The best Nintendo DS release of 2006 gets our NWR Award for Best DS Game of the Year. The competition was fierce this year (and will only be more fierce next year), but only one game can win. That game is...

Since Super Mario Sunshine was released in 2002, Nintendo seemed to forget that Mario was a platforming plumber. Instead of giving us another traditional Mario game, we kept seeing a more athletic Italian engage in various sporting activities. That changed earlier this year when Nintendo finally (FINALLY!) released an old-school Mario game. New Super Mario Bros. is everything we love about previous Mario games, but with some extra neat stuff thrown in there. Was it perfect? No, not really. We'll take a new Mario platformer from Nintendo over all the other DS games released in 2006 any day of the week, though. Let's be honest: Wouldn't you?

Runner-up: Elite Beat Agents

As one of the most anticipated DS games of the year, EBA had a lot to live up to. The American Ouendan did just that, but ultimately fell short of DS GOTY honors to the second coming of Mario. If we could hand out two GOTYs, we probably would have (Mario and EBA needed a second round of voting to break a tie in the first), but like the Highlander, there can be only one. That doesn't change the fact that EBA is just as deserving as being labeled as one of the best DS games of the year.

Also Nominated:

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin