The best of DS, post them here!

CiDeRmAn

I am going to guess that the DS is well in the retrogaming category at this stage.

The games library is so extensive, I don't think any of us can have seen and played it all.

Here is one I wasn't previously aware of,

SideSwiped, a racing game heavily influenced by Burnout.

Unlike that DS port, it is running at a high framerate and looks amazing.

I haven't had a chance to try it out yet, it'll have to wait until I get home!

https://youtu.be/q3VI5m-bPRM

Retr0gamer

Etrian Odyssey series.

Take the old as videogames themselves genre of a first person dungeon crawler. Then make it so that you have to draw your own map on the touch screen. It transforms a staid genre into one of the best RPG experiences of the last 20 years. Couple that with nice visuals and absolutely gorgeous Yuzo Koshiro soundtracks that he composed on a PC-98 FM synth.

The map drawing is a game changer as you become so invested in the game. The success of your next run into the dungeon is totally dependent on the quality of your maps. The game also does some interesting things with FOE enemies. These are super powered enemies that appear on the map and really should be avoided. They take a step with every step the party makes or every turn in battle and this leads to inventive puzzles and some pretty hairy moments. You really don't want to get caught in a random battle that takes too many turns and end up having a FOE join in.

o1s1n

Haven't played either of them, the framerate in SideSwiped looks like it needs to be seen to be believed, that's amazingly smooth.

I also did not know drawing your own dungeons was a feature of Etrian Odyssey - sounds like I missed out on one there not playing that. I have a few Etrian Odyssey games for the 3DS, any idea if they kept that feature through them?

One of my favourite DS titles of all time that's a little less common than your Marios and Zeldas is The World Ends with You. Fantastically original RPG with a 2000s aesthetic which really should have gotten more well known.

There's a sequel on the Switch but it's nowhere near as good.

Retr0gamer

The World Ends with you is also best on DS, the other games apparently don't work as well without the touch screen. I've actually yet to get around to playing it which is why I said apparently.

You definitely missed out on not playing EO but that doesn't stop you rectifying it. The whole game basically works off you creating your own map and it's utterly transformative for the genre. The 3DS games all keep this feature. Regarding the 3DS games, two of them are remakes of EO1 and EO2 respectively. Each contains a remake of the original story with set characters, dialogue, cutscenes, linear progression and much more focus on the story. This is fine but I'd recommend playing the original mode that's also included that sticks to the original release. Also Koshiro orchestrated the soundtracks for these releases but I much prefer the PC-88 music which is selectable.

If you do decide to play the games you can't do a dungeon in one dive. The game is about pushing as far as you can and learning when to retreat. When you unlock warp wires which teleport you out of the dungeon, always bring two because there will be one time you are deep in the dungeon, low on resources and when you go to retreat realise you forgot to buy one.

o1s1n

Yeah it's interesting, I bought Neo:The World Ends with You on release and was super excited to give it a go after loving the original so much. It's okay, but not great. Was trying to figure out why.

Went back and fired up the original on the DS to compare and then it hit me, the touch screen absolutely makes the game. It's been so long since I played it (16 years now, hard to believe!) I'd totally forgotten.

Thanks for the info on Etrian Odyssey, sounds like it's right up my street! Time to dust off the DS.

Mr.Saturn

I know it’s the greatest selling franchise of all time, but Pokemon’s run on the DS cast such a long shadow the series has yet to come out from under. Granted, Diamond and Pearl wasn’t the best start but from Platinum onward, GF just dropped banger after banger. Black/White 2 and HeartGold/SoulSilver were especially loaded with an insane amount of content for casual and hardcore alike.

It’s a shame collecting them these days will cost you a kidney.

Quigs Snr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120151881#Comment_120151881

A couple of years ago I had a temporary leave of insanity and bought every PAL Pokemon game ever released. Boxed. Well, all the mainlines.. of the spin offs I am still missing: GC - Pokemon Box, GC - Gale of Darkness, GBC - Puzzle Challenge, N64 - Puzzle League, N64 - Stadium 2.

.... and I have still never played a Pokemon game. Talk about good intentions. So here is my question.. if you had every single mainline Pokemon game right up to current day... and you were heading away on a trip in a few weeks and wanted to start with one.. which one would you pick ?

Quigs Snr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120150877#Comment_120150877

Is it worth getting the first one on DS if I have Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl on 3DS ?

Mr.Saturn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120153502#Comment_120153502

That must've cost you a pretty penny, not to mention how much of a nightmare the market is with the amount of fakes out there.

HeartGold/SoulSilver definitely — very loving remakes that managed to please the many different fandoms that makes up Pokemon's audience better than anything else they've done. Insane amount of extra stuff there, but the main stuff is streamlined enough if you can't be arsed. Bit of a golden age for the franchise where GF managed to balance depth and accessibility versus the super handhold-y nature of the modern games. Have only played as far as Sword/Shield, mind you.

