The Best Nintendo DS Exclusive Games

Summary

• Nintendo DS revolutionized handheld gaming with its dual screen and touch screen features.
• Exclusive DS games like Okamiden and Pokemon Heartgold/Soulsilver offer unique experiences.
• DS classics like Mario Kart DS and Nintendogs showcased the console’s capabilities effectively.

Following on from the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo already had something of a monopoly on the handheld market. So how do you improve upon the already renowned Game Boy Advance? You add another screen, obviously. A dual screen, if you will. And so the Nintendo DS was born.

The DS was a fantastic console, and is now both the best-selling and most beloved handheld console to ever enter the gaming market. And such a great console was blessed with plentiful games. While many of them have made their way to other consoles since, some have been restricted to the DS, and are truly remarkable games.

10

Okamiden

The original Okami first launched on the PS2 near the end of its lifecycle. Celebrated with great reviews, it didn’t have the same success in sales. The Wii helped to rejuvenate the game, and that in turn helped to promote the creation of a sequel, Okamiden, exclusively for the DS.

Okamiden is more os a spiritual successor to the original Okami rather than a direct sequel. It uses many of the same ideas again, though tackling slightly different themes. And what it might have lacked in ambition, it more than made up for utilising the DS’ unique form factor. Using the Celestial Brush on the touchscreen was such a natural fit.

9

The Legend Of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

Following from the gorgeous Wind Waker, Zelda split into the darker Twilight Princess on the Gamecube and Wii, and continuing Toon Link’s adventures on the DS. Phantom Hourglass followed Link as he sailed the seas to discover a new Hyrule. Having settled there, Spirit Tracks has him commandeer his own locomotive to travel the new continent.

Spirit Tracks is just such a joyful game. It is far detached from many Zelda conventions, introducing new villains and items. But it used the DS to the most, with the majority of the game played with the touch screen, and the pan flute needing the DS’ microphone to be played. It’s a real gem, and not exactly surprising it hasn’t been ported.

8

Pokemon Heartgold And Soulsilver

New Pokemon media is as assured as the rising and setting of the sun. It is a massive media empire that will run until there is no one left to buy it. Yet with every new game that releases, people also call back to what many would consider the greatest entry in the entire series – Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver.

Pokemon Gold and Silver were seen as some of the most impressive sequels ever made, and then their remakes just went and improved on them even more. A bigger world, more pokemon, more detail, more battles, more locations, just more of everything. The game is just as impressive on the DS as it was on the Game Boy, and it might never be surpassed in that excellence.

7

Professor Layton

Beginning in 2007, the Professor Layton series has some of the best-selling puzzle games in the medium, and with good reason. They are joyous and light-hearted, but require some genuine thought as well. And on the DS, the two screen and the ability to touch one of them works tremendously for puzzle solving.

The initial four entries in the series were exclusive to the DS, until their eventual release on mobile platforms. The Last Specter remains the sole stowaway in this regard, locked to the DS. That’s unfortunate because it is also the last entry on the DS, and one of the greatest in the series too.

The Last Specter also had a unique mini-game, Professor Layton’s London Life, which is ironically absent from the European version of the game.

6

Elite Beat Agents

Elite Beat Agents is a fun little little. It is technically a localisation of the Japan-exclusive Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan rhythm game. With that game so intrinsically Japanese though, it underwent a rather hefty translation process that ultimately made it a new game entirely. And so Elite Beat Agents, one of the most inventive rhythm games, was born.

In Elite Beat Agents, you play as a team of special agents whose job is to motivate others through song and dance, rather than more direct means. This also means how well you perform your songs affects the ending of each scenario. Plus, there is just so much licensed music. It’s a real treat.

5

Pokemon Conquest

It isn’t strictly clear based on the international title, but Pokemon Conquest is a collaboration title between the main Pokemon series and the Nobunaga’s Ambition strategy games. In Japan, it is literally called Pokemon + Nobunaga’s Ambition. As such, it plays quite differently than the mainline games, playing closer to the latter as a turn-based tactical strategy game.

Taking place in an entirely unique region (shaped like Arceus), Conquest features plentiful real-life warlords from Japan’s history, from the likes of the eponymous Nobunaga to Date Masamune. It’s a genuinely fun and smart game, and one of the last truly ambitious Pokemon spin-offs.

4

Mario Kart DS

When Mario Kart DS came out, it was heralded as not only the best Mario Kart game, but the best DS game in general. It was an absurdly impressive feat that the game not only translated to the handheld platform so well, but that it managed to even surpass what came before it. Up until the ending of online services on the DS, Mario Kart DS was incredibly active.

While subsequent entries in the series, such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, managed to outsell it, many still praise Mario Kart DS as the highlight of the series. It could even be adapted to modern platforms more easily than some other DS exclusives. So maybe there’s a chance it will have another chance in the spotlight.

3

Animal Crossing: Wild World

When people think of Animal Crossing now, it’s hard to escape the phenomenon that is New Horizons. Even when referring to the DS, most people think of the 3DS title New Leaf before Wild World ever crosses their mind. Wild World was ther first handheld entry in the series, and introduced many of the changes the series is now known for.

Wild World introduced online, allowing you to visit other players’ world. It also introduced the scrolling effect on the world that makes the area move around you so that the same amount is always in view. The dual screen also let you view the sky and ground at the same time, making your village seem bigger than ever.

2

New Super Mario Bros.

The Mario games started as sidescrollers, though have quickly become more renowned for their 3D entries. Mario Galaxy, Sunshine, and Odyssey are incredible games, and that style makes up the bulk of Mario games now, though there really is nothing like a good sidescroller. That’s where New SUper Mario Bros. comes in.

Until Mario Wonder and since Super Mario World, New Super Mario Bros. was the gold standard for what a sidescrolling Mario should be. It was large, replayable, packed with minigames and unique gameplay mechanics. There’s a reason it took Nintendo so long to make a good successor.

1

Nintendogs

Who doesn’t love pets? There are endless games on the DS, so many genres. And while many of the games are exclusive, these types of games can be found elsewhere. But where else can you find such a plethora of games that let you care for a pet like this?

It might sound silly, but the Nintendogs games were the heart of the DS. You had to check in on your animals, you had to use the touchscreen to clean and pet them. You had to remember the time of day to check on them. With the DS being so portable, you could bring your pet with you anywhere. They showcased everything the DS could do in a long-form manner.