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Aug 10, 2019 · This ranked reader-voted list of the 50 best Nintendo DS games is governed by Nintendo Life User Ratings and can change depending on those scores. Feel free to rate your favourites and,...
- We rank the best games on Nintendo's original dual-screened handheld
- 25. Super Scribblenauts DS
- 24. Rhythm Heaven
- 23. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
- 22. Kirby: Mass Attack
- 21. Dragon Quest 9
- 20. Picross DS
- 19. 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
- 18. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
- 17. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
By IGN Staff
Updated: Dec 11, 2023 11:39 pm
Posted: Aug 28, 2023 1:02 pm
Now 19 years after the Nintendo DS first hit the street, Nintendo's first handheld has proven itself as one of the best-selling gaming consoles ever launched. The Nintendo DS was once thought to be a flash in the pan, but it ended up determining the future of Nintendo over the following years and even laid the groundwork for the massively successful Nintendo Switch.
Here at IGN, we've had the pleasure of reviewing thousands of games that made the Nintendo DS such a monumental success, so we now have the pleasure of bringing you the best 25 Nintendo DS games ever released.
What follows is our latest version of the venerable countdown. Read it, take it in, and then prepare to voice either your approval or disagreement through our comments box at the end.
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive | Developer: 5th Cell Media
Release Date: October 12, 2010 | Read the Review
Taking down a tree with an ax. Or a flamethrower. Or a beaver. God fighting Satan on a skateboard. Traveling back in time to capture a T-Rex, then riding it back to the future to eat robot zombies. Scribblenauts, the game that let you summon into existence anything you could imagine, captivated everyone at E3 2009 and earned our Best of Show award, the only time a DS title managed that feat. Its sequel Super Scribblenauts gets the nod to kick off our Top 25, though, as it fixed the control problems that plagued the first game and added adjectives to the mix. (So that time-traveling T-Rex became a giant, orange, insatiable time-traveling T-Rex.)
~ Lucas M. Thomas
Publisher: Nintendo | Developer: Nintendo, TNX
Release Date: April 5, 2009 | Read the Review
Only Japan got to experience the quirky, sing-songy, pressing-buttons-to-the-beat action of Rhythm Tengoku on the Game Boy Advance, but that title did so well in Nintendo's home territory that this DS sequel was given the greenlight around the globe. Tapping along or flicking the stylus across the touch screen to match the action in such oddball scenarios as a farmer stomping the ground to harvest crops, ghosts singing at a rock concert or and endless ping-pong ball rally, Rhythm Heaven was the perfect blend of challenge and charm.
~ Lucas M. Thomas
Publisher: Konami | Developer: Konami
Release Date: December 5, 2006 | Read the Review
Legendary game designer Koji Igarashi and his team of fellow creators at Konami refined Castlevania action and exploration into a science on Nintendo's GBA, then brought three more incredible Dracula-hunting quests to series fans on the DS. Portrait of Ruin was the second to debut on the dual-screened system, and it made its mark by doubling your playable heroes – whip-wielding Jonathan Morris and magic-master Charlotte Aulin quested through the haunted manor together as you switched between controlling both to take down obstacles one hero alone could never overcome.
~ Lucas M. Thomas
Publisher: Nintendo | Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: September 19, 2011 | Read the Review
The Kirby franchise's versatility has proven to not only be its most consistent element, but its greatest asset as well. Mass Attack introduced the notion of controlling a squad of Kirbys that collectively had to work towards common goals while avoiding damage. Not only were the touch controls perfectly implemented, but the game had a scalable difficulty of sorts, rewarding players who could avoid harming their pink puffballs. Balancing creativity and challenge, Mass Attack may have arrived late in the life of the DS, but it instantly proved to be one of the most memorable games in the system's library – and in Kirby history.
~ Richard George
Publisher: Nintendo, Square Enix | Developer: Level-5
Release Date: July 11, 2010 | Read the Review
After years as a series exclusive to PlayStation consoles, Square Enix abruptly shifted gears and brought Dragon Quest's ninth installment to a Nintendo handheld instead. The shocking change in strategy was simple math, according to the studio – the DS simply had the most units sold out of all gaming platforms, and Square Enix wanted the ambitious DQIX to have as big an audience as possible. The game itself then impressed us all even more than its creators' boldness, offering an addictive, customizable and connected Quest adventure that cast you as the hero yourself, and took the series one step closer to MMOs.
