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
00:12wide variety of amazing Nintendo DS games from all kinds of genres. Some,
00:17believe it or not, are even more entertaining than PictoChat,
00:20and 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. While everyone was busy laughing at 3D Sonic as he made a fool of
00:33himself over and over again, 2D Sonic was actually starring in some excellent
00:37adventures on portable systems. The excellent Dimps who made the great Sonic Advance trilogy
00:42continued their streak of amazing Sonic games on the DS with the excellent Sonic Rush.
00:47Sonic Rush has you controlling Sonic and Blaze as you attempt to stop Dr. Eggman,
00:52no 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 and is a must play for any Sonic fans.
01:23The game is also composed by Twitter famous legendary video game composer Hideki Naganuma.
01:29You know, the guy who's obsessed with Big Chunkus and Cat Girls. That one.
01:33Number 19, WarioWare Touched
01:35Whilst 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 microgames,
01:46the top DS WarioWare game is easily WarioWare Touched.
01:49For those who haven't played a WarioWare game, the WarioWare series involves you completing
01:54minigames in a short amount of time with little instruction. It's rapid fun that you won't be
01:58able to put down. WarioWare Touched is just a really solid WarioWare game coming with 180
02:04microgames separated across 9 separate stages. Each of these stages also contains a boss fight
02:09which are fun final challenges. The short narratives that are established to justify
02:13the 9 stages are also a lot of fun. The cast of the WarioWare series is great,
02:18and it's a shame that it doesn't really appear in Mario games. They're way more interesting
02:22than 99% of Mario characters. The game makes use of the DS, especially its touch capabilities,
02:27hence the name WarioWare Touched. It's just a great time. All the WarioWare games are good,
02:32but this is one of the best.
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
02:41they wanted Zelda to be cool and dark instead of just a good game, the more cartoony Zelda
02:46games had to go into hiding on Nintendo's handheld systems. A direct sequel to Wind Waker,
02:51The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass feels a lot like a portable version of that game.
02:55It has the sailing that Wind Waker is known for, a lot of the same characters, and the same art
03:00style. Although this is the DS, so don't get your hopes up too high when it comes to its visuals.
03:04The biggest problem with the game is the Temple of the Ocean King. The Temple of the Ocean King
03:08is a dungeon where you have to constantly wait to avoid getting killed by immortal enemies. You have
03:13to do it quickly as you're timed, and you have to revisit the dungeon multiple times throughout
03:18the game. Other than that, it's a great Zelda title that instills the sense of adventure that
03:23the series is known for. It's one of the best DS games, just prepare yourself for the worst
03:27dungeon in the entire series.
03:29Number 17, Kirby Superstar Ultra
03:31Kirby Superstar Ultra is definitely one of the best remakes on the DS. It takes the best Kirby
03:36game, Kirby Superstar, and makes it even better by adding a ton of new games and making them all
03:41look a bit more pretty. Kirby Superstar was already home to numerous separate short Kirby
03:46games, but Kirby Superstar Ultra adds even more. Spring Breeze, a game from the original which was
03:51essentially a remake of Kirby's Dream Land, is given a harder version with Revenge of the King.
03:55Meta Knightmare Ultra allows you to play through the pre-existing games as Meta Knight,
04:00all connected to make one big game. Helper to Hero allows you to play as one of 20 characters
04:05as 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.
04:14If that wasn't enough, the game also adds three new sub-games, because apparently,
04:19Kirby Superstar Ultra wants to take up literally all of your life.
04:22Number 16, Advance Wars Jill Strike
04:26Advance Wars is one of the most underappreciated franchises Nintendo has ever published. It seems
04:31to be something that most Nintendo fans are at least vaguely aware of, but most of them haven't
04:35even thought of playing a game in the series. Luckily for anybody who wants to get into the
04:39franchise, if you own a DS, one of the best Advance Wars games exists on the system, Advance
04:45Wars Jill Strike. Wait, never mind. Like most DS games, it's ridiculously expensive. You should
04:50probably just wait for Advance Wars 1 Plus 2 Reboot Camp for Switch. That'll probably be alright.
