Wait.
Brain Age is better than Phantom Hourglass?

Before anyone has a conniption fit, I'm going to halfway agree with this ranking:


Brain Age is an innovative game that makes good use of the DS hardware, introducing "book mode," and generally exposing a lot of people to a new kind of gaming.  That's why I agree that, in the very least agree that it should be in the top 30, and that this place is a pretty good one.


However, Meteos and Phantom Hourglass in the high 20's?  I have to take issue with that.  Are there at least 20 other DS games that are better than Phantom Hourglass?  Hmm....we'll have to see.

Where does everyone stand on the "Phantom Hourglass vs. Spirit Tracks" issue? Personally, I enjoyed Spirit Tracks more, and think it's the better game.

The further you are from the top, the more variance there will be in the rankings due to the relatively low number of staff members, overall DS library experience, and the method of ranking. i.e. don't read too much into the numbers.

What Aaron said.

We had, IIRC, 18 staffers submit Top 10 lists. #1 games received 10 points, #2 9 points, #3 8 points, etc.

I found the process fascinating, especially seeing what games didn't get mentioned and what ones seemingly everyone loved.

And, not to spoil too much, but Phantom Hourglass seemed to get more love than Spirit Tracks because, while ST is widely seen as the better game, people seemed to be more passionate about PH.

I encourage all you guys to show off your Top 10 lists. Maybe we'll do a reader top 10 list feature. :)

I can tell you one thing: if I'd been on staff when voting for this was going on, Henry Hatsworth would be higher than #30.

- So we got Jonny to acknowledge ZX, huh?
- I'd complain about Hatsworth at the end, but a) it made it, and b) it's probably at the bottom of my top 10. That's good enough for me.
- As it concerns Zelda, I'm with Zach on Phantom Hourglass.

(Edit: My top 10 had I been a voter would be 1) Chrono Trigger, Pokemon Platinum, The World Ends With You, Planet Puzzle League, Elite Beat Agents, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Retro Game Challenge, Dragon Quest IX, Henry Hatsworth and 10) Final Fantasy IV)

Meteos, one of the most over-rated piles ever made, over Phantom Hourglass? Well, this list is ruined right out of the gate. ;)

Man I've been off the DS scene for too long.  I'm actually surprise on all those being so low except Hatsworth (I haven't played it.)  New Super Mario Bros. is even on the list I'll be offended.

Haha not even, Meteos is easily the best puzzle game released in the last 15 years. It's my favourite DS game and it's still the only one I play consistantly to this day. It deserves a much higher spot than #28, so does Phantom Hourglass to be honest. I'd really love to see what crcok the jaded minds of the NWR staff will fill the rest of this list.

I'm fairly certain Pokemon games would fill up part of my Top 10.  :P:


Overall, it looks to be an interesting feature. Perhaps I'll be inclined to try out some of the titles you place here.

Don't read this as "game A is better than game B." This wasn't an exercise to find the "Best" DS game.


In my rankings I gave preference to the first game over the second, unless there was something that made the second appreciably better. I gave Phantom Hourglass the leg up on Spirit Tracks, despite the fact that Spirit Tracks is a more polished title because Phantom Hourglass went there first.


On the flip I picked Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations over Ace Attorney because I feel it is much more accomplished.


Fun fact: I had to be near the top in "only person to nominate" count. Poor rage-creating Infinite Space.

Then why put numbers beside them? Just put them out as Batches.
Also I'm hoping that Pokemon is considered 1 entry or at least 1 per set.

Because it's weighted by votes (see Neal's post above). This is not going to conclude the "this is the best DS game." We have the same problem during the award season, not everyone on staff played all games, so they're not able to evaluate each game.

Be interesting to see the whose and where placements.

oh and AAAA Spoiler they find and open the box.....

Okay, I'm going to take back what I said in my post earlier, cuz I'm about to have a conniption fit.


Phantom Hourglass got ranked lower than Tetris DS?  I understand what Neal said:

But that still means that PH was either ranked towards the bottom of staffer's top ten lists, or it wasn't included in everyone's top 10 lists. 


*grumble grumble*


Still, I love reading this list and the little write-ups.  This is one of the best features on the site in a while, and it'll definitely get people riled up.  This is why I don't read IGN anymore.

