzler World games is Shaun 'Super Cars' Southern!

[strider]

I used to play puzzler world a lot on ios. The DS is a really weird console because you can see with Brain Training how Nintendo was aware that people were starting to want bite-sized gaming experiences for playing on the go. I do find it a bit of a pain in the ass to switch between cartridges at the moment, but hey ho. I'd rather have physical games as opposed to the roms.

[merman]

I was addicted to Polarium and Meteos for ages, both of them work well on a touchscreen.

 

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood is worth picking up - a cross between Sonic and a BioWare RPG. Lovely graphics and fun special moves. Not quite as deep as the Mario RPGs but well made.

[gizmo1990]

3 hours ago, strider said:

13 years old now, and a handheld that's easy to forget about because there's so much shovel ware on it.

 

I'm not sure how true that statement is.. surely the DS is affectionately remembered by a great many people. Indeed, there's a whole generation who'll likely drive nostalgia for it by the bucket load in the coming years. The shovelware is offset by one of the greatest software libraries of any console ever. Plus, when you look at the innovation of the hardware itself, you've got an absolutely unforgetable console.

[strider]

6 minutes ago, gizmo1990 said:

 

I'm not sure how true that statement is.. surely the DS is affectionately remembered by a great many people. Indeed, there's a whole generation who'll likely drive nostalgia for it by the bucket load in the coming years. The shovelware is offset by one of the greatest software libraries of any console ever. Plus, when you look at the innovation of the hardware itself, you've got an absolutely unforgetable console.

I completely agree. I just said that to drive some debate

It's the second best selling console of all time, no one is going to forget about it in a hurry

[spanky debrest]

- M2 produced a Konami arcade classics which is as polished and respectful as you might imagine.

- Bangai-O Spirits is immense. Bought it on release day, still play it today

- Ketsui: Death Label is the ultimate handheld bullet hell boss rush

- Retro Game Challenge 1 & 2 are charm tsunamis

 

This console had the last great Castlevanias, tonnes of amazing RPGs and horror games and FPSs and puzzle games and super stylish one-offs and also showcased experimental and left field Nintendo at their very best. It's a monster.

[buizel]

Check out either one of the Anno titles if you like relaxing Real Time Strategy kinda like Sim City  on SNES. Both are somewhat dumbed down versions of their PC counterparts but it's a fun, kinda-deep games. Only the first one has multiplayer though.

 

The main differences are style, the new one has a cartoon style and the older one has that old isometric-3d/2D strategy art. Both are real fun, the newer one is a tad simpler but maybe more visually easier on the eye?

It's a shame the DS didnt get more strategy titles like RollerCoaster Tycoon, Command&Conquer or Starcraft, I remember a number of cancelled DS ports that got far in development which is a shame. Sunk so many hours into Anno on the DS, it also got a Wii port of the newer colourful one, and it's basically the same but with sweet graffix

 

 

Also Orcs & Elves, a suprise hit for me, I love the clunky DOS/Java-mobile-game aesthetic and hyper-PSX-era-grapphics. It's an old school first person dungeon romper

 

Also Mario Party DS - a super fast, underrated tite in the Mario Party series. Classic gameplay, really fun games, no nonsense, single -cart multiplayer (!) which makes it one of the best next to Mario Party 2 I think.

 

And for longer multiplayer games, Echoes of Time - my favourite Crystal Chronicles. Awesome team up system, diablo dungeon-crawler esque with tonnes of spells, items, enemies, upgrades etc - and dungeons are 3D too so makes for pretty fun exploration. Also on Wii (1:1 port) and you can link them up for co-op that way for some reason.

 

DS is the machine that got me into video game journalism, and where I had some of the best multiplayer experiences with Bomberman (another shout-out) - get bomberman 2, its got a sweet pseudo-rpg single player and so much single cart multiplayer options.

[Let us measure]

Confirming the above really but, all things considered, probably my favourite console ever.