Quigs Snr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120153620#Comment_120153620

Yup. Painful, but when I get a notion I can't stop myself (hell a few weeks ago someone said I should look at the world ends with you game on the DS... within the week it and its switch sequel were in my letterbox). Poor impulse control. Go big or go home. I became quite the expert at spotting the fakes and have had several offered to me as the real deal.

Everyone is recommending Heartgold and Soul Silver, so one of them it is. I might see what that Pokewalker stuff is about. Stick it on one of the kids for a week and the Pokemon will be the fittest Pokemon in the pokeverse.

Mr.Saturn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120153700#Comment_120153700

I walked about 10-12ish K one day with my Pokewalker thinking it was a freebie for leveling up, not realizing you can only gain 1 level per Pokewalker visit. Was in bits.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120153527#Comment_120153527

You'll be grand with the 3DS version. It has the original game with fancy graphics and the new remake, as well as the option to listen to the FM synth music.

Retr0gamer

Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! (and the sequel)

(and Elite Beat Agents)

You might know Elite Beat Agents, the westernised version of this game but I preferred Ouendan because of the music choice. If you aren't familiar with the series at all it's probably (and by that I mean definitely) the best rhythm action game series ever. You use the touch screen to complete tasks to the music that's playing while crazy antics happen on the top screen.

Honestly you can't go wrong with any of the Ouendan games or ELite Beat Agents. Ouendan 1 has the better music, Elite Beat Agents adds some quality of life improvements (skipping the intro of songs is a god send) and Ouendan 2 has a better soundtrack that EBA as well as the QoL improvements.

TechnoFreek

Coincidentally enough, I rooted out my handhelds recently including the DS Lite to see what was working or not and to be slightly more precise, jailbreak status!

My DS has the cyclods flashcart which I got back in the day at launch, think of was the first one of it kind woth SD card support.

Anyway, booted it all up but the flashcart wasn't recognised by the DS ,kept booting to home screen.

Tried the paper shimmy trick and it's booting perfectly now! Have a look at the selection of games I was playing from at least 8 years ago!

o1s1n

The fact that there hasn't been an Advance Wars game released since Days of Ruin in 2008 is a crime.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120154717#Comment_120154717

There's a remake of 1 and 2 that is literally finished and has been held up by Nintendo because of the Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine.

That series can't catch a break. The original GBA game launched on 9/11 in the US.

Retr0gamer

Nintendo presents: Style Boutique 

Also known as Style Savvy in the US.

This is a game that sounds awful on paper but is actually really addictive. Basically it's a bit of a management sim. People will come into you with requests for clothing and you have to pick out their outfit and depending on how much they like the outfit you will be rewarded with them buying the outfit and repeated visits.

The one thing that makes this game really stand out is the writing. The Nintendo localization team had a lot of fun with this game and the people that come into the shop looking for clothes are absolutely bonkers. It can be pretty laugh at loud at times listening to the weird stories.

Don't sleep on this one, it has three 3DS sequels as well. I only played the first one which seems like a refinement of the first game.

It you are looking for this one in the Likes of CEX or Gamestop here's some advice. It took me months to find this game, I kept finding the box and then the staff couldn't find the game. It will be filed under 'Nintendo presents' and not 'Style Boutique'.

CiDeRmAn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120154913#Comment_120154913

In fairness, if it's launch date had of been 10/11 they probably would have held it back

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120165197#Comment_120165197

I can't believe you glossed over the post where Retr0 said he's now playing DS games intended for teenage girls.

Is this really that good or is he taking the mick? Is it the forums new version of The Tower? Can we get this game to go up in value?

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120165215#Comment_120165215

No it's actually genuinely a great game. The writing is surprisingly great.

One of the 3DS games I heard was a bit of a misstep as it takes the concept seriously and loses the insanity of all the characters that visit the shop, but the DS and first 3DS game I can vouch for as being a lot of fun.

https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/wiiu-eshop/style_savvy_ds

And they gave it a 7/10 because the 3DS games improved things.

Retr0gamer

Trauma Centre

The Trauma Centre games are surgery simulators for the Nintendo DS. You have to perform surgeries using the games touch screen and they can get very tense as you are often working against a timer and have other complications like trying not to have the patient bleed out. All of this is set to one of the most insanely stupid anime storylines of all time.

Jack burton

I remember I couldn't get clots or something out of a artery 5 or 6 surgerys in so packed in that game.

Have a modest ds collection myself. Always tried to get more but never came across anything decent for it for cheap. That's just me though

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120206715#Comment_120206715

Oh it's disgustingly difficult.

o1s1n

I had the Wii version of that too and couldn't really get anywhere in it, it looks like it's going to be lots of fun but It's so stressful you come out the other end as if you've actually been in a real operating theatre.

megaten

Don't know about best but I always had a lot of fondness for My World, My Way. An RPG where you play as a spoilt rich girl aiming to beat an adventurer at his own game after he rejects you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQdUMvrjItE

The games unique spin is your MC can use 'Pout Points' to alter the game stats like field conditions, enemy levels and shop prices to suit herself.

Dr Bob

Soma Bringer ( although you need a translation patch)