...Well, I like the feature.
Some of you need to chill. It's clearly meant to be a celebration of the DS library. Nobody is telling you what to think.

Perhaps it would cheer people up if they could vote for their favourite 10 games as well. If such a feature were to happen, my personal top ten would be:
1. Mario Kart DS
2. Professor Layton and Pandora's Box
3. Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
4. Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
5. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
6. Rhythm Paradise
7. Pokémon Diamond
8. Soul Bubbles
9. Picross 3D
10. Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure

By the way, #26 through #23 are up: http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/26083


EDIT: Also, Phantom Hourglass is very divisive. For example, Zach hates it with a passion. I'm also not a big fan of it. It has its lovers, but it has a lot of detractors.

I also hate Phantom Hourglass with a passion. I'd feel happier if it didn't make the list at all (because it would further affirm my own opinions of the game). But for anyone who did enjoy the game, I'm glad you could. I wish I could have, too.

Here's my list. Feel free to judge. ;)

1.  Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
2.  Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
3.  Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
4.  Kirby: Canvas Curse
5.  Meteos
6.  Castlevania: Order of Eclessia
7.  Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
8.  Tetris DS
9.  Metroid Prime Pinball
10.Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen

Somebody likes Castlevania.

Yeah, no one is calling this list definitive. The fact that the staff can celebrate 30 awesome games, and that the "lower-ranking" games are loved passionately by others, says a lot about the DS library. Heck, my personal #3 is in the low 20's on our list.

I can't say that I enjoy the the whole drip feeding the rankings over the next two weeks shick going on here. Who ever came up with this idea needs to be put up a figurative wall and figuratively shot after being given a figurative cigarette.

Phantom hourglass is easily the most disliked Zelda I have played, almost single handedly due to Temple of the Ocean King. Even if I have 30 Games to rank, which I don't (25 owned, a couple more played), I wouldn't bother giving it a rank as it put me off playing it so much that I never finished it.

So far on the list the only other game I have played or owned is Meteos. Pretty fun game that is only as hard of a game as good of a player you are. It's not Tetris which can become almost zen like flow of clearing lines, but it's a good game and I have no beef ranking it either higher than Hourglass or it's position.

Thanks for the figurative threat, oohhboy! I'll figuratively ignore you and figuratively continue doing a lot of work for the figurative site. Figuratively!

I'm glad this is bringing up discussion, but just remember that 1) We all do this for free (making putting this together as one massive one-day feature a very tall order) and 2) This isn't a definitive list at all.

Also, Day 3 is up: http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/26084

Darn you all.  I just bought the GBA version because it was the best FF:IV oh well.  The forums are normally pretty good about these things so I'm sure it probably actually is.

Seriously? FF IV is one of my favorite games of all time, but it is 20 years old. Sure the new graphics are great and all, but this is taking a spot from other games that are original DS or DS only games. Let Cecil and Co. rest in peace.


I'm sure that I will be back to complain about another favorite of mine later... Chrono Trigger.


And I understand that this is simply The Best 30, I had just hoped for some games that were created some time in the 7 year life cycle of the DS.

I like this feature, mostly because most of my DS games are either franchised Nintendo games or re-makes of prior games.  My owned games are:


Chrono Trigger
Yoshi's Island DS
Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Zelda: Spirit Tracks
MarioKart DS
Final Fantasy IV
Super ScribbleNauts
Dragon Quest IX (Have only played an hour, will probably need to start over because its been a while since i've played it)
I've played the Phoenix Wright Game (the 1st one), and liked it a lot, but feel like its gameplay will have diminishing returns for me, so I don't own any of them.  Radiant Historia is on my possible buy list once I get more $, because i've gotten back into Chrono trigger, and i'm starting to desire a new RPG fix.

Anyway, anxiously awaiting more off this list.

The list is mostly original games. On my personal Top 10, I didn't include Chrono Trigger because it's a nearly straight port of an old game. I did rank FFIV highly because it's a total overhaul that significantly improves the original and adds a fair bit of new content.

You have to realise, it is really, really hard to pick only 10 DS games and not only that, rank them in order. Any way you do it with such limitations you will end up with a crazy list, but a crazy list filled with great games that represent great choices from the immense DS library.