 

Ouendan 1& 2, Bangai-O Spirits, The World Ends with You (still the best JRPG I've played), WarioWare DIY, the Final Fantasy remakes, the Castlevanias (I consider OoE to be the second best IGAvania), great Crono Trigger port, advent of DSi Ware, Picross DS, Mario 64DS (shut up it was excellent with the thumb strap which none of you used ffs), Starfox Command, Dragon Quest IX, the ArtStyle games, Metroid Prime Pinball, Animal Crossing. Just a brilliant library of games.

 

Ironically it was probably the third party software which won me over - the usual Mario/Zelda games were pretty lacklustre.

 

EDIT: Also Orcs and Elves above! Which was just amazing on DS. As was SMT Strange Journey and Radiant Historia.

[gizmo1990]

Well if we're gonna reminisce, I'll chuck in the oft forgotten Henry Hatsworth! A sublime mix of puzzle and platformer with some very nicely done pixel graphics.

 

 

[strider]

Sonic Rush £10

always had a soft spot for this and it still p,ads well

 

yoshi touch and go £10

really fun score attack game that I had to rebuy.

 

fire emblem shadow dragon £35

great remake of the original famicom game. I love the fire emblem series and plan to own all of them. This was courtesy of @gossi the dog

 

 

[gossi the dog]

[gossi the dog]

My DS collection, shown above. I have way too many RPG's.

 

It was a great little console. I bought one in January 2005, and whilst for the first couple of years I had for more fun on the PSP (Everybody's Golf; Ridge Racers; Lumines; Initial D Street Stage; Breath of Fire III etc) in the long run the DS was by far the better console.

 

I should look to rebuy some of the stuff I enjoyed back in the day buy later sold on.

[buizel]

1 hour ago, strider said:

Sonic Rush £10

always had a soft spot for this and it still p,ads well

 

yoshi touch and go £10

really fun score attack game that I had to rebuy.

 

fire emblem shadow dragon £35

great remake of the original famicom game. I love the fire emblem series and plan to own all of them. This was courtesy of @gossi the dog

 

 

+1 for Fire Emblem.

 

it's weird, I got into the series on the GBA (i guess like many westerners) and sunk a fair amount of hours into the first one but the DS one is so so so good. the graphics are a mixed back - it kinda has that Tracia 776 SNES feel which I really really like, muddy and dark and gritty - but then it also has kinda goofy 2D/3D art for the battles and thats not so good.still, theres good useful UI elements and you can skip turns (!!!!) which i feel is a first for FE.

 

my favourite fire emblem, though i havent played the 3DS ones before so i cant comment on them. the DS one is awesome for big maps and many characters, and the GBA ones always felt like a 'pocket' fire emblem (not to their discredit)

 

Giving some extra reccomendations, the Kyle Hyde series of games..

 

 

Developed by CiNG (who is now defunct i think ): ) they made the Another Code game which I really liked, the atmosphere and music and story was kinda cliche but there was a lot of love in that game. They made 2 more 'point-n-click ish' adventure games with a noir style (ex detective, jazz soundtrack etc) - Hotel Dusk and Last Window -  really good writing, some obtuse puzzles but the atmosphere is definately great. The 2nd should be played after the first but it isnt essential.

 

Also a few shout outs to Golden Sun, very underrated for some reason - I guess it's too easy, and theres so much text, but the game is fucking beautiful - like the style makes me so happy. The DS games shares that same style often as PS1 games, the aliasing and blocky textured garbage graphics, it makes me happy for some reason..

[Paulando]

I bought one on day one (I was Weinberg'd, so imported it from Play-Asia instead), and I've owned three of them over the years. I recognise I'm doing a Jinquisition here and absolutely going against the grain, but I don't look back too fondly on the DS, if I'm honest.

