Hi all, my 8 year-old nephew will be getting a Nintendo DSi for Christmas and I want to get him some games. Does anyone have some recommendations? Thanks in advance.
Peggle is a fun time waster.
I continue to claim that Elite Beat Agents is the best game on the DS. Other than that, you can’t really go wrong with the usual suspects, as in:
New Super Mario Bros.
Mario Kart
Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Rhythm Heaven
There are lots of other good titles, though I’m not sure of the age range for some of them. For example, the Professor Layton series is great, but I don’t know how an eight year old would handle the puzzles and logic. Similarly for some RPGs, like Mario & Luigi and various Final Fantasys.
In addition to the games recommended above, take a look at Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime. It’s silly action-adventure with breaks for battles between ridiculous giant tanks with punny names. Also, the protagonist is literally slime–a bouncy little DQ-type slime that looks like blue Jello. The art is very Dragonball (unsurprising, given that the same guy is behind it), which might resonate as well.
borschevsky, I’d argue that The World Ends With You is the best DS game to date, but it’s definitely not something I’d recommend for an 8-year old.
No mention of anything Pokemon Heartgold/Soulsilver? I can’t imagine a better game for an eight-year-old boy.
It is. EBA is a must have. It’s really great.
I was around that age when I played the original Final Fantasy IV on the Super Nintendo, and I found it, to this day, to be one of the best games i’ve ever played.
That in mind, i’d highly recommend the DS remake of it.
Tetris and Bomberman are classics that can’t go wrong
Thanks for the suggestions all!
BTW I always thought Scribblenauts looked like a load of fun - will that work on the DSi?
Cheers
Scribblenauts is fun and will work on the DSi. You may want to get the newer Super Scribblenauts though. The newer game includes adjectives and the controls are apparently greatly improved over the original game.
I took the original Scribblenauts to my family gathering last Thanksgiving. I could hardly get it away from my 30-year-0ld nephew.
Plus, if he’s interested, Bricker Jr is willing to trade/battle over WiFi with another Pokemon fan. Let me know and they can exchange friend codes.
If your nephew enjoys puzzles and riddles, I would highly recommend the Professor Layton series, starting with The Curious Village. The characters and story are well done and the gameplay is straightforward.