A lot of my picks didn't make the list at all. I decided to go with the games I spent the most time playing. I couldn't pick just 10 otherwise!

I immediately regretted my selections/ordering, but it is what it is.


My list weighted each game using its own criteria.


Weirdly, I can't find my votes in my sent mail.

nom nom nom... What do you mean these not cookies?

I plan on releasing a list of fun facts about the process when all is said and done. I can easily find out how many of a staffer's top 10 didn't make the final cut, so James can either be justified in his complaints or be proven wrong.

Note that I did not contribute to this piece, due to the fact that no Cho Aniki game was ever released on DS.  This is my final statement of disgust.

I'm not complaining it's just a fact that there are a lot of games that not many people played that are very good. You can't vote for something you've not played. It's very hard to do "Best" during the year for that reason. We don't claim to do the "best" here and that liberates the entire feature.

And that you never finished a DS game ever.

Retro Game Challenge is one of those games that I get so excited about showing off to people. I died a little when I heard that RGC 2 was unlikely to make the trip stateside. I have considered learning Japanese for the sequel, and that says a lot.

lets see out of my 100+games i have

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/Animeforever04/favdsgames-1.jpg

these are my favs the import is Ganbare Goemon: Toukai Douchuu Ooedo Tengurigaeshi no Maki

There's a fan translation in the works that is being overseen by Ray Barnholt (ex-1up, current Gamepro, Game Center CX fan). Hopefully something comes of it.

It still surprises me that there aren't more RPGs with a battle system in the mould of the Mario & Luigi games. With most other handheld RPGs, I can understand because they don't have the animation chops required for such a system to work, but console RPGs could achieve it easily.

I want to figuratively complain.

You will now be figuratively beaten. Please assume the figurative party position.

Hey I see Rocket Slime in that collection which I personally enjoyed quit a bit.

I had forgotten how nice some DS games look.


Radiant Histora is even lovely outside of your DS.


Still not sold on picking up Suikoden Tierkreis. It's one of the games I wanted to get just for the sake of making Jonny's eyes glaze over during new business.

Every week, JJ. Every week.

I've played essentially 3 DS games, none of which I'd say were anything special, and they haven't been listed as of yet. I'm hoping that means they won't appear... but I'm expecting to see at least one of them. I've also played a few demos through the Nintendo Channel, which includes Rhythm Heaven and Brain Age. Neither of them are my thing, but I can understand the appeal in them.

There's a fan translation in the works that is being overseen by Ray Barnholt (ex-1up, current Gamepro, Game Center CX fan). Hopefully something comes of it.



Great info! Thanks!

Interesting how all the Pokémon games ended up in roughly the same place. Even more interesting how the remakes finished ahead of the newest instalments. Although that might have something to do with the fact that Black and White haven't really been out long enough for everybody to sink in a commensurate amount of time to all the others.

Yay I see Bowsers inside story made it!

I'm probably the only person who wouldn't have ranked Heart Gold/Soul Silver, but that's because I played the originals to the point of being utterly sick of 2nd gen Pokemon. As a result, there's only so much you can polish that *censored*.

Though I think Platinum is enough of an improvement from Diamond and Pearl (if only in variety of usable ingame Pokemon) that it could have taken #14 on its own.

Why's it stop at 11?  :confused;

Despicable, we are posting a few entries each day, so all 30 will be shown within a couple more days.

Anybody else notice the subliminal messages from Black and White that there will be at least 3 more regions after this? The last 4 were based off of locations in Japan, but the Unova region is based off of the United States, BUT not all of them.It starts at Route 1, strictly DOES NOT include pokemon from other regions (like encountering a Hiker with a stupid Geodude for the 27th time), Red and Blue didn't have any pokemon from other regions being the first games of course, the games are based off of actual colors like Red and Blue instead of more gemstones, AND the names black and white are probably referring to the old Game Boy. Remember the commercial saying "Start from a new beginning"? That had to be what they meant. Because these games have to be starting from a new beginning. That must be why these games feel new to play. Thanks for reading by the way! Hey that rhymed!

