Best NDS Games You Must Try in 2023

The Nintendo DS combines cutting-edge electronics with video games specifically designed for the portable platform. To understand how adaptable and ageless the Nintendo DS is, you must spend a few minutes relaxing with some of the best NDS games.

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A List of the Best NDS Games

Most people's childhood wasted much time on the family Dreamcast, N64, and PS2. But they enjoyed playing the NDS, which was the first console. The NDS boasted a wide library of games spanning every genre, resulting in over 2000 games for users to select from.

It also offered an innovative (at the time) dual-screen and a pen that screamed to be utilized. What are the best DS games ever? Continue reading to find out.

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Animal Crossing: Wild World

When the Animal Crossing series debuted on the Nintendo Switch amid the height of the Covid epidemic, it did so for a good reason and took the (wild) World by storm. Who doesn't wish to escape reality's restrictions by owing money to Tom Nook instead?

The number of individuals is alarmingly high, but did you realize that the Animal Crossing NDS instalment is nearly as good? Wild World is still worth buying even if you've previously finished New Horizons or don't have a Switch to play it on.

The Animal Crossing DS game features a lot of the trademark charm, but it's also a terrific chance to explore and meet the goodies and characters that weren't quite able to make it to New Horizons. A popular example of one of these characters is the infamous Mr Resetti, who gets angry with you for not saving your game!

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Hotel Dusk: Room 215

After declaring bankruptcy in 2010, the developer, Cing, has given up but not before leaving behind Hotel Dusk: Room 215. In this point-and-click game, you must solve riddles and piece together a mystery surrounding the strange Room 215.

You vertically played the game, and your NDS frequently resembled a detective's notebook, giving you the impression that you're the one solving this case. Many players found themselves frequently baffled by what they were intended to do. Still, after returning to the game years later (and after playing a few Resident Evil games), they could understand Hotel Dusk and all of its mysteries properly.

When it comes to Hotel Dusk, there is more to admire than only the puzzles: there is also the rotoscoping animation style. This isn't used usually in video games for a good reason, but Hotel Dusk and an NDS game look amazing.

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Pokémon Conquest

Pokémon Conquest is perhaps one of the most popular Pokémon spin-offs available, but Pokémon Black and White may represent the pinnacle of the NDS games of the series. Conquest is here because you don't have to play a mainline Pokémon game to enjoy it. A precise turn-based strategy is mixed with an RPG emphasizing capturing monsters in droves.

They included not all 649 of the then-available Pokémon in the game, and each of your Pokémon can only learn one move, which is decided by their species. Despite this, there are still plenty of 'mons. Watching them combat alongside the Warriors and Warlords of Feudal Japan as they try to unite the Ransei region seems immensely appropriate and equally satisfying. It's so fantastic that many have requested the game be remade and released on Nintendo Switch for quite some time.

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Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective takes inspiration from the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney series, which is understandable given that Shu Takumi, the creator of the series, oversaw the creation of this specific adventure. And given Ace Attorney's astonishing, this isn't at all negative.

In the video game Ghost Trick, you play the part of the ghost Sissel and must use your paranormal abilities to try to save other people. You can access various items as you investigate murders in the real world and the ghost realm where time has stopped.

Then, you might even travel back in time to stop the crime from ever happening. It's a distinctive game with an interesting premise, excellent writing, and some really fun puzzles (and crimes) that you can actively solve.

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999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors

Undoubtedly, the video game 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors significantly influenced the visual novel genre. There were several before it, but none appeared to captivate viewers the way 999 did, making the game feel crucial to how the genre has developed and changed.

The plot of 999 centres on nine people stranded on a cruise ship. That's not that horrible. Well, the kidnappers have abducted everyone here onboard the ship. As if things weren't bad enough already, the ship is sinking. As you proceed through this psychological experiment and try to escape, you'll encounter many puzzles and making it possibly the best escape-the-room game ever. 

