DS Daily: Pick three

by Alisha Karabinus { Aug 17th 2008 at 10:30AM }

Many DS owners are blessed with a sizable library of games, thanks to the fact that the tiny cartridges tend to be cheaper than games for other systems. In fact, some of the handheld's best titles are budget games, available for prices so low that it's ridiculous (but in a good way).

But not everyone is so lucky. Recent adopters, or those who had a DS, but only discovered the handheld's depth of late, are faced with shelves and shelves of games from which to choose. Some things are easy picks: Link and Mario rarely make bad choices for the Nintendo fan. But there's so much else out there. One reader e-mailed us asking for help in choosing from that vast selection, and we're turning that request over to you. Beyond the obvious -- like Mario Kart, Pokémon, and Phantom Hourglass, if you had to name three excellent DS games, what would you choose? We'll throw out three as well: The World Ends With You, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, and Contra 4.

Tags: best-games, top-three

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

bearmedal @ Aug 17th 2008 10:44AM

Ace Attorney (any one of them), Hotel Dusk: Room 215, and Elite Beat Agents.

elsng @ Aug 17th 2008 10:46AM

Elite Beat Agents, The World Ends With You, and Etrian Odyssey.

ggamdizzle @ Aug 17th 2008 10:48AM

dragon quest heroes: rocket slime is an excellent game and it's really cheap.

castlevania dawn of sorrow.

advance wars dual strike.

not my top 3, but good games nonetheless. i can't pick a top three.

Hamster @ Aug 17th 2008 10:49AM

Pac-Pix, Meteos, Mr Driller: Drill Spirits.

Kay @ Aug 17th 2008 10:55AM

TWEWY, FF A2, Elite Beat Agents

Those are the only three that can keep my interest longer than a month. But I only have 10 or so games so what do I know :x

Gannobowser @ Aug 17th 2008 11:03AM

Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow, Advance Wars Dual Strike,

and Yoshi's Island DS if you're up for it.

FOAD @ Aug 17th 2008 11:08AM

Kirby: Canvas Curse
Tetris DS (come on)
Yoshi Touch & Go (I'll never stop loving that game)

ChangeOfFate @ Aug 17th 2008 11:21AM

Final Fantasy IV, Clubhouse Games, Super Princess Peach

CamranChaos @ Aug 17th 2008 11:28AM

The World Ends With You, Final Fantasy III, WarioWare: Touched!

Ashley @ Aug 17th 2008 11:35AM

Final Fantasy 4, Contact, and Etrian Odyssey II.

Rabbit Lettuce @ Aug 17th 2008 4:02PM

Ace Attorney
FFTA2
Elite Beat Agents

nirniva @ Aug 17th 2008 11:34AM

Heh, that picture of Neku will never get old.
On to my top 3:
1) The World Ends With You (There's a reason everyone's mentioning this one. It's fun, challenging, and unique as hell. It's also quite possibly my favorite game on DS, even WITH the obvious stuff [Phantom Hourglass, Mario Kart, ect.] included.)

2) Professor Layton (You wouldn't think that a basic, linear point-and-click adventure game crossed with one of those 500-page puzzle books your parents bought to keep you busy in the car would be much fun. You'd be wrong. Oh, and the title theme is the most addicting song ever.)

3) Ouendan and/or EBA (They're similar enough for me to count them as one game. However, I'd start with EBA simply because it's cheaper, so you can see if you like the gameplay without a costly import.)

t @ Aug 17th 2008 11:34AM

R4DS and nds-roms.com

Flip @ Aug 17th 2008 5:54PM

That's my vote.

Otherwise, TWEWY, EBA, FFIV.

grechos @ Aug 17th 2008 11:35AM

Dementium, summon night, megaman zx advent, and just to cheat, trauma ceter (either one)

pas @ Aug 17th 2008 11:40AM

Metroid Prime Hunters
Megaman Starforce 1/ or 2 if you dislike 1
Nanostray 1 / 2

Zealot @ Aug 17th 2008 11:44AM

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. None of these really emphasize the DS's unique features, but they're still my three favorite on the system, and my incredible bias demands that I mention them.

