Got a Nintendo DS Lite (coming). What games should I look into?

[robardin]

My two girls have gotten DS Lites with their Chinese New Year money, specifically to play Pokemon Diamond/Pearl. I've heard there are a lot of good games for these devices, so I secretly also got one for myself, as I have an hour-long commute when I take the bus/train to work.

Any recommendations? I'd prefer puzzle solving types of games that can be played in short bursts to quest or action types of games that would require me to maintain an indefinite real-time thread of activity to succeed.

(I know I saw a recent topic from someone saying X game on the NDS was the most addictive game they'd ever played, but I couldn't find it on a quick search...)

I should add that I'm 37 and have never had a handheld gaming device of any vintage, nor did I grow up playing NES or any of its descendants, so I have zero playing familiarity with Super Mario Bros. or Zelda types of games. I have gotten hooked in the past on games like Bejeweled! and Tetris on the Palm and on my cellphone; I would like games with similar play experience, but with more "features" on an NDS.

[Justin_Bailey]

Well, if you're looking for more puzzle type games it's hard to go wrong with Tetris DS, Brain Age (but skip Brain Age 2) and Big Brain Academy. They're probably three of the best puzzle-type games on the system.

But if you ever decide to branch out into action/adventure titles, might I recommend Contra 4, New Super Mario Bros and Mario Kart DS (a racing game). If you ever find yourself liking platformers even a little bit, Contra and NSMB are the best on the system and Mario Kart DS is a great little racing game with Mario characters.

[Slacker]

The DS is good about short burst gaming in general, as you can just slap it shut and pause the action wherever you are. For specific titles, I would recommend:

- Professor Layton and the Curious Village. This is a puzzle game with a murder-mystery story wrapped around it. The puzzles are classic logic brain bender types. Like you have different sized pitchers and need to get a certain amount of water in one of them, moving matchsticks to change an image, determine which brother is lying and telling the truth, etc. It's a great game that will keep you busy for a while.

- Advance Wars: Days Of Ruin. This is the newer Advance Wars game for the DS. The old one is excellent too, but hard to find. Basically, it's a turn based strategy game played on a grid, kind of like chess. You have a variety of land, sea, and air units that all have strengths and weaknesses against other units. There are at least 100 maps to play on as well, and each one requires a different strategy to be successful. Add a compelling story mode and online play to all that and you have a game with almost limitless replay potential. I put a good 120 hours into the first one over a couple years time and I'm sure this one will be no different (I think I've clocked 40 hours already since it came out last month).

- I agree with the recommendation for New Super Mario Brothers too. It's also very burst-friendly, as each level only takes a few minutes to pop through. There are also some really fun multiplayer games you can play with the kids using two or more DS systems (you only need the one cartridge to play). Actually, now that I think of it, Big Brain Academy is the same way (at least four DS systems can play with one cart).

[Windwalker]

One really nice feature of the Nintendo DS is that if you fold it up at any time, the game automatically pauses. In pause mode, I don't think it uses that much power; I've had unplugged-in paused games last for 10+ hours without completely draining the battery. So no need to be afraid of action or adventure games.

For strategy, I would definitely recommend Advance Wars DS. It's a grid-based war game with various short-range and long-range units, and it also features a bunch of COs (commanding officers) with specific strengths and weaknesses and special powers. It's very simple to learn (the tutorial is nice), but fairly tough to master.

EDIT: Wow, exact minute simul-post both recommending Advance Wars! Nice.

[robardin]

Thanks for the recommendations so far, I'll be looking into them.

This comment from Slacker reminded me that I have another question about the NDS: Actually, now that I think of it, Big Brain Academy is the same way (at least four DS systems can play with one cart)..

So, are games saved to the cartridge and not to on-board memory on the device itself? Since my family will be have two or three of these things, if my kids swap cartridges will they play each other's characters and saved games perforce?

[Ceejaytee]

My husband's completely addicted to Puzzle Quest, the first role-playing game he's ever played. I got it because you have to solve puzzles to play. He was up until 2 this morning playing--and he's done that a lot since I gave it to him. Big Brain Academy is very good, and I'm really into Picross right now--a game I bought my husband but I've been playing instead. It's really cool--you have to fill in a grid to make a picture using number clues. I don't even care about the picture at the end--the fun's trying to figure out which boxes to fill in. There are daily timed games, and then the regular puzzles. It gets very difficult--I really have to be fully awake to play it.

