List: Best 30 NDS Games (What do you want on yr shelf)

[dsheinem]

In all seriousness, these are my faves:

New Super Mario Bros Wii
Picross 3D
Ketsui: Death Label
Little Red Riding Hood Zombie BBQ
Nanostray
Dementium: The Ward
Mario Kart DS
Space Invaders Extreme
Retro Game Challenge
Metroid Prime Pinball
Tetris DS

I hope to play Moon and Radiant Historia sometime this year, but have heard great things about both.

[Omerta]

Heard Ketsui was a boss rush. Dave, have you played the full version? How does it match up to better hardware?

Sounds fun to pack around and play it on the go...

[dsheinem]

Heard Ketsui was a boss rush. Dave, have you played the full version? How does it match up to better hardware?

Sounds fun to pack around and play it on the go...

It is a boss rush, yes. I think it is a lot of fun, and there's lots of modes and what not to unlock with a wide range of difficulties. The game even comes with some cool bonus content in the box (a superplay DVD, for example). It is probably my favorite handheld-specific shooter, though the Shin'en shmups are a close second (Nanostray, Iridion II, etc.)

[Flake]

Mario 64 DS - the definitive iteration of the gamw

Castlevania - Order of Eclesia - fixed all the problems of the metroidvania titles and had a really fun system/story

Mario Kart DS - such a large portion of my life spent on this and it it still quite playable.

[dsheinem]

I seem to recall a lot of criticism about the Mario 64 port from "purists" who love the original. Complaints about the camera and what not, maybe? Am I imagining things? I've avoided it for years for this (made up?) reason...

[Omerta]

I wasn't too fond of Mario 64 DS. It was definitely built from the ground up so it had a bunch of control and graphical nuances that were different from the original. It had a ton of extra stuff on it to the point that it almost changed the game completely IMO. I was bitter about the "run" button that seemed unnecessary because it felt harder to do the ninja stuff I was accustomed to in the original. It also cleaned up a lot of the bugs that allowed you to end the game in record time, but maybe someone's broken it too by now. Probably pissed some people off.

My two cents anyway... might be awesome for everyone else.

Anyone else play Bangai-O Spirits? T'was decent, but it seems like there was only so many bullets the little DS could handle graphically so there was a lot of invisible crap in the way and the graphics were dumbed down hard.

[Exhuminator]

Oh man this thread is going to be so hard for me, the DS library is HHHNNNGGGG. I'll have to get back to this later when I have enough free time. But for now know that Hotel Dusk is THE number one DS game of all time forever and ever and beefy love cakes my brothers.

I seem to recall a lot of criticism about the Mario 64 port from "purists" who love the original. Complaints about the camera and what not, maybe? Am I imagining things? I've avoided it for years for this (made up?) reason...

The problem was that game needs analog stick control and on the DS the only way to emulate that was with the touchscreen... not an ideal solution. Playing the game on a 3DS however lets you use the analog circle pad thus alleviating the issue.

[mjmjr25]

RE: Mario 64 DS - I haven't played Mario 64 via RGB upgraded video or anything, but with stock S-Video as much as I loved that game - it was a bit blocky and made me really dizzy; especially when you'd do a crouch-->backflip and get turned around...then try to sort where you are only to fall off of whatever perch you were trying to reach by trying to "find" where you went. Also, there are spots in Mario 64 where you get stuck behind a block of pixels (unintentionally). All of these "problems" were fixed in the DS version, not to mention playing as other characters. Mario 64 DS is a must.

I did not like Ketsui Death Label. Perhaps I was expecting too much, well, undoubtedly I was expecting too much. Graphically it is muddy - just nothing impressive about it. Other than the title and a lot of bullets on screen - it doesn't feel like an ARIKA/CAVE offering at all.

I have not played (or heard) of the Zombie BBQ game, but am already interested in checking this one out from multiple folks having it in their top lists.

[Jmustang1968]

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 - A very robust tactical game. Really improves upon the original and a quality title

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon - Not as good as the 3DS entry, but still a great Fire Emblem title which is a remake of an older release. It would be the definitive version, even if some of it is a bit dated.

Professor Laytons - I havent fully played through these myself, but my wife absolutely loves them. Not sure which is the best release.

Puzzle Quest - A very novel idea at the time, an RPG with puzzle fight mechanics. Very addicting and fun game.

[ejamer]

Definitely belong:
* Professor Layton and the Unwound Future - best in series on DS, although Curious Village is acceptable substitute
* Bowser's Inside Story - Absolutely charming.
* Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia - hard choice between this and Dawn of Sorrow; as long as it's not Portrait of Ruin I'm ok either way
* Contra 4 - this game is incredible and should definitely be represented
* Chrono Trigger - while the extra content was called padding above, making the game bigger and portable makes this the (so far) definitive version of a true classic
* Dragon Quest IX - the 4-6 remakes are also good, but this original game was (and still is) pretty fantastic
* Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars - ported to other systems, but still best on DS because that's what it was designed for
* Mega Man Zero Collection - might be arguable that having all of the GBA games separately is better... but the convenience alone makes this the version to own in my opinion
* Meteos - simple game, but fun and fantastic use of the touch screen
* Ghost Trick - kicks Phoenix Wright's ass
* Radiant Historia - great original RPG

Bonus selections that would need discussion:
* WarioWare D.I.Y. would make my personal list, but I doubt others will have tried it, and the game is less interesting that the creation process.
* Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure and Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes could both be included, but I'd like to hear other opinions.
* I'm also a huge fan of Hotel Dusk and Last Window, but suspect that almost as many people who enjoy them would hate the design of those games.
* Does 999 have a better version available elsewhere? My assumption is yes... but if not throw it on the list.
* Brain Age 2 probably won't move the needle here, but is actually a very cool game and might be worth listing - it's on my shelf.
* Kirby's Mass Effect is fun and an interesting design.

...
Monster Tale
...
Aliens Infestation

Glad to see both listed, although wasn't quite confident enough to list them myself.

Monster Tale in particular suffered from some weak level design, but was a great concept and a very nicely put together package.

... I hope to play Moon ...

Decent game and worth playing, but does the (digital only) 3DS port makes the DS version obsolete? Not sure it would make my Top 30 list but has remained in my collection.

...
Puzzle Quest - A very novel idea at the time, an RPG with puzzle fight mechanics. Very addicting and fun game.

The only question I have: is it better elsewhere? If not, I agree this belongs.