Martin @ Aug 17th 2008 11:46AM

I'll name 3 that haven't been named yet:
Picross
Age of Empire: The Age of Kings
Scurge: The Hive

All of them are going pretty cheap, especially on the Goozex trading system.

I've got through in a fourth:
WordJong

pas @ Aug 17th 2008 12:14PM

oh man mine didn't get saved, so here I go again:

Metroid Prime Hunters
Megaman Starforce 1/2
Nanostray 1/2

maybe a Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles aswell.

Ling @ Aug 17th 2008 12:16PM

1) The World Ends with You
2) Final fantasy IV
3)Final Fantasy III or FFTA2

pas @ Aug 17th 2008 12:16PM

ok:

Metroid Prime Hunters
Megaman Starforce 1/2
Nanostray 1/2

and maybe Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for the records

Foodie_Monster @ Aug 17th 2008 12:22PM

1. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (I could have picked all 3 and be done).

2. Rhythm Tengoku Gold

3. The World Ends with You (Or if you want a turn-based RPG, Final Fantasy IV DS)

Solid 3 picks, if I say so myself.

igorponweed @ Aug 17th 2008 12:31PM

TWEWY, TWEWY, TWEWY.

Hoshikawa @ Aug 17th 2008 12:48PM

1. The World Ends With You
2. Mega Man Star Force 2
3. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2

Morose @ Aug 17th 2008 1:29PM

Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Chibi Robo: Park Patrol, and Animal Crossing: Wild World.

Mr Khan @ Aug 17th 2008 1:11PM

Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, New Super Mario Bros, FFTA2

If i had to pick three to sustain myself, that provides a nice balance of strategy, good old-fashioned grind RPG, and luscious platforming glory

Thunderbird @ Aug 17th 2008 1:52PM

1.Jump ultimate stars (Wow, no one has said this yet.)
2.Advanced wars dual strike
3. Final fantasy 3

BlackDS @ Aug 17th 2008 5:53PM

That's because some of us own Bleach - The Blade of Fate (or either Japanese versions of both games), which is widely regarded as superior to Jump Ultimate Stars.

Normally, games by Treasure (Ikaruga, Radiant Silvergun, etc.) are superior games.

Peace.

Ken Shammy @ Aug 17th 2008 1:53PM

Phoenix Wright, Hotel Dusk and Professor Layton :D

chaindrop @ Aug 17th 2008 2:15PM

FFT:A2, TWEWY, Worms: Open Warfare 2

beedog @ Aug 17th 2008 2:18PM

Advance wars days of ruin
Etrian Odyssey 2
final fantasy tactics A2

its so hard to choose just 3 games though, my library of DS games is humongous

Pixel-One @ Aug 17th 2008 2:59PM

Yoshi's Island DS, Final Fantasy IV, Elite Beat Agents.

DAMMIT! That was more difficult that I originally thought it would be. Feel free to substitute pretty much any of the other choices as you see fit, there are too many good ones.

Cameron DS @ Aug 17th 2008 2:59PM

Puzzle Quest
Elite Beat Agents
Kirby: Canvas Curse

Cameron DS @ Aug 17th 2008 3:00PM

Puzzle Quest
Elite Beat Agents
Kirby: Canvas Curse

Abscissa @ Aug 17th 2008 3:04PM

I think it's impossible to narrow it down to three, there's so many good ones, but here's my attempt:

- New Mario (Really should have been on a TV-system though)
- Contra 4 (Ditto)
- Both Kirby games (the only Kirby games I've actually gotten hooked on)

Runners-Up: Just about any RPG (except Lunar, and I usually like Lunar games), O.M.G. Our Mini Games, Polarium, both Feel the Magics, both Izuna games, Sonic Rush, Professor Layton (as long as you skip through most of the dialog), Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (even though it's the world's only super-easy roguelike), Orcs & Elves (First non-crappy Id game in a long time, not super-great still, but not crappy).

