All this week, the DS Fanboy staff is letting you in on a few of their favorite titles. Each day, a different member of the staff will present their personal top five DS games along with a snapshot of their gaming paraphernalia and habits, in an effort to provide our readers with a little more information on the tastes and personalities of our writers.
As the lead blogger of PSP Fanboy, one might be questioning why I'm here. It's true: I love my PSP and take it everywhere (except the shower). But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy Nintendo's handheld. I've grown up with Nintendo handhelds, owning every iteration of the Game Boy ever. My stash of Nintendo valuables would make any Nintendork jealous. Now that I'm older and spending less time arguing in message boards, I've learned that true gaming bliss comes from having access to all the games I can get. Hopefully, you feel the same way too.
So please, take my "top five" list as an olive branch to end the bickering between the two Fanboy sites.
Jason knows what's going on: Elite Beat Agents is one of the best experiences I've had in gaming--on any platform. The addictive gameplay is only augmented by outrageous storytelling, fantastic musical selection ("You're the Inspiration," anyone?), and beautiful artwork. The game changed was an eye-opener in game design--so much so that I stalked the iNiS team at GDC and forced them to (reluctantly) sign my copy.
Wait, is this cheating? Isn't this sort of like having the same game listed twice? Maybe it is. But the original Japanese version of Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! deserves a place in this list. Insanely catchy songs from nobodyknows+ and Orange Range have made the giant circle that's carved into my touch screen so worth it. When I saw these real-life ouendan, I knew I had to grab a pic with them.
This is THE reason why I picked up a DS. After the abysmal Double Dash on Gamecube, I was relieved to see the Mario Kart series go back to its true form. Although not the best the series has to offer (Super Circuit on GBA reigns supreme), the addition of Wi-FI Connection support made for tons of visits to McDonald's. Too bad online competition wasn't too great, with tons of people either snaking or dropping out of matches mid-way. The inability to find opponents that would actually race through an entire match ultimately led to my retirement from the Nintendo Wi-Fi world.
This game brings back memories. Cold memories of me shivering in the street, just telling myself "one more match, just one more match..." This game literally stole my social life away from me, as I found myself unable to do anything but play the incredible campaign mode. I had to give the game away because after hour 100, I knew I had to get my life back in order. The gameplay is so accessible, even for players that have never played a strategy game before. If you missed this one, you missed out.
Any game that can make reading fun is doing something wright. Get it? Sorry for the pun. Phoenix Wright is little more than a reading game. Sure, you can scream "Objection!" or "Matte!" into your DS, but the real star of this title is its script. You've heard DS Fanboy's rants already, so there's no reason to elaborate any further, right? Justice For All unfortunately ditches the fun DS-exclusive elements present in the first title--something that will be rectified in the upcoming Japanese sequel.
Honorable Mentions: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Meteos
Dawn of Sorrow's extensive soul and weapon-swapping gameplay made for some of the best Castlevania gameplay since Symphony of the Night. Unfortunately, the sequel took a few steps back with its novel, but ultimately gimmicky, two-partner setup in Portrait of Ruin. Also, Tetris be damned: Meteos is the only puzzle game you need on the DS. The touchpad is stressed to the limits in this intense puzzle game that offers 4-player single-card play.
Games that you're too afraid to admit suck: Final Fantasy III, Metroid Prime Hunters
Alisha wrote that "it [was] fascinating to see the nameless warriors of light fleshed out a little" in Final Fantasy III. "A little" is right; "nonexistent" would be more accurate. Yes, it's a remake of an old game--but like New Super Mario Bros., there's no harm in incorporating some new-school thinking in old-school game design. Metroid Prime Hunters takes one of my favorite Gamecube franchises, ignores everything that's good about it, keeps the horrid multiplayer mode and calls it a game. When a game has multiple control options and none of them feel good, something wrong has happened.
Games you should import that aren't made by iNiS: Bleach, Jump Ultimate Stars
One's made by Treasure. The other plays like Smash Brothers. Import! Now!
Ouendan-obsessed players plug their GBA slots with: Rhythm Tengoku
It's a simple rhythm game from the creators of Wario Ware. Enough said.
DS peripheral for people that don't want to admit multimedia features are nice for a handheld gaming machine to have, and refuse to buy a PSP: Play-Yan micro