[Balance]

If you're concerned about games requiring extended periods of continuous play, I would point out that the DS Lite has a hibernate feature. With most (if not all) DS games, if you close the machine, gameplay pauses instantly. A fully-charged DS can maintain this suspended state for a long time--I often leave mine suspended for most of the day.

Since you specifically mention puzzle games, you might be interested in "Professor Layton and the Curious Village", which is full of puzzles and brain teasers. I haven't played it myself yet, but I've heard good things about it.

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords actually uses a Bejeweled-like puzzle game to resolve combat. The rest of the game is a mix of strategy and RPG elements.

"Hotel Dusk" is a sort of interactive mystery novel, which might edge into the "puzzle" category.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass" has some simple puzzle elements, but is mostly an adventure game. (One that I enjoyed greatly.)

ETA: I see that I post too slowly. Also that I screwed up my link encoding.

[Slacker]

Originally Posted by robardin

So, are games saved to the cartridge and not to on-board memory on the device itself? Since my family will be have two or three of these things, if my kids swap cartridges will they play each other's characters and saved games perforce?

Sadly, you've stumbled across the one shortcoming of the system already. The save data is indeed saved to the individual cartridge, not the system itself. This is fine for most games like Advance Wars, New Super Mario Brothers, and Brain Age, but some games for whatever reason assume that only one person will be playing them, and don't allow for multiple saves. Picross DS is the worst offender I can think of (despite being a great game otherwise).

[Ceejaytee]

Originally Posted by Slacker

some games for whatever reason assume that only one person will be playing them, and don't allow for multiple saves. Picross DS is the worst offender I can think of (despite being a great game otherwise).

Yeah--this is the only thing that bugs me about Picross. When my husband finally gets around to playing it, he'll be able to see the pictures of the puzzles I solved already, and he won't be able to save his best times on the Daily Picross without overriding mine. I don't get why it does that.

[Hampshire]

I'll second a lot of the already mentioned:
Professor Layton (currently playing and addicted)
Advance Wars (put in a lot of hours on this one)

A couple others that can be played in short bursts:

Clubhouse games: Lots of card games (solitaire) board games (backgammon) and sports (darts) to keep you occupied.
Touchmaster: A bunch of those mini-games that are played on the touchscreens at bars. Card games, mah-jong, trivia, wheel-of-fortune, etc.

[Slacker]

Originally Posted by Hampshire

Clubhouse Games: Lots of card games (solitaire) board games (backgammon) and sports (darts) to keep you occupied.

Good call, I forgot about that one. I got addicted to Backgammon for a while when that came out, and ended up playing it online quite a bit. Good times.

[ForumBot]

Mario Kart! Mario Kart Mario Kart MARIO KART

I bought a DS on a whim with a flash cartridge, and subsequently had access to, well, every game ever made for the DS. I was a big fan of Advance Wars, New Super Mario Bros, and MARIO FREAKIN KART.

[shy guy]

If you like puzzle games, you absolutely must buy Planet Puzzle League. I'm sorry, but you have no choice in the matter. It is essential.

In addition to some of the games that people have mentioned, let me just reccomend...

Elite Beat Agents. It's a rhythm game that involves tapping the screen to the beat of a song. Incredibly simple, and progressively more challenging (there are four difficulty levels, the first being incredibly easy and the highest being ridiculously hard). The songs are familiar pop songs, and each playing session need only last the few minutes it takes to get through the song. Accompanying each song is an outrageous vignette drawn in comic book style; perform well, and things will go well for your character. Perform poorly, and not so much.

I do not exaggerate when I say that I consider it one of the finest video games ever created. I have sunk countless hours into it. As I said, it's as challenging as you want it to be (I've S-Ranked almost every song on the highest difficulty, and you can go on as long as you want trying to beat your high score), and you can play it for minutes or hours at a time.

Enjoy your DS! I got mine about a year ago, and it's easily one of my favorite systems ever. And there's lots more to come in the new few years. Also, don't worry so much about the length of games. The great thing about the DS is that you can just snap the thing shut whenever you feel like it and pick the game up later, without having to worry about whether you've reached a save point or some other such nonsense. It's the perfect subway companion.