04:55Anyway, Advance Wars Jill Strike is a great entry in the series, even if you have to sell
04:59your kidney to afford to play it. The game puts you in control of Jake and Rachel of the Orange
05:04Star Army as you fight against the Black Hole Army. It's a turn-based strategy game where you
05:08need to navigate a map killing the troops of the enemy army, and it's a lot of fun. Advance Wars
05:13Jill Strike and the wider Advance Wars series definitely isn't for everybody, but if you like
05:17strategy games, you'll most likely love it. Number 15, Animal Crossing Wild World
05:22Animal 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
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,
05:41New Leap sold 12.93 million, and this game sold 11.75 million, while the original GameCube game
05:49only sold 2.71 million, and the Wii game City Folk only sold 4.32 million. Animal Crossing clearly
05:56belongs on handheld, 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, and it
06:05doesn't really need to be. It was a way for people to play Animal Crossing on the go. Nobody really
06:10expected it to be a huge shake-up of the Animal Crossing formula. Yeah, there's no point going back
06:15to 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. Number 14,
06:25New Super Mario Bros. We've seen it time after time, a great game is retroactively ruined because
06:30its developers decided to throw it into the photocopier and give us numerous near-identical
06:35games. New Super Mario Bros. is one of the best 2D Mario games ever made. It's just a shame that
06:41its legacy was completely ruined by the rest of the New Super Mario Bros. series. New Super Mario
06:46Bros. feels like the logical next step for 2D Mario after Super Mario Bros. World. It introduces
06:51new power-ups like the Blue Shell, which allow you to slide along the ground, the Mini Mushroom,
06:56which 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,
07:04and 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 Koopalings. Yeah,
07:19it isn't as good as the likes of Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World, but it's closer
07:24in quality to those games than you might expect. 13. Super Scribblenauts
07:28Super Scribblenauts is a game where you can make anything. While the original Scribblenauts was
07:33also 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 god-like power. It's a lot of fun thinking of creative solutions to the puzzles put in front
07:52of you. 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. Super Scribblenauts is
08:02just as impressive, having to create models for practically every object known to man,
08:07which couldn't have been an easy job for the developers, but is phenomenal for us.
08:1112. Mario & 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 & 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
08:40one of the best Mario characters, so getting to control him in anything but a sports game is
08:45great. Whilst the Mario & 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 Goombule?
08:55Weird amalgamations of Goombas and Amoeba. Speaking of which, give us Goombule for Smash.
08:59The game was later remade for the Nintendo 3DS with Mario & Luigi Bowser's Inside Story and
09:04Bowser Jr's Journey. Whilst not a bad remake, there's one problem. You can already play the
09:09original Mario & Luigi Bowser's Inside Story on the 3DS, as the system is backwards compatible
09:15with the Nintendo DS. Number 11, Tetris DS. Yes, Tetris DS is one of the best DS games ever made.
09:22Did we start off? Tetris is an addictive puzzle game that anyone can understand. The thing is,
09:26at this point in time, we all own at least 10 different versions of Tetris. A Tetris game is
09:31going to need to do something special to warrant a purchase. What about numerous different modes
09:35which celebrate the legacy of Nintendo? There's a marathon mode where you have to get through all
09:4020 Nintendo-themed levels, and after you beat that, you can unlock endless mode. Mission mode
09:45gives you a variety of missions to complete, which is a nice change of pace from regular old Tetris,
09:50and there are enough missions to keep you busy. Push mode is a competitive mode where you must
09:54push your opponent's floor upwards so they lose. Touch mode is Tetris with the stylus. Catch mode
10:00involves you catching falling Tetris pieces, and Puzzle mode involves you selecting the tetriminos
10:05needed to clear out predetermined unfinished lines. Each mode is a lot of fun and helps make
10:10this one one of the best versions of Tetris ever. 10. Super Mario 64 DS
10:15Developed to demonstrate the power of the Nintendo DS, Super Mario 64 DS was astounding
10:21at the time of its release. It solidified the idea that the DS was essentially a portable N64.
10:26To many people, Super Mario 64 DS was the first time they saw a 3D game on a handheld,
10:32and 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
10:46stick with 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
10:56only 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. 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 pre-fixed
11:17destination. The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks uses the train as a way to get Link between
11:22numerous smaller areas that he can explore, something that suits handheld gaming really
11:26well. The train gameplay isn't exactly as compelling as the regular Zelda gameplay,
11:30but it's fun enough. The fact that the train is customizable is also a nice little touch. You're
11:35spending so much time on the train that it's nice to be able to design it to look appealing to you,
11:39even if the customization is slightly limited. While the game is named after riding a train,
11:44that's not the highlight of Spirit Tracks. The highlight is Princess Zelda. You'll be spending
11:49more time with Zelda here than in any of the other Legend of Zelda games, and she's a great
11:54character in Spirit Tracks. She's probably the best companion in the series, although when her
11:58competition is Navi and Fi, it's not that hard. 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. 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,
12:33you can now find Pokemon from Generation 1 all the way to 5 all over the region. The region's
12:38size has also been expanded, so there's even more to explore, and there's more post-game than most
12:43Pokemon games combined. The story isn't as good as the original, but it's still one of the best
12:48ever told in the main series games, touching on topics such as a Pokemon's free will. Pokemon
12:53Black 2 and White 2 definitely feel like a last hurrah for Game Freak, since after that,
12:58the series' quality definitely dropped. 7. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney – Trials
13:03and Tribulations The original Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
13:06trilogy were Game Boy Advance games, only released in Japan before being improved in every way for
13:11the DS and given to us overseas. The entire original trilogy for the Nintendo DS are great,
13:17but this particular one is easily the best. In the Ace Attorney series, you play as a defense
13:21attorney trying to prove that a bunch of cartoony people are innocent by finding evidence to use in
13:27the courtroom. Yeah, it's not exactly an accurate defense attorney simulator. In the original three
13:32games, you mostly play as defense attorney Phoenix Wright, yet in this particular game,
13:37you also get to play as Phoenix Wright's mentor, Mia Fey. Trials and Tribulations serves as a great
13:42conclusion to the original trilogy, and it gives us insight into Phoenix Wright's past,
13:46which makes him an even more compelling character. All the 5 cases you'll take on are excellent,
13:51and while some are better than others, they're still some of the best in the series.