 

It has the worst versions of all the major first party franchises (Mario 3D, Mario 2D, Zelda, Wario Ware, Advance Wars etc), and lots of games were ruined with shoe-horned stylus controls (I really disliked that Kirby game, and Yoshi's Touch & Go). The first party line up on the GBA was much stronger, despite being full of ports.

 

One thing is does have is Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. Truly the best Metroidvania since Symphony of the Night. I played that for hours and hours, and maxed out every soul from every enemy in the game, just because I could. Wonderful game.

 

But I find it difficult to go back to a lot of the DS catalogue, with many of the games looking rough next to their GBA/3DS equivalents. The 3DS has a better selection of games, with the hardware to do them justice.

[buizel]

21 minutes ago, Paulando said:

I bought one on day one (I was Weinberg'd, so imported it from Play-Asia instead), and I've owned three of them over the years. I recognise I'm doing a Jinquisition here and absolutely going against the gran, but I don't look back too fondly on the DS, if I'm honest.

 

It has the worst versions of all the major first party franchises (Mario 3D, Mario 2D, Zelda, Wario Ware, Advance Wars etc), and lots of games were ruined with shoe-horned stylus controls (I really disliked that Kirby game, and Yoshi's Touch & Go). The first party line up on the GBA was much stronger, despite being full of ports.

 

One thing is does have is Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. Truly the best Metroidvania since Symphony of the Night. I played that for hours and hours, and maxed out every soul from every enemy in the game, just because I could. Wonderful game.

 

But I find it difficult to go back to a lot of the DS catalogue, with many of the games looking rough next to their GBA/3DS equivalents. The 3DS has a better selection of games, with the hardware to do them justice.

 

Wow what? I am a huge Kirby fan and I genuinely think Power Paintbrush is one of the best Kirby games (alongside Epic Yarn and Dream Course) - the touch controls are so so well implemented into the game and the music has some really groovy remixes of classic Kirby tunes. I love the physics and the control method and the levels are built to it's strengths, I think you should give ita nother shot ><

 

Yoshi Touch and Go is literally a tech demo, little bit fun, little bit obnoxious. Would be a good iphone re-release for 99p (seriously)

 

Mario 64 DS is fantastic, at the time the controls didn't bother me but I have replayed it recently and the lack of fine control is a detriment and stark difference from SM64. Still a great game though. I also really like Phantom Hourglass but it doesn't have much replay value - the interesting item controls like the boomerang made for some nice puzzles, and you got rupees out the wazoo in that game. Also sailing is nice and relaxing, unlike Spirit Tracks which is just like.... ehh, tedious as fuck overworld and too similar to PH though it did have more variety, the train sections were beyond awful.

[Paulando]

I'm not a huge fan of Kirby anyway, but drawing that path for him to follow infuriated me. Same with Zelda. The stylus input was novel, just not for everything, y'know?

 

I enjoyed the 3DS Kirby games a lot more, and the remakes of the N64 Zelda games were far more accomplished than the naff DS version of Mario 64.

[buizel]

4 minutes ago, Paulando said:

I'm not a huge fan of Kirby anyway, but drawing that path for him to follow infuriated me. Same with Zelda. The stylus input was novel, just not for everything, y'know?

 

I enjoyed the 3DS Kirby games a lot more, and the remakes of the N64 Zelda games were far more accomplished than the naff DS version of Mario 64.

 

Oh true, I was really hoping they would remake Mario 64 on 3DS - proper analogue, beefed up version of SM64DS graphics, and 3D bob-omb battlfield, shooting and flying around... my lawd, that wouldve been perfect. But now FUCK 3D APPARENTLY ;_;

[Qazimod]

I bought one a little after launch because Ouendan was the hot new thing and I wanted to try it. I was short on funds at the time so I foolishly ended up trading in some great GBA games to fund it  I bought a lot of gimmicky games but also had lots of fun with Sonic Rush, Viewtiful Joe DT, New SMB, TWEWY, Project Rub, Hotel Dusk, Nanostray, Scribblenauts, Wario Ware DIY and more.