There's others I'm tempted to list (like Phoenix Wright, Tingle's Rupeeland, and Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time), but to be honest I haven't played them enough yet to make a fair assessment.

I'm also going to add in a list of top three overrated games:

- Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (I've beaten it, but still find it overrated: The movement and sword controls are terrible and never get better, the dungeons just aren't the same since each floor is basically just one room, and Minish Cap and Wind Waker were both just better games overall.)

- Megaman Starforce/Battle Network (People actually LIKE these games??? And yes, I did give them a fair try.)

- Cooking Mama (Simon says, but without the "Simon didn't say." Tried it: Boring as shit.)

Runners-up: Any "Brain" game, Nintendogs. They're not even games, therefore I can't really name them in the "Three most overrated DS games".

BlackDS @ Aug 17th 2008 5:55PM

Hotel Dusk belongs in the list of most overated games.

Jacksons @ Aug 17th 2008 3:06PM

Word Jong, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (yes, I liked it more than Sorrow. Stop looking at me like that!) and Meteos. Without a doubt my three favorite games on the DS.

Suichimo @ Aug 17th 2008 4:11PM

Wow. The DS has so many great titles that it will be hard to narrow it down to three.

Jump Ultimate Stars - Take a look at the Smash Brothers series. Now go and look at your favorite manga from Shonen Jump(Naruto, Bleach, Dragonball Z, etc.). Now put the two together and you have this game.

Fire Emblem: Shin Ankoku Ryu to Hikari no Ken - This game should be out sometime in March, my estimate, but it is out in Japan already. Fire Emblem is one of the originators of the Strategy RPG genre and this is a remake of the first game in the series. It is a completely new game for those of us who don't import/rom and hey its Marth's game so that earns it a few brownie points for most over here in the states.

Final Fantasy IV DS - In my opinion, the best Final Fantasy game out there. Even if its not you really can't go wrong with this game if you like RPGs.

Ian.t.420 @ Sep 1st 2008 1:48PM

EBA, Contra 4, and TWEWY!

Tev @ Aug 17th 2008 5:23PM

New Super Mario Bros.
Professor Layton
and either Age of Empires or Advance Wars:Dual Strike

Gewurztraminer says: R.O.B. is the last Cylon! @ Aug 17th 2008 5:41PM

Of the games I own, I would say my top 3 (of the 11 I own) are:
1) Mario Kart
2) Yoshi's Island DS
3) Meteos

The top 3 games I'm anticipating the most, however, are:
1) Final Fantasy IV
2) Dragon Quest IV
3) Sonic Chronicles

Rob @ Aug 17th 2008 5:44PM

Puzzle Quest
Konami Arcade Hits
WOrld Ends

BlackDS @ Aug 17th 2008 5:50PM

1. Mario Kart DS ... Oops eliminated per Alisha (unlocked the alternate game title screen and have 3 stars on all tracks, at all speeds, including mirror mode).

2. Pokemon Diamond & Pokemon Pearl ... Nooooo, eliminated by Alisha again (there goes 600 + hours of gameplay).

Okay, let's see ...

1. Clubhouse Games - the only game I play on Nintendo Wifi, other Wifi games has too many Action Replay cheaters.

2. Zookeeper (European version) - European version eliminated the sleep mode bug. Addicting Bejeweled clone. :)

3. Touch Detective - This game made me laugh the most. The puzzles (needed to solve the cases) are challenging, if you CAREFULLY read the dialog and talk to everyone, the clues will take you to their logical conclusion. Of course, if you are speeding through the dialog to finish the game for a review (Gamespot, IGN, etc.), then you will NOT figure out the puzzles w/o help.

My three jewels out of many great games for the DS.

Peace.

Deozaan @ Aug 17th 2008 6:22PM

I'm going to cheat a little:

RPG:
Magical Starsign (makes excellent use of the stylus)
Final Fantasy IV
Pokemon

Sim:
Animal Crossing (if you didn't play GCN version)
Nintendogs

Puzzle:
Professor Layton
Trace Memory

Adventure/Action/Platformer:
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

Multiplayer:
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (local wireless)