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.
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.
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).
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.
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?
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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. **
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.
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.
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.
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 Tunes:Duck 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.
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.