~ Lucas M. Thomas
Publisher: Nintendo | Developer: Jupiter
Release Date: July 30, 2007 | Read the Review
Nintendo's DS became a huge success on the strengths of innovative original games and strong sequels to long-running series, but perhaps even more important were its audience-expanding casual titles. Games like Art Academy, Personal Trainer: Cooking and Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day all sought to appeal to your parents or grandparents and introduce gaming in unorthodox and easily accessible ways, and for the most part they succeeded – but Picross DS was, undoubtedly, the best of all the "Touch Generations" titles. Filling in boxes on a grid to make tiny pixel pictures became an unbreakable addiction for thousands of DS owners, and the cartridge packed in so much content that we're still solving puzzles to this day.
~ Lucas M. Thomas
Publisher: Aksys Games | Developer: Chunsoft
Release Date: November 16, 2010 | Read the Review
One of the most unexpected success stories on the DS came in late 2010, when Aksys Games took a chance on localizing a game in a genre rarely seen in the States – the visual novel. These games often feature more text than actual gameplay, playing out like interactive Choose Your Own Adventure books – the sheer volume of words to translate almost always keeps them locked away overseas. 999's mind-bending and murderous story of nine kidnap victims trying to make their way out of a trap-filled sinking cruise ship was beautifully brought into English, though, giving DS-owning adults one of the most satisfying M-rated experiences available on the system. It sold through multiple print runs and gave rise to an all-new franchise.
~ Lucas M. Thomas
Publisher: Capcom | Developer: Capcom
Release Date: October 11, 2005 | Read the Review
"Objection!" Perhaps no one-word catchphrase has ever been as popular as that one, cried out alongside the iconic pointing finger, swept-back hairstyle and signature blue suit of gaming's most famous lawyer, Phoenix Wright. Capcom first introduced the Ace Attorney to Japanese audiences in the GBA era, but the DS is where he found global recognition in a series of cartoony courtroom dramas. Investigating crime scenes, interrogating suspects and catching witnesses in lies all combine with an incredible supporting cast of unforgettable characters across this game and its many sequels and spin-offs. (Phoenix has proven so popular, in fact, that he's even made the cut for Capcom's cross-over fighting games.)
~ Lucas M. Thomas
Publisher: Nintendo | Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: December 7, 2009 | Read the Review
Nintendo first brought the Zelda franchise to the DS with The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, a sequel to the GameCube's Wind Waker that kept the Toon Link style alive while innovating a new, all-touch control scheme. Phantom Hourglass had a few odd design ideas, though, like a central temple you had to replay over and over again throughout the adventure – so our Top 25 Zelda pick goes to the more recent Spirit Tracks. This game kept the unique touch controls of Hourglass, fixed the issues of that predecessor and introduced us to both train travel across Hyrule and a version of Princess Zelda who actually accompanies Link on his quest – in ghostly "Spirit" form, allowing her to possess and take control of various armored enemies along the way. Spirit Tracks was a great ride.
~ Lucas M. Thomas
Mar 10, 2022 · The 25 Best Nintendo DS Games Of All Time. The Nintendo DS combined innovative hardware with video games that were uniquely suited to the handheld console. These are our picks for the...
- Darryn Bonthuys
- Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. Mar 17, 2009 • Rated M. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an entirely original entry into the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series, and brings a new level of interactivity to its sprawling open environments.
- Flipnote Studio. Aug 12, 2009. [DSiWare] Let your inner artist loose with Flipnote Studio, an easy to use and surprisingly powerful animation application.
- Chrono Trigger. Nov 25, 2008 • Rated E10+ [Metacritic's 2008 DS Game of the Year] When a newly developed teleportation device malfunctions at the Millennial Fair, young Crono must travel through time to rescue his unfortunate companion from an intricate web of past and present perils.
- Mario Kart DS. Nov 14, 2005 • Rated E. Race and battle with up to eight karts at once, regardless of whether or not everyone has a Game Card. The all–star cast includes Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, Bowser, and Toad.
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