SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - Give me one or two must-have DS games.

Joined: Oct 19 2009 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 1479

I just bought a reallly cheap DS because Scribblenauts seemed like such an amazing concept that I absolutely had to try it. I've also just come to the conclusion that if I am going to be a DS owner, I should probably make the most of my situation and get some other games for it. However, this is the first new system I've owned since the N64, so I have very little idea what that's out there is good. I do not have the resources to go pick up a lot of games, so what do you guys suggest as one or maybe two must-have games?

Posted: Jan 05 2010 12:20 am

Any of the three Castlevania games would be a good buy, particularly Dawn of Sorrow or Portrait of Ruin. Order of Ecclesia is a little short.

Other than that, depends on what you're looking for.

Turn-based RPG? Bowser's Inside Story
Run and gun? Contra 4
Action RPG? Phantom Hourglass
Racing game? Mario Kart DS

Posted: Jan 05 2010 12:39 am

I've never had a DS but I hear Contra 4 is the shit.

2010 SLF Tag Champ Joined: Jun 07 2006 Posts: 12294

castlevania: order of ecclesia.

Posted: Jan 05 2010 01:44 am

The game I play 95% of the time on my DS? Civilization: Revolutions.

Also:
Impossible Mission
Crono Trigger
FF III
FF IV
Mario Kart DS

Joined: Dec 20 2009 Location: CA Posts: 152

Some of my favorites...

Bleach: Dark Souls - best fighting game I've seen on a handheld until there's a decent SF port
Chrono Trigger - because it's motherfucking Chrono Trigger!
Contra 4 - my favorite Contra. Challenge mode will keep you busy for a long time.
Disgaea DS - ultra (maybe too) deep SRPG with cool story and dialogue
Final Fantasy III - liked this better than the FFIV remake, go figure.
Mario Kart DS - my favorite Mario Kart after MK64. Retro cups + Missions mode are a nice touch.
New Super Mario Bros. - too easy, but it's fun while it lasts
Peggle Dual Shot - this game is pretty stupid. Stupidly addictive.
Planet Puzzle League - aka Tetris Attack. My favorite puzzle game on the system.
Tecmo Bowl Kickoff - just like the NES game. Fake teams and players, but you can make edits.

Posted: Jan 05 2010 03:13 am

All of the Castlevanias. Hell, if you've got an older model DS get the castlevania advance games too.

Besides that? Man, my DS has sort of been sitting idle, so I can't really say. The Etrian Odyssey games come to mind, obviously any SNES heavy hitters what got remade, SMT Devil Survivor. After that, you'll be RPG'd out.

Joined: Nov 11 2009 Location: Cajun Country Posts: 1511

Tetris DS. It's out of print and pretty expensive but it's a great game.

Title: Hugh Joined: Sep 23 2007 Posts: 1591

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia and Contra 4, have been my favorites.

Posted: Jan 05 2010 08:36 am

I agree with all of the Castlevania recommendations. They are all great games. I'd say Crono Trigger and the Professor Layton games are must owns as well. I also really enjoyed the Phoenix Wright games too, so those are worth having if you haven't already played them on GBA. Also, if you like slow paced mystery games, check out the vastly underrated Hotel Dusk too.

However, I will tell you to stay far away from Phantom Hourglass no matter how many times you hear how good it is. It isn't. Unless you enjoy tedious, boring games with horribly unlikeable characters, that is. I think if you must have a Zelda game on the DS, Spirit Tracks is a better choice as they did away with some of the more tedious aspects of Phantom Hourglass.

Joined: Oct 19 2009 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 1479

Thanks for the advice everybody.

I'm not going to get Chrono Trigger or any other SNES games. I already have a SNES, and most of those games, so I don't really need two of the same thing. Are the Castlevania games old-style or are the all Metroidy like the GBA games?

In the back of my mind, the games I had been considering were Metroid Prime Hunters, Spirit Tracks, Bowser's Inside Story, Mario Kart, FF Tactics A2, or Sonic Rush. Any of these that I should clearly stay away from?

Joined: Dec 20 2009 Location: CA Posts: 152

The Castlevania games are metroidy. I'm going to go against the grain and call them a bit overrated. I beat Portrait of Ruin and I liked it a lot, but I never finished the other 2 games. They were just too much of the same thing and I got bored/burned out after a while.

I've spent a significant amount of time with both, and imo Disgaea is better than Tactics A2 in every way. Tactics is too kiddie and cutesy to take serious and the story and dialogue are borderline retarded.

Posted: Jan 05 2010 03:05 pm

Inside Story and Spirit Tracks are good buys, as is Mario Kart. Sonic Rush is damn fun, but if you can only afford to pick up a few games for awhile, might be a little too short.

Prime Hunters is pretty blah. It's basically a tech demo for DS multiplayer. If it would have been a pack-in game like they originally teased, it'd be cool. But as a retail game it sucks.

I've never liked any of the Tactics games.

Title: Titlating Joined: Dec 17 2007 Posts: 5042

drawn to life was nice

Posted: Jan 05 2010 07:29 pm

Drawn To Life was a cool concept, but it was a little short and a little easy.