However, most reviewers agreed that 999 popularised the visual novel genre, was jam-packed with information, and was, generally, a gratifying experience. Critics were split on whether the game was too easy or too complex. Additionally, it has a rare M rating, which is not frequently displayed on NDS games.

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Elite Beat Agents

The subsequent, westernized version of Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan is called Elite Beat Agents. Since Japanese culture and music have such a strong effect on Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, Nintendo did not believe that localizing the game would be possible. Elite Beat Agents was founded after that.

You may play Elite Beat Agents while tapping along to Queen, Sum 41, and even Destiny's Child songs. Even if it can't compete with Guitar Hero, it's still tremendously rewarding to jam out with your stylus while ostensibly aiding others in need. That is what Elite Beat Agents do!

Even if it lacks a few things here and there, it is worth it to be able to rhythmically follow along with some of the performances of well-known J-pop performers.

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Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise

Even though the NDS version of Viva Piñata misses a few components from the original game, it offers a genuine Viva Piata experience. David Wise composed one of the finest soundtracks for a video game ever for the title Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest. That's an advantage, then.

The NDS's stylus and touch screen are utilized throughout the game, and in the simulator, you may take care of your gardens and piñatas. Then, using a feature exclusive to this edition of the game, the top screen provides an information panel with all you need to know right now for your garden.

When they were kids, people would spend hours trying to get the piñatas to reproduce and would be ecstatic when they succeeded. Viva Piñata was more entertaining than any other simulation game at the time on the NDS, and it allowed you to be a gardener while on the road.

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The Legend Of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass

Interestingly, the majesty of the earlier Game Boy games couldn't quite match that of Zelda's DS adventures, but they are still strong titles in their own right. The Phantom Hourglass from the title provides you with a unique approach to exploring the colourful game world, and it has a stunning design that keeps.

The Wind Waker's distinctive cel-shaded appearance. The Phantom Hourglass is also mechanically rich and offers new objects to employ. As Link, you'll be able to physically sail between different islands and explore them on foot at certain points in the game.

All combat is conducted using stylus strokes, and as is customary for NDS games, it is immensely enjoyable.The NDS system enhances Phantom Hourglass, even though Zelda's NDS endeavours lack the charm of the Game Boy games and even Breath of the Wild. Because of this, it seems different from other episodes in the series and is well worth playing.

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Trauma Center: Under The Knife 2

In Vanguard's fun sequel, you may transform your ordinary stylus into a defibrillator, laser, or even a scalpel as you try to fix victims. Three years have elapsed after the events of the DS original, and the deliciously ludicrous narrative centres on a doctor called Derek Stiles, who is making a comeback but is having trouble using his renowned Healing Touch (which allows you to slow down time during play).

You must have a variety of talents to effectively treat each patient, including the capacity to eradicate infections, close wounds, do delicate skin grafts, and even fix broken bones. Your quivering fingers and perspiring brow would gladly give it all in for a straightforward game of Operation, which results in a ridiculously exciting and stressful combination.

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Pokemon Black & White

Pokémon and radical overhaul don't often go together, but Game Freak did at least try to introduce several fresh concepts into its enormously popular series. The most evident is the new fight rules, which make it feasible to send out three Pokémon at once for scraps to put up a strong lineup.

Like other fight types, rotation battles let you switch around your adorable creatures as needed to improve your chances of victory. The games look much better than Diamond and Pearl did, plus they have a tonne of additional sidequests and fun new mini-games. Pokémon games have always been expansive, and Junichi Masuda and his team's Black & White set new benchmarks.

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Bangai-O Spirits

Regarding shoot-'em-ups, the DS is sadly underrepresented, but Treasure's charmingly anarchic offering helps to make up for that. From the ridiculous premise of Treasure's game to the outrageous number of missiles that can flood the playfield when things get heated up is completely vague.