[beanpod]

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is a great use of the DS interface, and it very carefully explains how to perform certain actions in game. You collect various kinds of weapons--a boomerang that you draw a path for with the stylus, a grappling hook you grab onto things with, bombs you throw by tapping--and there are side games and side quests and treasure hunts and hidden paths and devious puzzles in temples involving them all. And you sail around and have to fend off the odd octopus attacking your ship. It's a great game for beginners and kids, because it's light and fun with occasional challenges, but has a lot of content.

The new Super Mario Bros is a must, as well. It captures the fun of Mario and will soon have you screaming "No no no no no!!! AAAH! I was RIGHT at the END!" as you slide off an ice covered hill into a hole. Mario addiction is inevitable.

So is Mario Kart--one for everyone playing, or at least two copies for people to fight over. This is actually where I would start if I were you. You network and race each other and throw shells to knock people off the track and slow them down. It's a good group game, if that's what you're looking for for your kids. You can also race against the computer and unlock new karts and new driving characters with different stats.

Again, I mention that these are new versions of classics, so that's why I tried them, but I think they're all done really well on the DS, and are very approachable.

[beanpod]

Elite Beat Agents! I forgot about that one! yes. I second that one as well. it's the perfect one shot puzzle game.

[borschevsky]

Another strong vote for Elite Beat Agents and for Professor Layton. Both are really top-notch games. Both are also a bit unusual, but all the unusual elements greatly enhance them.

Aside from that, I agree with the recommendations for Mario Kart, Puzzle Quest, and New SMB.

Also you may want to look into the Phoenix Wright series.

[robardin]

Originally Posted by Slacker

Sadly, you've stumbled across the one shortcoming of the system already. The save data is indeed saved to the individual cartridge, not the system itself.

What does this mean for buying a "used" game on eBay? I assume there's a "clear all" type of action built in for any given cartridge?

[MentalGuy]

Originally Posted by robardin

What does this mean for buying a "used" game on eBay? I assume there's a "clear all" type of action built in for any given cartridge?

Yes, I know most (and I think all) cartridges have an option where you can reset them to clear the saved data.

I can only second some of the recommendations already made. I am currently playing Professor Layton (when I can rip it away from my kids), and PuzzleQuest: Challenge of the Warlords (which if you like bejeweled should be a good game). I also enjoy Picross and Big Brain Academy.

I also have Looney Tunesuck Amuck but I can't really recommend it. It is a great idea with some good humor (the developers were obviously fans of the original Duck Amuck cartoon), but the games are only so-so. I also have Master of Illusions, but that is because one of my primary hobbies is magic and the mental type of tricks that it does is right up my alley.

[Slacker]

Originally Posted by robardin

What does this mean for buying a "used" game on eBay? I assume there's a "clear all" type of action built in for any given cartridge?

Yeah there usually is. If you want to be sure, you can google around first (or check on gamefaqs.com). Every game I've played has allowed you to nuke the save data if you want.

[Mama Zappa]

Both of my kids love Nintendogs. Basically, virtual dogs. There are different "sets" available (each one has about 5-6 breeds to choose from).

[Slacker]

Originally Posted by Mama Zappa

Both of my kids love Nintendogs. Basically, virtual dogs. There are different "sets" available (each one has about 5-6 breeds to choose from).

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess a 37 year old man is not going to want to shout commands to virtual puppies on the train.

[Mama Zappa]

Originally Posted by Slacker

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess a 37 year old man is not going to want to shout commands to virtual puppies on the train.

I zeroed in on the "girls" and completely missed the part about "got one for himself".

On the other hand, this would pretty much guarantee he'd have a seat to himself

[Just Some Guy]

Originally Posted by shy guy

Elite Beat Agents. It's a rhythm game that involves tapping the screen to the beat of a song. Incredibly simple, and progressively more challenging (there are four difficulty levels, the first being incredibly easy and the highest being ridiculously hard).

Thanks for making me feel bad. I can barely complete the game on easy...

Which doesn't mean that it isn't a cool game.