Oh man, just recently I was thinking about all the games I didn't put in my top ten that I absolutely loved when they first came out. Here are some of them:

- Feel the Magic: I absolutely loved this game when it came out. The music is amazing and the graphics quite stylish. I also liked the concept behind it: how it is about this guy who falls in love with the woman and is doing these mini games in order to win her over. It was a very sweet story and the gameplay is fun, if very short.

- Dragon Quest Rocket Slime: It is short and very repetitive, but man did I play the heck out of it when I first got it. It is such a charming little game that I couldn't help but fall in love with it. It was the game that got me into the whole DQ story.

- Bomberman DS: This was back when the DS was going through a massive drought throughout early 2005, and me and my friends had nothing to play, so we gave this game a try and we loved it. We had insane multiplayer matches whenever we could and it was a popular game in our group.

- Electroplankton: A highly experimental title, Electroplankton was oddly very captivating despite its limited appeal. I remember I would randomly create songs on it as well as record my voice and used it for special greetings and wacky projects.

- Sonic Rush: The first Sonic game on the DS and it was awesome! I confess that this was the game that got me back onto the Sonic bandwagon. Not the GBA games, this one. It was a really satisfying experience, and I loved the creativity that went into it.

- Yoshi Touch and Go: This was first and foremost an experimental title, mostly there to show off the touch screen. But still, I loved this game. It's a classic arcade like game that can be pretty addictive if you are not careful.

I love Yoshi Touch & Go, and don't at all regret paying $30 for what would be a $5 DSiWare game today.

Now say the same about Pac-Pix...

What a way to kick off the top 10!


Phoenix Wright FTW

Phoenix Wright 1 is better than 3, just FYI

I agree.

Also why isn't there a link to the games little page with all the media, impressions, and reviews on each one of these?

Sidebar.

No. It isn't. It's not even open for comparison.

I beat PH but lost interest in ST after the ice temple. Couldn't be bothered to deal with that stupid train anymore and the use of mic blowing for one of the major items makes it hard to use on public transportation (because the background noise sounds like constant blowing to the DS).

Kirby Canvas Curse was interesting to go through when not Kirby because some part you really missed his abilities.

Really hoping to see The World Ends With You on this list. It was so good, and so unique. Even if you don't like it personally, you have to give it credit for being really inventive and for taking a lot of risks. Its dialogue was idiosyncratic, though as Hishigizawa (and Greg during the Retroactive) says, it is a "chowder of destruction."  Happy Radiant Historia got some love, it's so good. The story was legitimately interesting, and charming. I'll invest in that Stocke any day. Plus, Aht was so goddamn useful! Stocke-Raynie-Aht all the way!

I bet all of you Mario Kart DS will be in the TOP 5

That's reasonable.

Wow. I had always thought that the title was Kirby Canvas Course. I need to pay more attention when I read...

I'd have to be crazy to take that bet. I'd say there's at better than even chance that it will be number one.

If you look at the data from the end of fiscal year financial report, you'll see that Nintendo sold three million copies of Mario Kart DS in the last year. Five years after it came out.

I think that Layton's Unwond Future is way better than the Curious Village, plus you said you liked the Unwound Future better.

I did. The rest of the staff didn't, I guess. *shrugs* I just count the votes; I don't change them.

You could have changed them, what with your directorial omnipotence.

But that would spoil the Directors cut of the Feature.

I like Future more, but I gave my support to Village because it went there first.

New Super Mario Bros is meh for me. I don't disagree with anything said in the write-up, but it doesn't have the creativity or challenge of every other Mario game. (Even Sunshine had the cave levels.) The level design is pretty by the book and I didn't find the power-ups very fun or well implemented, possible exception being the mini-mushroom. I also think NSMB Wii is an improvement over its DS predecessor in every way.


If it wasn't for Mario's legacy being what it is, I'd probably like this game a lot more.

I agree completely. I prefer the Wii version over the DS version. The DS game just felt pretty "meh" for me and it definitely got overhyped at launch.

I hate NSMB with a passion because of the comparisons to SMB3 and SMBW.  I got it expecting this great game and what I got was on the level of a freeware version of Mario with my most hated Mario character, Bowser Jr., instead of the superior Koopa Kids.  Now the one on Wii I do enjoy and it is much better.