Scribblenauts takes what Drawn To Life wanted to do to a whole new level.

Wizard Joined: Jun 12 2009 Posts: 4209

The new Golden Sun DS game when it comes out. Although nobody knows when THAT will happen. -glares at Nintendo HQ-

2010 SLF Tag Champ Joined: Jun 07 2006 Posts: 12294

i forgot to mention sonic rush. shame on me. it's definitely worthwhile. you can get it for liek fifteen bucks nowadays too.

surprisingly, n+ is a fun, cheap little title too. I think I played that more than any other DS game that I owned until I got order of ecclesia.

Joined: Oct 19 2009 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 1479

Drew Linky wrote:

The new Golden Sun DS game when it comes out. Although nobody knows when THAT will happen. -glares at Nintendo HQ-

HOLY SHIT, there's a new Golden Sun coming out!?!? That is definitely a must have for me. Doesn't really help my current situation, but I'll definitely keep that on the radar.

Disgaea looks cool, but I don't know if I'm feeling the art style, and I'm sure I'll get tarred and feathered for this, but I'm not a huge fan of metroid-style Castlevania. Looks like Inside Story, Mario Kart, and Spirit Tracks are coming out on top so far.

Anybody have any thoughts on Puzzle Quest or Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes?

2010 SLF Tag Champ Joined: Jun 07 2006 Posts: 12294

Order of Ecclesia is less metroid-like. It's got metroidy areas, but their broken up into smaller chunks due to a level select kinda thing. It's worth checking out.

Posted: Jan 06 2010 01:44 am

V.B.D. wrote:

Bleach: Dark Souls - best fighting game I've seen on a handheld until there's a decent SF port

So agreed. Even if you more associate Bleach more with cleaning agents, every fighter fan (or fan of Treasure's games) should check it out.

Anyway, some ones that haven't been mentioned (this is gonna be lot to take in):

Metal Slug 7 (because it's fucking Metal Slug)
Retro Game Challenge ("fake" retro compilation with games that are inspired by, and are made to look and play like NES classics. It's not only the games, though.. it's the vintage atmosphere too, what with the mags, living room atmosphere, NES era in-jokes and such. It kicks ass.)
Megaman ZX, Megaman ZX Advent, and Megaman Star Force 3 (because it's Megaman, and the latter is possibly the best game in it's respective sub-series)
Space Invaders Extreme 2 (Taito made Space Invaders awesome again, emphasis on awesome. Check it out for yourself here)
Both Advance Wars games (if you like simple strategy games)
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (remake of the very first Fire Emblem game, which never was released here)
Bangai-O Spirits (if you like robots and missiles flying everywhere, you'll love it)
Legend of Kage 2 (regardless of your opinion of the NES original, it's good stuff, and the ninja powers and challenging bosses spice things up)
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (the best of old GTA and new GTA rolled up in to one joint, and touch screen stuff breaks up the action nicely)
Henry Hatsworth (half platformer, half puzzle game, gets harder later)
The Legendary Starfy (Nintendo platformer that takes place underwater. Just calming to play)
Phantasy Star 0 (For a series of multiplayer oriented ARPGs, this has a sweet single player campaign, recommended if you like that stuff)
Sonic Rush Adventure (it's Sonic)

Joined: Nov 11 2009 Location: Cajun Country Posts: 1511

I second the Advance Wars games.

Posted: Jan 06 2010 07:21 am

I would only recommend Metal Slug 7 for hardcore Metal Slug fans. For a new DS owner, I would recommend Contra 4 first. Contra 4 has emulations of both NES Contra and Super C, and a several other less cool unlockables, a better mission mode, and it's an overall more challenging/rewarding experience. There is nothing to unlock in Metal Slug 7. Nothing. The only reason to play through Combat School is for your own personal satisfaction, and that's just not enough.

Posted: Jan 06 2010 09:24 am

I second Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon. Great strategy game.

As for Puzzle Quest, it's a pretty fun title if a little simple, but you have to be careful about which one you get. Challenge of the Warlord was the first one, and based on user reviews on Gamespot is the better game. The second one, Galactrix had a more sluggish interface which evidently broke the game a bit.

Joined: Oct 19 2009 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 1479

I wound up going with Spirit Tracks. I was standing in Best Buy weighing my options and decided that it would be impossible to go wrong with a Zelda game.

I'm just a little bit in, and so far I can't tell if I like the game or not. From the outset I knew that it would take me a while to warm up to the fact that Link rides around on a motherfucking train, but, I made the leap of faith that I would accept it once the story sucked me in. However, I just don't know how to handle the fact that when the Spirit Tower breaks apart at the beginning, an evil train with an angry face flies overhead and scares everybody. What the Hell? I'm not prepared to accept the fact that the main boss of this game might be a demonic locomative, and as a matter of fact, the only instance in which I might possibly condescend to accept any sort of morally-bankrupt train in any story is if someone made a porno called Thomas the Skank Engine. Also, touch screen controls seem alright for movement, but I can't say I like the combat so far.

Joined: Nov 11 2009 Location: Cajun Country Posts: 1511

You've got a helluva imagination.