If I may throw out a more technical suggestion there is quite a bit of homebrew support for the DS and you can buy a cartridge for loading things at Wal-Mart (Datel Games n' Music) for $20. I've just played through the Day of the Tenticle thanks to the SCUMM VM port to my DS.

[ArizonaTeach]

My wife loves Bejewelled, so I bought her Puzzle Quest a month ago, and she hasn't even taken it out of the package! Grrrr...

Sounds like I'll have to pick up the Professor Layton one, though.

[Jayn_Newell]

Oh good lord Elite Beat Agents all the way! I got my DS solely for that game--it's almost as addictive as Puzzle Quest (also a good game, just wish it didn't glitch every so often). Both games are also great in terms of replayability as well as use of the touchscreen. I'll also toss in another vote for Zelda--it uses all the hardware of the system in neat ways (including the clamshell design). Nice trick I learned here--when it wants you to shout at it, just blow into the mic. It still works and you don't wind up feeling like a dolt.

Also, and this is a bit odd since it's a GBA game with a DS successor, but Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga. It's a great RPG, but unfortunately the follow-up, Partners in Time, falls a bit flat and is way too short.

[squeegee]

Meteos is pretty cool & puzzley. A different spin on a Tetris-style game with different rules for matching things, and you play with the pen; very addictive.

[Autumn Almanac]

Since you've got multiple DS's in the house, Mario Kart DS and Big Brain Academy are awesome for multiplayer. Metroid Prime Hunters is also a lot of fun with a few people, but it doesn't necessarily sound like your type of game.

[fluiddruid]

Now that The Game Room has been opened, I am going to move this thread.

[Septima]

The very adventure/puzzle game for the ds is, IMHO, Another Code: Two Memories. It makes the most creative use of the DS system to date. Everything gets used - even the shape of the machine itself!

[bouv]

Damn you people. I shouldn't go buy a DS...I have better things to spend money on (food, for one,) but fuck if it doesn't sound awesome! Plus, have you seen the red/black and cobalt/black colored DSes? SEXY!

[Maui Lion]

Lemme open up my own DS case and recommend some games.

Big Brain Academy: Stated before. A good game for wasting some moments, but best played in short bursts. The little exercises for your brain can get kind of draining after a while. The "ooh thinking so much" kind. Still, it's fun and addicting to keep coming back to.

Puzzle Quest: mentioned before too. If you like Bejeweled and a little D&D thrown in, then this is a game for you. Addicting, and it's the kind you can play for minutes or hours at a time. I have it for my PC and my DS. There are a few bugs in the DS version, but nothing that makes it unplayable.

MarioKart DS: Also has Wi-Fi play over the internet. Fun racing game with popular Mario characters, a definite must for multiple DSes in the house.

Animal Crossing Wild World: The game is basically a little village in which you live. That's about it. You can grow fruit trees, talk to people, pay off your house, fish, find little things buried..overall, not too thrilling when playing by yourself, but friends can visit others' towns by sharing friend codes. Also Wi-Fi enabled for internet play, and if your kids get it, you can visit each others' towns.

Zelda - Phantom Hourglass: Heavy use on the stylus in this game. Also enabled for Wi-Fi as well as play with others nearby, though the multiplayer is a fun little game where you collect Triforce parts for points while your opponent guides three knights to try and slash you and end your turn. Though the fact you have to keep returning to a certain temple to keep the game going gets repetitive, especially since you have to do floors over and over again.

Elite Beat Agents: Mentioned before as well, quite fun, varying difficulties can be chosen. Allows for multiplayer by allowing you to face off against a friend in songs. The final level is quite hard. As in, "can bring grown men to tears" hard.

Lost Magic: A quite basic RPG that plays a little like the old Warcraft, where you can guide your units with your stylus and tell them where to go or attack. The fun point is being able to draw runes on your touchscreen with your stylus to activate your spells. Also Wi-Fi Enabled.

Heroes of Mana: Even moreso like the old Warcraft games, as you have to not only guide units all over large maps, but also harvest raw materials to build things while in-battle. Wi-Fi enabled I think, haven't played mine much.

Cooking Mama: "Bettah zen mama!" Play little cooking minigames to complete your dishes. Peel, chop, slice, dice, stew, saute..learn styles of cooking while having fun. I like it, I recommend it. Though peeling carrots seems so hard..