 

I've since traded in a bunch of games but I've kept the Ace Attorneys, Ghost Trick, TWEWY, and some others (although some of those are with my brother as my nephew was given an old DS to play on a while back.) A special mention to Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales too - it's very kids-friendly and focuses more on minigames than RPG-ing, but the card battle system was genuinely fun.  

[gizmo1990]

Every DS collection should include Meteos. Still my favorite puzzler, moreso than Tetris even.

[Vimster]

Some great homebrew, Every Extend and the commercial-quality port of Lemmings spring to mind.

[strider]

34 minutes ago, gizmo1990 said:

Every DS collection should include Meteos. Still my favorite puzzler, moreso than Tetris even.

As much as I love it, I've found that you can simply scrub the screen, which takes some of the skill away. Based on the ones I've played, my favourite DS puzzlers are Tetris Ds and Puzzle League. I'm certainly getting Meteos as it's about £3. Would be rude not to

[gizmo1990]

25 minutes ago, strider said:

As much as I love it, I've found that you can simply scrub the screen, which takes some of the skill away. Based on the ones I've played, my favourite DS puzzlers are Tetris Ds and Puzzle League. I'm certainly getting Meteos as it's about £3. Would be rude not to

 

You've not played it properly then!  It ain't no Candy Crush. Once you learn the basics, it's all about holding the speed-up button down continously to stand a chance of achieving proper scores. The servers are long gone but the highscores were legendary. Think I managed to edge into the top 100 once. The game becomes the most skillful, breathless puzzler it's been my pleasure to play. Would love a Switch version, but without some sort of pen attachment I'm not sure it could be replicated.

 

Think the £3 versions are the weird Disney tie-ins aren't they?

[nakamura]

I'm sure there is a hack to play the Zelda games with direct control. That would he brilliant.

[super_quincy]

The DS is my forgotten collection console. Currently it's all sitting in boxes in the loft with my PSP collection. I've bought far too many RPGs on it that I'll never get round to completing. However I really should get round to playing Chrono Trigger as I've never owned it on the SNES. I'll get some pictures together of the collection when I get a chance !

[fat flatulent git]

The DS is the console I have the most games for, currently about 280.  Love it.

[Vimster]

2 hours ago, gizmo1990 said:

 

Think the £3 versions are the weird Disney tie-ins aren't they?

Picked a normal Meteos up for £3 just after Christmas. It's mainly the Disney one out there though.

[buizel]

3 hours ago, gizmo1990 said:

 

You've not played it properly then!  It ain't no Candy Crush. Once you learn the basics, it's all about holding the speed-up button down continously to stand a chance of achieving proper scores. The servers are long gone but the highscores were legendary. Think I managed to edge into the top 100 once. The game becomes the most skillful, breathless puzzler it's been my pleasure to play. Would love a Switch version, but without some sort of pen attachment I'm not sure it could be replicated.

 

Think the £3 versions are the weird Disney tie-ins aren't they?

 

The disney ones lack the cool style and resource-collection that the original one had I believe. It's effectively the same game but the original just oozes style (and sakurai-waifu menus) and the disney ones are like, 'my first meteos'. A switch version would work, the screen size is bigger than the DS's so finger-touch would work well for this game, I mean theres an iPhone version so why not.

 

It's a v good puzzler but it's hasn't got a patch on Puzzle Leage (the DS is the best version - touch controls and 'Lumines'-esque puzzleXmusic style) or Puyo Puyo for multiplayer. Though theres a great feeling about managing to send an entire screen (full row/column) of Meteos off the screen

[strider]

I've got a big bundle of games coming tomorrow (I have a problem :P)

I was initially going to get Pal games only, but as there are a few Japan exclusives I want it makes sense to simply get the cheapest version of the game I want to play.

I just wish the UK boxes weren't so fugly