If GTA China town wars is not on the list, this list is incomplete and thus VOID
to to lack of proper content  We shall see, 6 chances left.
i feel it was ommited though.

I played through New Super Mario Bros. DS recently, getting all three star coins on every level, and I had a really good time. It's a very safe design that doesn't really take any risks or do much that's original, and it's certainly not on the level of Mario 3, but it's definitely worth playing. Also, before UncleBob points it out, the Mario vs. Luigi multiplayer mode is amazing.

I also agree. It's not a bad game, but it wasn't in my top 10, and I'd nominate it for most overrated.

I expected New Super Mario Brothers to show up eventually. It was an okay game but I share the opinion that it wasn't very good by Mario game standards and felt very uninspired. Fortunately the Wii sequel is much better, even though it has a few issues. I did like the Mega Mushroom and turtle suit though, and kind of missed them in NSMBWii.

I just wish Nintendo would finish more of their experiments when it comes to SMB. For example, in the E3 version, Goombas could pick up Mega Mushrooms in-level. And there was four-player adventuring in SM64DS back when it was called SM64x4.

See, I thought the Mega Mushroom was pretty stupid, and I really hated the koopa suit (I tend to play 2D Mario games with the B button held down, which you can't do with that suit).

They just weren't implemented very well into the game. Although I suppose the Mega Mushroom has limited use since you're completely invincible and can just run and plow through everything, so it was mostly for the visual of crushing everything in your way. But it's a lot of fun in Mario Kart Wii so I have to give some credit to its origin.

That's how I feel about Super Mario Brothers 3, there are a lot of ideas in that game which didn't appear much that had the potential for more, such as the Hammer Brother suit and the Kuribo's Shoe. One thing that sticks out in my mind is this floating block at the end of one level which bobs when you jump on it, I thought it was a neat idea but it was never seen outside of a throwaway at the end of a stage.

In a way, I kind of see why the game got so much hype. This was the first 2D Mario game in YEARS. Sure there were the advance games, but they were ports of older games. This was completely brand new, so it's no wonder people got excited.

Still, I think the excitement got WAY out of hand. Yes, it's solid, polished and fun (especially in multiplayer), but the level design is too basic, the challenge is middling and it's forgettable, IMO.

I think it's really good, but the more I think about it, it really shouldn't be in the top ten on a system with as much depth as the DS has.

I won't out staffers who voted for it, but I know I didn't put it in mine. I enjoyed the game, but it certainly wasn't one of the best games I played on the system. I enjoyed SM64DS more.

Also, Chinatown Wars fans should prepare to be disappointed. I think that might be the biggest snub on the list. If I recall, not a soul on staff included it in their top 10. I know, for me, it would've been something like #12. I feel that might be the case with a lot of folks on staff.

Dawn of Sorrow? Pftt, Order of Ecclesia is better.

And Portrait of Ruin is underrated. Seriously, that game was insanely fun!

Chinatown Wars would have been my #11 or #12. However, I do think Dawn of Sorrow is the best Castlevania on the system.

Order of Ecclesia has the best music.

I didn't like the level design as much.

agh i want to play Radiant historia but I've already got Pokemon black to finish and spirit tracks still in shrink wrap, but I'm worried by the time in done with them it wont be available anymore -_-

I somehow lost my copy of SMB64DS between launch and about 2 years ago but, I have to agree I enjoyed it much more than NSMB.  I really didn't like the version on the N64 much, Sunshine fixed most the problems I had with it, but how they changed it on the DS really helped the game in a positive way and I got most of the way through fully clearing before moving one.  Plus sits the only game I now that uses that Lanyard Nub.

You can use the lanyard on any touch-enabled DS game. The system doesn't know whether you're using, a finger, stylus, or anything else. The lanyard works best in games that involve more sliding than tapping, which includes Metroid Prime Hunters, Rayman 2, Geometry Wars Galaxies, etc.

Oh yeah, I'm not questioning why it was so huge, I understand that part. I just don't think the game lives up to Mario's legacy.

I have a feeling that Super Mario 64 DS is about to show up in one of the top 5 spots. It's a decent remake, but I don't think it deserves to be placed ahead of so many original games that are on the system.