Nintendogs: Mentioned before, you can also visit other DS owners' dogs by enabling "Bark Mode". This can unlock new items and breeds. By using the microphone in your DS, you can communicate to your dogs by calling them over by name, and issuing commands like "Sit!" and "Roll over!". Very fun for a while, and the cuteness can reel you in, but since you need to really care for them daily, it can get kind of old. I haven't seen my puppy for months. He's covered in fleas by now I'm sure. Though..don't do it in public places other than at home, people will think you're crazy.

Luminous Arc: A very good RPG game not unlike Tactics Ogre or Final Fantasy Tactics, where battles are done on a grid-like battlefield. Has good humor that doesn't take itself too seriously, and the voice acting is very good. I highly recommend it if you like roleplaying games. Although battles can take a while.

Trauma Center - Under the Knife: Become a surgeon! Use your stylus as a scalpel, a medical laser, a syringe, and other tools. Better classified as a Puzzle-type game, it isn't gross in terms of blood or anything. I very highly recommend Trauma Center, as it's quite unique and easily reels you in. The surgeries are all on a timer and usually aren't any longer than five minutes at most, and you can always replay them for higher scores.

Rune Factory: Also Wi-Fi Enabled. You've been given a farm and land on which to grow your crops, but the caves nearby are also hiding secrets. Clear your land of debris and grow your crops according to season to earn money, as well as raise monsters for milk, honey, and eggs. While caring for your farm and interacting with villagers, explore the mysteries of the different dungeons nearby. Using raw materials, you can also craft items, forge tools and equipment, cook in your kitchen..plenty to do. Highly recommended.

Castlevania - Portrait of Ruin: Also Wi-Fi enabled. Explore a large castle while switching between two characters, each with their own style of play. Along the way, explore worlds hidden inside of large paintings to eventually take down the vampire who rules this castle. A variety of weapons and magic spells allows you to find your own style of play as well. After beating the game, you can play it again as different whole new characters too. I recommend this game as well.

Metroid Prime Hunters: Mentioned earlier, also Wi-Fi enabled. The controls can be a little tricky to get down, and if you have large hands, the way you have to hold the DS Lite can make your hand ache after a while; at least, it does for me. Despite this, it's a very good FPS-style game that can offer a really good challenge. I recommend it, but I haven't played mine much.

Phoenix Wright - Ace Attorney: If you don't get this game, it's practically a sin. j/k Although you can use vocal commands for the game, (and you should when you're able to and not completely in public, it makes it so much more fun), you don't have to. As a rookie attorney, you're constantly thrown into some complicated cases where nothing is as it seems. Investigate and gather evidence, then with your knowledge and evidence, press your witnesses in court. Catch them in their lies, uncover the truth, but be careful: mess up too many times in court and you'll get an instant game-over. Start with the first in the series, and if you like it, check on the others. Plus some characters you can't help but love, or love to hate.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and if you want to really make your DS stand out, check out these awesome skins you can buy for it. I bought the aloha black skin. I love it, makes it really stand out when you have a white DS with aloha print.

[Sam Stone]

For the DS, I only really play puzzle-style games and short mini-games. I don't want to solve adventures on the DS. I'll use the Xbox360 or the PC for that. But I love puzzle games.

These are my favorite games:

Planet Puzzle League - Maybe the best puzzle game ever made.

Picross - I resisted getting this for a long time because I didn't think it would be fun. I've tried Sudoku and it didn't capture me, and this looks like Sudoko with pictures. But it works, and it's amazingly addictive. I've been playing for probably an hour a day for the last month.

Clubhouse Games - mini-game collection with some really good games that make great use of the touchscreen.

Touchmaster - Another mini-game collection that I like particularly for the solitaire games.

[Leaper]

Wow, Sam, considering that list and your preferences, I'm surprised you DON'T have Professor Layton and the Curious Village (whose virtues I extol here).

Still, I'm glad for this thread; I might find some stuff to get sometime myself!

[lizardling]

Eh, I have Trauma Center: Under the Knife. The surgeries have this utterly BRUTAL curve, and I ran out of time trying to slice, dice, and julienne very early on in the game. I'd only recommend it if you have unreal reflexes (read: twitch gamer).

