The Nintendo DS was first released in 2004 and kept receiving games until 2012, a full year after the Nintendo 3DS had come out. This console, especially in combination with thepopularity of the Nintendo Wii, marked the console maker’s dominance over a certain area of the video game industry for a whole generation. At the time, common wisdom said that Nintendo was focusing entirely on the casual gamer market, but the benefit of retrospectives allows us to paint a different picture.
For everyDr. Kawashima’s Brain TrainingandBig Brain Academyon the console there is aYoshi’s Islandand aDragon Quest, and then more. Those games aren’t even far down the list ofbest-selling games on the Nintendo DS: most of them are close to the top, if not on the podium, likeMario Kart DS.
Though Metascores are included, they only represent a part of each game’s ranking for each year.
The first few years of the Nintendo DS' life are full of reimagining and remakes of older Nintendo games, from NES classics to beloved titles likeYoshi’s IslandandChrono Trigger. Few of those remakes seemed to be quite as popular asSuper Mario 64 DS, which many still consider the best way to play thisseminal 3D platformer.
The Nintendo DS version ofSuper Mario 64comes with two crucial additions to the original’s formula: multiple characters and a minimap. The latter, a seemingly inconsequential change that uses the touchscreen as a constant map of the level, turned out to completely change the way players approach the game, making navigation significantly easier.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorneyis technically a port, or perhaps a remake, of the original 2001 Game Boy Advance title of the same name. But to most of its modern fans, living and playing outside its original country of Japan, the series might as well have been born in 2005 on the Nintendo DS. The three original games were recently re-released as the Ace Attorney Trilogy.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorneysees the player take the role of an attorney inside a cartoony parody of an extremely punitive legal system. Trials only last up to three days, and lawyers are forced to investigate the scene of the crime themselves. And even though the protagonist, Phoenix Wright, is a defense attorney, he needs to prove his client’s innocence by finding the true culprit.
Longtime fans of Nintendo, especially longtime Nintendo fans in 2006, would probably associate the video game powerhouse with classic genres likeplatformers and action-adventure. Yet, surprisingly,New Super Mario Bros.is one of the very few platformers developed by Nintendo for their own Nintendo DS.
It certainly didn’t help thatNew Super Mario Bros.failed to impress those fans, even though it sold millions and millions of copies. It wasn’t as innovative as previous titles in the series and failed to really use the console’s iconic touchscreen. Still, those issues clearly weren’t enough to discreditNew Super Mario Bros.to the millions of people who kept buying it.
62007: The Legend Of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Metascore: 90
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglassis the firstZeldagame published for Nintendo DS. Even if it wasn’t quite as successful as other Nintendo first-party titles, this title was very well received by critics and the public alike and was a frequent Game Of The Year nominee for 2007.
Compared to many other action titles on the Nintendo DS, which default to placing minimap and UI on the second screen,The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglassmakes great use of the touchscreen functionality. Players use the Stylus pen to move Link across and make specific motions to perform attacks and use items.
52008: Rhythm Heaven
Metascore: 83
Rhythm Heavenis a unique, stylish, sometimes very challenging rhythm game released for the Nintendo DS in 2008. Instead ofplaying along with famous or original songsin a variety of musical genres,Rhythm Heavenasks players to perform seemingly mundane tasks in time with the music and the game’s instructions.
Rhythm Heavensometimes puts players in the shoes of a musician or a figure dancer — jobs where a good sense of rhythm is important. But just as often, players become an engine inside a factory moving with the precision of a machine or a bird soldier enlisted in an unspecified bird army. In every case, the player uses the touchscreen to imitate the movements present in the minigames.
42009: 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
Metascore: 82
999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doorsis an adventure game about time travel that takes equal influence from visual novels of the time and room escape flash games. The title almost predates physical escape rooms, as in 2009, the idea of playing a puzzle game about trying to leave a room lived mostly in the realm of free online titles.
The titular doors of999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons,andNine Doorsrepresent the different puzzle rooms that the protagonist, along with some supporting characters, must escape. The game received an excellent remake in 2017 throughZero Escape – The Nonary Games, a bundle that includes the sequelVirtue’s Last Reward.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detectiveis aunique point-and-click adventurewith a great sense of style and a story that gets weirder and weirder as the mystery becomes more gripping. Written and directed by Shu Takumi ofAce Attorneyfame,Ghost Trick: Phantom Detectiveis definitely a different kind of mystery, but it features the same exhilarating twists and turns as the Nintendo DS' signature attorney series.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detectivewas ported to iOS in 2010, but this version of the classic Capcom point-and-click adventure will be delisted from the App Store starting August 01, 2025. A true HD remake was released in June 2023 for modern consoles, and it’s possible that this version might soon reach mobile phones, too.
Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Townsis afarm sim with a surprising amount of story, at least compared to previous titles in the series. Fans of the farm sim genre, or any simulation game for that matter, have grown accustomed to playing a pastoral fantasy, creating the ranch of their dreams, with only a vague objective or threat to keep in mind.
To be fair, callingHarvest Moon: The Tale of Two Townsstory-focused wouldn’t be correct either. But the game’s premise, of a young protagonist fated to end the rivalry that has haunted the two towns for centuries, gives a whole new layer to the player’s actions.Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Townswas released for Nintendo 3DS almost immediately after the original, and players who own the console should probably play the newer version.
Pokemon Black 2 and White 2are built differently.Pokemongames rarely have a real story, and they certainly don’t need to be played in sequence to be enjoyed. No one would think of playingPokemon Scarletand stop because there might be spoilers forPokemon Pearl, which they still have to play. Meanwhile, that’s exactly the case forPokemon Black and Whiteand their sequels.
The fifth generation ofPokemonis unique in the series because it’s a complete story told through different games.Pokemon Black 2 and White 2take place two years after the original, with recurring characters and cities that have changed with the times.Pokemon Black 2 and White 2also feature a different roster of Pokemon compared to the original, with picks from every generation until the fifth.