13:546. 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. Mario Kart DS
14:08has a few features you can only get there, creating your own kart emblem, but also its
14:13missions. It is absolutely the peak of single-player Mario Kart because of these missions.
14:18There are 6 sets, and each set has 8 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 kart and power-ups as weapons.
14:27There are 16 new tracks and 16 returning tracks, including fan-favorite courses like Waluigi
14:32Pinball and 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,
14:42and you thought Endgame was a huge crossover. 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 because
15:0390% of everything made in Japan takes place in a high school. The game takes place in the future
15:07because this isn't your grandpa's Castlevania. Just like Aria of Sorrow, the main gimmick is
15:12Soma's ability to take powers from enemies he defeats. A new addition is the magical seal system,
15:17where you'll use the touchscreen to create seals to trap bosses, because it wouldn't be a DS game
15:22without some tacked-on touchscreen use. It's just a really solid Castlevania game that desperately
15:28needs to be bundled into a collection, since it currently costs an arm and a leg to purchase.
15:33Unfortunately, given it's looking like the next Castlevania collection will focus on the
15:37Game Boy Advance games, we might be waiting a while. 4. The World Ends With You
15:42Taking place in a hyper-stylized version of Shibuya, starring Neku Sakuraba, a kid who dresses
15:47up weird even for a world where everybody dresses weird, The World Ends With You is the best JRPG
15:52on the Nintendo DS. Yes, we said it. The story centers on the Reaper's Game, a game where those
15:57who 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 Reaper's Game. It's
16:07both a story worth experiencing for yourself and ridiculously complex, so you're going to want to
16:12keep a notepad on hand. It's very obvious that Kingdom Hearts creator Tetsuya Nomura worked on
16:17this. The 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.
16:273. Castlevania Order of Ecclesia Castlevania Order of Ecclesia is
16:32peak metroidvania Castlevania, arguably even better than Symphony of the Night.
16:37Order of Ecclesia allows you to explore numerous different locations as opposed to one giant map.
16:42It still has the exploration you're looking for in these kinds of games, but it's got the addition
16:46of the variety that the level-based Castlevania games brought to the table. Another notable
16:51aspect of Order of Ecclesia is that it features the first female Castlevania protagonist,
16:56Shanoa, who is one of the coolest main characters in the series. The system to
17:00take enemies' abilities from earlier Castlevania games has been expanded with the glyph system.
17:05These 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
17:14in-depth system than anything you've seen before and allows you to truly play how you want to.
17:19Order 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,
17:27it's ridiculously expensive. Please Konami, stop making pachinko for two seconds and
17:31give us Order of Ecclesia on modern systems, we're begging you.
17:34Number 2. Professor Layton and The Lost Future. Detective games that feature a man who is
17:39reminded of puzzles by literally everything and some kid he hangs out with, the Professor
17:44Layton series are some of the most charming games ever made. Okay, the actual mysteries
17:48don't end up making much sense even when the game explains them to you, but that kind of
17:52doesn'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,
18:05which is easily the best. This one serves as a great conclusion to Professor Layton's story,
18:10with the games that came out afterwards mostly being prequels. We won't spoil anything,
18:14but if you don't cry at the end, you might not have a heart.
18:16Number 1. Pokemon HeartGold and Pokemon SoulSilver. These games are peak Pokemon.
18:22Remakes of the Generation 2 games Pokemon Gold and Silver, HeartGold and SoulSilver are still
18:28yet to be topped. The games have two separate regions to explore, making them easily the
18:32largest Pokemon games. Your Pokemon can walk behind you, letting you connect to them more
18:36than any other 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,
18:45no longer is Kanto barely populated, no longer does the game have the graphics of a Game Boy
18:50game, although that can't exactly be blamed on Gold and Silver. The game's story's also a bit
18:55more fleshed out, and there's more post-game added to the already huge post-game. The game
19:00also came with the Pokewalker, a way to walk with your Pokemon in real life way before Pokemon Go
19:05did it. The Pokewalker for some reason was one of the most accurate pedometers at its time of
19:09release. How do you try to make a fun accessory for your monster capturing game, and then
19:13accidentally make one of the best pedometers on the market? We don't know, but we're not complaining.