Yoshi Islands: Fun, but also a bit more challenging and less fun to play than I would have preferred. If the curve was a bit easier I'd be all over this. As it is, I'm sort of dreading getting back into it and trying to get all the character coins.

Zelda: Phantom Hourglass: Tons of fun. Highly recommended. Although there are a couple of things that're stopping me from getting 100% completion (why yes I am one of those people).

Contact: Weird little game that I rather like. You're a boy who's helping this funny little professor rescue yon big and magical crystal from the baddies. There's a whole bunch of meta going on as the professor will talk to you the player, but the boy doesn't know about you. Nicely done, and you can use 'stamps' in battle -- peel them off with the stylus and stick them on the battlefield for different effects.

Hotel Dusk: Room 215: Linear storyline where you're an ex-cop turned salesman. Gumshoe your way through the noir scenery and solve the mystery of Room 215. (This game is pretty hard to get; I had to bid on 3-4 auctions on ebay before finally winning one) It's sort of like an expanded point'n'click, and you hold the DS sideways like a book. Given how linear it is, I'm going to guess this is a play-once game.

To Maui Lion -- I saw that decalgirl website last night! I was SO tempted to buy the Hellraiser skin for my GC. How good is the quality of the decals?

[Sam Stone]

Originally Posted by Leaper

Wow, Sam, considering that list and your preferences, I'm surprised you DON'T have Professor Layton and the Curious Village (whose virtues I extol here).

Still, I'm glad for this thread; I might find some stuff to get sometime myself!

Well, based on your recommendation I bought the game tonight on my way home from work. I'll give it a try and report back!

[ReuvenB]

I know I might lose a whole lot of respect for this, but Pokemon for the DS is an excellent game all by itself. Putting aside all of the ridiculous cartoons and merchandising, and strip away all of the cutesy graphics, and you still have a truly excellent RPG under there. Plus, because of the number of possible characters, moves, etc, it's customizable to a ridiculous extent. Not only that, but once you beat the game, you still have a ridiculous amount of stuff you can do.
On the other hand, if you can't be seen playing Pokemon, I can certainly understand. If that's the case, I can't recommend Phantom Hourglass highly enough. It's fun, it's funny, and it can certainly take down the boredom factor in oh, say, Introductory Chemistry class (or a long commute). But you didn't hear that one from me.

[bouv]

I was browsing in best Buy today, and thankfully they were sold out of the Crimson/black units. They had several Cobalt/black, but those aren't sexy enough for me to plunk down $130 for right now. I'll wait for them to get more Crimson ones in stock.

[shy guy]

Originally Posted by XWalrus2

I know I might lose a whole lot of respect for this, but Pokemon for the DS is an excellent game all by itself.

I would hope nobody would lose respect for you for that - Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are fucking awesome.

Like you said, the amount of depth in the game is absolutely insane. I have something like 100 hours on my cartridge, and that's after starting over at one point after having put about 30 hours into it, and I've barely even scratched the surface. And if you start breeding Pokemon? Forget about it. The game basically turns into an extension of real life.

[Maui Lion]

Originally Posted by lizardling

To Maui Lion -- I saw that decalgirl website last night! I was SO tempted to buy the Hellraiser skin for my GC. How good is the quality of the decals?

Well, to be honest, here's the lowdown of mine.
Overall, the quality is very good. I have no qualms with quality, and it seems pretty durable. However, make sure you have good hand/eye coordination and flexibility. They claim it's easy to take off, but in all honesty, as soon as it makes connection to your DS, it wants to stay there. Even if you pull it off slowly, it may stretch, and then all proportions can be thrown off. And getting out the air bubbles isn't as easy as they like you to believe.
I accidentally ordered an extra one, which came in handy because I snapped one in half in frustration.
The slimmer parts are harder to get on.
After asking my cousin to help me, we got them on, but the one for the bottom in the inside stretched from taking it off and back on a few times, but some careful trimming with scissors helped and made us have to put it on in two parts, and you can't really tell unless you look real close.

OTOH, my little brother who is 13 years younger than I claimed he put his own on completely by himself and it was perfect. So we know who is better with such things now, don't we.

Overall: Very good decals, sturdy, looks very nice, but isn't easy to take off like they say, and after it's on, it's on, so make sure you're good with such things.

[Tamex]

I see Maui Lion mentioned Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. I must recommend all the Ace Attorney games--I've just started the latest one, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. You probably want to get the first one first, because all the sequels follow a continuous storyline which might get spoiled if you skip around. The first three games feature Phoenix, but the fourth game features a new defense attorney named Apollo Justice and some new DS-specific features (the Phoenix Wright games were originally Gameboy Advance games in Japan.)

I see that Another Code: Two Memories is also mentioned somewhere above. In the US, this game is called Trace Memory. It is awesome, if a bit short.

Puzzle Quest is surprisingly addictive. I keep coming back to it.

Mario Kart: Since you have multiple DS's in your family, you need this game. So much fun. You only need one copy, but we ended up getting one for each person so that we could race on all the tracks in multiplayer mode and use different characters and cars (otherwise, only the player who has the cartridge choose a car--the other players get a generic car, and you only get four tracks.)

I have the New York Times Crosswords and Picross DS...if you like pencil puzzles, you will like these. I'm not a huge Sudoku fan, but the sudoku game on Brain Age/Brain Age 2 is pretty good. I actually like Brain Age 2 better than Brain Age--there is a fun little piano game on there, for one thing.

[robardin]

OK, so two of the games I looked into were Super Mario Bros. and Professor Layton and the Curious Village. I'm pleased to note that my 8-year-old daughter has taken a break from the Pokemon game to start going through the puzzles in the latter game. However, it's a single track game that doesn't seem to allow you to go back and re-solve solved puzzles, so basically only player can be "playing" it at any given time.

Meanwhile, it seems that only one person need have the Super Mario Bros. card inserted for another player (her sister or I) nearby to join in (using the wireless game room feature).

Bottom line is -- I have an extra, unopened Super Mario Bros. game for the Nintendo DS, and would like to trade it for a second Professor Layton. eBay is for selling; where could I go to try to arrange a swap? (I don't really mind of the Prof. Layton game is unopened, so long as it's been reset.)

Heck, if it's not against board policy, I'll swap with a Doper with each person paying for postage each way.

[Slacker]

FYI, I'm fairly sure you can start a new game of Professor Layton - just tap "new game" at the first screen and use a different save slot.

[Hampshire]

Originally Posted by Slacker

FYI, I'm fairly sure you can start a new game of Professor Layton - just tap "new game" at the first screen and use a different save slot.

Yep, the Professor Layton game has 3 seperate save slots (3 players).
Also, if someone wants to just go back to resolve the puzzles and not play the game in story form you can go into the puzzle list (located in the professor's trunk) of the ones you've found and replay any of them as many times as you like.

[Grey area]

Though both have already been mentioned, my recommendations are Advanced Wars: Days of Ruin and Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. The former will be ADDICTIVE if you are into turn based strategy while the latter is a fun for all ages action rpg. I would probably recommend Zelda more for you unless you're into chess or other strategy-type games.

[robardin]

Originally Posted by Hampshire

Yep, the Professor Layton game has 3 seperate save slots (3 players).

Geez, soon you guys will have convinced me that I should read the manual or something for this kind of information.

Thanks.

BTW, I found Mario Bros. to only have a two-player multiplayer mode. Are there any good DS games with 3 or 4 player modes?

[Tamex]

Mario Kart. In fact, I think you can get up to eight people, IIRC. The best DS multiplayer game.

[robardin]

OK then... anybody wanna swap a Super Mario Bros. for a Mario Kart cartridge?

(Or tell me where I might try to find such a swap?)

[Leaper]

Originally Posted by Sam Stone

Well, based on your recommendation I bought the game tonight on my way home from work. I'll give it a try and report back!

Well???

[Sam Stone]

Sorry... I played it for about an hour the day I got it, then I went on a business trip and never got a chance to play it. Since I got back, I've been playing Picross (most addictive game ever). I'm going to finish the last level of Picross and then start back in on Professor Layton.

[Tamex]

There are stores that sell used games (GameStop is probably the most prevalent) where you could trade in one game and get another one. If it hasn't been opened at all, you could maybe take it back to where you bought it for a refund.

I'm not all that willing to give up Mario Kart, but I've got other games that I'd be willing to trade. Of course, they aren't nearly as good.