Portrait of Ruin was the series' first big step toward "Harmony of Assets" or whatever that XBLA game is called. They pallete swap entire LEVELS in Portrait.

Well, Portrait of Ruin was the first Castlevania/Metroidvania DS game I played so I may be biased. But I really loved the gameplay. It was hard, but I was addicted to it till I finished it :D .


As for today's game, HELL YEAH PHOENIX WRIGHT! I realize that while the third game had a stronger story, the first game just feels iconic to me. The first plot twist that happens RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING of the game, the characters, the concept, all felt unique and fresh. I'm not one to say that the first game in any series "is the best one", but I beg to differ with Phoenix Wright.

Objection is my favourite word :D

And this is why Rockstar snubs the Nintendo systems. Reviewers said this is a good game.
no one buys it, then when the best of list go up, it doesnt get a mention.
sad, truly sad.  The only way i see a rockstar game on a Nintendo system here
on out, is if nintendo gives rockstar dev kits free and pays for developement.
nintendo doesnt fund third part franchises, so at best look for
a shotty port on  the N Stream and that also will not sell.
Cant say as i agree with your list but its fun to look at. For a LAUGH!

Whoa dude. Them be harsh words. First off, we never said this list was definitive. It was done by having each staffer list their 10 Top DS games, and then used a point-based system to assign them all points.

I don't think anyone is decrying the merits of Chinatown Wars, either, and I know I can speak for likely the entire staff when I say that no one could say it is a bad game. I mean, look at our review (http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/18232). Chinatown Wars was literally the only GTA game I ever really enjoyed. Unfortunately, the DS has so many good games that it didn't make my Top 10.

But if that is how you feel, so be it. Enjoy your laugh, because at the end of it all, that's great that you can find humor from our writing. All I ask is that when 360/PS3 Top 10 lists come out, you can crap on them when GTAIV inevitably doesn't make the list when it received 10s from practically every outlet.

I'm going to start a riot if Moon didn't make the list...

If Picross 3D isn't on the list I quit the staff.

I actually put Chinatown Wars on my list, but in the process of culling the list I accidentally left a game on I meant to remove. Chinatown Wars ended up being eleven, even though I meant for it to be ten.

Although it makes no difference in the end. Keep in mind, this is not saying that these are the best games for the system in exactly this order. They aren't. However, that is entirely subjective. I'd say the name for the feature is slightly unfortunate and should probably be something like Top 30 DS Games as Voted by Our Staff...or something.

For the sake of transparency, here is my ballot (ie: the CORRECT order).

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Ghost Trick
Radiant Historia
999
Touch Detective 2 1/2
Infinite Space
Mario Kart DS
Phantom Hourglass
Rhythm Heaven
GTA: Chinatown Wars

Meant to remove Rhythm Heaven from my ballot, hence the strike-through.

Umm....start a riot?

In my case, I never played GTA Chinatown Wars so I didn't put it in my list.

Also, let's not forget that Rockstar ported the game to the PSP, where there is a "serious" audience, and it was ignored there, too.

Let's face it, GTA only gets attention when it's in 3D and on a major home console.

This thread has been floating around the top for a while now, so I figure I would bring up something that didn't sound right.

Shouldn't the title be The 30 Best DS Games and not Best 30?
It's been bugging me everytime I see it because it just doesn't sound right.

Oh yeah, man. Moon! And Dementium 2!

What? Ace Attorney on 5!!?!?!It's a great game but I loved Ghost Trick like a billion more times than Ace Attorney.

All a matter of opinion, mang. Personally, the later PWright games never gripped me as much, and I haven't played Ghost Trick yet. However, neither game was in my top 10.

Like I said, it is based on staff voting. More people played it than Ghost Trick. As you can see from my ballot I like AA3 more than Ghost Trick at the moment I filled out my ballot. Ultimately, if you set me down with the exact same task, and did not let me consult my previous ballot, you'd almost certainly get a different outcome.

I think we're working towards the Title being.

"30 Best DS Games from a Poll of the NWR Staff Using a Point System and Their Top 10.  Apologizes and Explanations in Talkback."

But, Reading how this TB Thread is going I think a more apt title would have been "30 of the Best DS Games" then end with a conclusion of some thoughts on the close ones from the staff.

My Top 10 (in no order, because that's hard and I don't have to)


Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes
New Super Mario Brothers
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Picross 3D
The World Ends With You
Bowser's Inside Story
Spirit Tracks
Chinatown Wars
Phantom Hourglass
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow


Honorable Mentions:
Disgaia
FF4
M & L: Partners in Time
Advance Wars: Dual Strike
Super Scribblenauts


Games that everybody else loves but I dislike:
Professor Layton games (Poking around the screen and scrolling through dialog broken up by the occasional puzzle)
Phoenix Wright games (see above but without the puzzles)
Pokemon games (I played all the way through Platinum and never once felt like I was having fun)
Dragon Warrior games (I am generally not a fan of JRPGs though)
Henry Hatsworth (Not-good-enough platforming combined with too-basic puzzling)

I'm calling it now, number 2 will be Super Mario 64 DS and number 1 is Mario Kart DS.

I don't think Mario 64DS will make it but anyone who thought Mario Kart DS wasn't number 1 didn't think about how the scoring work.

Well, I thought it might be up there somewhere because a couple staffers mentioned liking it more than New Super Mario Brothers. But they just posted number 2 and yeah, it is a surprising one.

Is anyone really surprised at number 2? Well, if you haven't been around the site as long as some of us, it might be.


Like I said on the page, this game is extremely addicting and was indeed a hot import. I remember NWR gave a copy of the game away during one of the anniversary events, and eventually I got to play it myself. I fell in love with it the minute I started playing. And I even defended Elite Beat Agents when it first came out, since, you know, Japan > The Rest of the World in the eyes of some :p .


I even made a thread detailing the changes made to each of the songs in EBA, and of course wrote about the sad stories for the emotional Nintendo moments.

I'm actually not surprised about EBA's placement.  Its a well known fact that I really like the game and I really like the whole Blues Brother feel of the localization.  I think they did a really good job on it and I still play the game to this day.  I really love a sequel.  When I saw it for cheap at Gamestop  I picked up a copy for my Littlest brother and I was really tempted to buy another one to just hand to some random person I saw playing a DS because the game is that good.

I still have EBA lindied up somewhere, just have no desire to play a rhythm game like that...

So no The World Ends With You then? Any particular reason why this game is not considered among the top 30 games?

In my case, I just never played it. I really wanted to play it, but never got around to buying a copy.

As for everyone else, it's already been explained how the voting process went, so even if staff members put TWEWY on their lists, it depends on the number in order to make it on the top 30.

I love EBA and Ouendan (the former placed highly on my personal list), but I have already objected privately to their being combined, and I do so publicly now as well. They are separate games with entirely distinct content. If you love one and have not played the other, it is definitely worth doing so.

For the record, I voted for Ghost Trick and both Ace Attorneys, but put the original PWright first. What can I say, these games were all favorites of mine and I strongly associate them with my Nintendo DS experience. I think the first Phoenix Wright was very impactful internationally, and combined with its superior localization, it curried my favor more highly than the third Phoenix Wright game or Ghost Trick.

EBA is my favorite DS game. It is a game that is unlike anything else ever made and one that could only be done on the DS and one that only gets better as it goes along. It's also hilarious. And cheesy. And sappy. All in one glorious package. EBA is so awesome, it makes you become a fan of bands you would otherwise consider terrible. Can't wait to see what number one is so I can poop on it for not being anywhere near as good as EBA.


But seriously, I'm gonna go play EBA right now.

#1 will be revealed tomorrow, but c'mon, it's pretty obvious at this point. :)

Ping Pals.

Allow me to pre-emptively rage about Pokemon Mystery Dungeon winning this.

Alpha Bounce clearly deserves it.

DSiWare games weren't figured into this. If they were, this would've been near the top of my list.

Yep

EBA IS BETTER.

Totally agree with the #1 choice.

Great feature!

Three suggestions:

One, how about an Honorable Mentions day where each staff member gets to award a title that didn't make it into the top 30?  This would help address those one-off titles that no one else played.

Two, similar to One, how about a day for notable import titles.  For example, I'd nominate Last Window, IMHO, it's better than Hotel Dusk (which is saying a lot), but had I nominated it, there's no way it would have made it in the top 50.

Three, how about running a second feature where us normies get to send in our top 10 (5?) picks, the same formula is applied and you run it all over again - it'd be interesting to get a larger pool and would be neat to see how the general population's opinions match up with y'alls.*

And - I'm surprised that Nintendogs (with it's crazy sales figures) and Clubhouse Games (because it rocks) didn't get a mention... :D

*edit: Just sat down and flipped through my DS titles to determine what my top ten would be.  Very hard to do.  Two things of note:
6 of my top ten are on this list.
All ten of my top ten are first party titles (which could be because the majority of my games are first party).

Sorry NWR neal
my words were not ment to be fighten words.
sadly as i said reviewer like the game, and no one buys it.
happens all the time on nintendo.
The points system is a very fair way to do a list, but as u see, some games get
high positions, and others of equal quality lower, and some very good games
get omitted. As for the list it was a good feature, sorry my comments were far between.
and perhaps upsetting. i never ment for that to happen. Just stating the sad state of
affairs with nintendo.

I'm hoping the next Console Mario Kart is Mario Kart DS with Mario Kart DD style karts.

Online in Mario Kart DS was a rather humbling experience for me. I know for a fact that Mr. Bivens runs in the Plaid class. Though back in the day I did pretty damn good against friends, my feeble skills were no match for guys like him. Curses! :P: :


A great game and essential entry in the series that can easily carry the weight of being called #1.

I believe IGN has the same thoughts as this. Cool!

I really loved Mario Kart DS but snaking and hackers online killed the experience. I also badly wanted online balloon battle in old school block fort 4 player. They do have that online on mario kart wii but its different, and on the ds it has bots which are not the same and its too crowded with more than 4 people

Wish TWEWY had gotten some love..... Otherwise, some good picks.

Nintendo Power had a recent article with 10 must have games in no particular order:

Phoenix Wright:  Ace Attorney
Tetris DS
The World Ends With You
New Super Mario Bros.
Mario & Luigi:  Bowser's Inside Story
Mario Kart DS
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions
The Legend of Zelda:  Spirit Tracks
Elite Beat Agents

If anyone is interested, Picross 3D is $9.99 on amazon with free standard shipping.  I just ordered 2.

sad
The World Ends With you is not only the best DS game, I have it in high contention for best game ever.  If DQ IX ranks highly for having stuff for everyone, TWEWY has a good heaping of stuff as well... though there is an end to it.  Took me awhile, but I managed to max everything out, there has been no game in existence before or after that which I actually wanted to do that on.


THE JACKEL

My guess is that TWEWY would have made the list if everybody had rated their top 30.

Hahahahaha. This is funny. You guys are funny.

"Best 30 DS Games". I get it. That's a good one. Does the DS even HAVE 30 games worth buying? I guess if you're a Nintard deperately trying to justify your purchase of the next Virtual Boy it does. Too bad touchscreen gaming is a shallow gimmick, and you've already seen everything a touchscreen can do in the Super Mario 64 DS minigames.

And now that Nintendo found success in casual games like Brain Age and Nintendogs, that's all you're ever going to get. Third parties will all jump ship to the PSP and you'll never see any big games for the DS. EVER.

Hahahahaha. This is funny. You are funny.

The DS has plenty of games worth buying, hence all the lists and all the fans which you so lovingly call Nintendards. This "shallow gimmick made the DS the number one handheld system for a reason, i dont see a whole lot of people carrying around psps in public, and if they are theyre using the mp3 function, which quite frankly also rarely happens thanks to the ever so portable handheld system known as iphone.

Whats this crap about third parties jumping ship? lol Sony and microsoft rely a lot on third party which i honestly dont mind but theyre definitely not jumping ship, therye already there... Nintendo has a lot of original titles that keep the system alive and im pretty sure you know that.

Nintendogs and brain age came out a bit ago... where were you when the three Pokemon came out, the two Zelda games, Advance wars, dragon quest, radiant historia, all these games are amazing (in my opinion).

To each their own bro, quit hating