It deftly combines challenging shooting with cunning riddles, keeping you on your toes with creative curveballs that guarantee no two levels ever feel identical, and seamlessly combines both with hardcore shooting. Furthermore, if you become tired of the 160 or so levels that Bangai-O Spirits offers, you can make your own, smartly encrypt them as sound files, and then share them with others.

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Dragon Quest V

Although it would be tempting to name Dragon Quest IX as the finest game available on the handheld, it still falls short of Hand of the Heavenly Bride. The DS is home to a surprisingly large collection of Dragon Quest games. It's challenging to compete with a grand narrative that spans decades of the main character's life. Without a doubt, it's the franchise's best story.

Though the graphics are less detailed than those of Dragon Quest IX, they are nevertheless a vast improvement over those of the original SNES game, and the game's slightly vintage aesthetic still looks great more than ten years after it was first released.

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Meteos

Although the Lumines series from Q Entertainment is still warmly recalled, the studio's other puzzle game, Meteos, maybe the better game (even if it can't quite equal Lumines' style). The way that Meteos makes use of the DS's capabilities is what makes it so brilliant. You must use the stylus to match three of the falling pieces to build constructions that will soar into the universe visible on the top screen.

It's quick, fierce, and pays homage to some of the best puzzle games while still coming up with something completely new. Although a follow-up made its way to Xbox Live Arcade, the series has remained dormant ever since; still, a Switch version would be more than welcome at this point.

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Radiant Historia

Like other portable platforms, the NDS have more role-playing games than it should have. Radiant Historia, however, stands out among all the handheld role-playing games for its dark tone and risky design decisions. The complex time travel setup that includes two main timelines and countless additional smaller branches is the subject of the game's branching plot.

Although the game occasionally feels more linear due to the need to limit the setup's choices, it still offers much more variation than a conventional RPG. Radiant Historia's combat never becomes dull because of its unique battle system, which focuses on your character's placements on a 3 x 3 grid.

This holds even for the duration of the game's extensive plot. Radiant Historia received an equally fantastic 3DS re-release, unlike many other games on our list, but it is still a title that merits a full-fledged sequel.

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Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

Unlike several games on this list, Dawn of Sorrow is more varied than revolutionary. Its one massive NDS innovation (drawing wizardly seals on the touchscreen to defeat bosses) has never been very fashionable. However, that doesn't matter once the remainder of the sport is that smart.

With ultra-smooth animation, a rocking sound recording, the ridiculous quantity of customization offered by its plan of action souls system, and a map chock-choked with secrets (not to mention the continuation of the series' most distinctive storyline), this could be Castlevania at its best. Konami has recently shown additional interest in re-releasing its older titles.

After seeing the superb response to its assortment of GBA games last year, it looks like a NDS Castlevania assortment is due. Here's hoping you get an updated unharness of Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, and Order of Ecclesia before long. A wider audience will finally appreciate this classic.

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New Super Mario Bros.

Even if the Super Mario Bros video games are well-liked, it's hard to imagine that before the release of the most current Super Mario Bros. In 2006, it had been over a decade since Nintendo released the 2nd entry in the picture series.

Fortunately, Mario's charm remained intact over the break. In some ways, New Super Mario Bros. feels superior to the initial NES and SNES titles. The game's familiar gameplay is as smooth as ever.

Still, the three new power-ups (the Blue Koopa Shell, the Mega Mushroom, and the tiny Mushroom) fit perfectly with Super Mario's basic gameplay sensibilities. Once you've tilled through a whole level as an enormous Mario, you'll marvel why Nintendo never enclosed that ability in previous games.

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Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.

Nintendo has forever had a name as a family-friendly company. Its handhelds have traditionally been home to libraries mostly designed to appeal to any or all ages. However, Chinatown Wars demonstrates that mature games can thrive on the DS if developers have the resources to create them.

At its core, this is often a classic open-world GTA experience, borrowing several of the simplest bits of its predecessors. But there are also tonnes of cool DS-centric options in this gem. If you want to steal an automobile, you're about to use the touchscreen to start it with a screwdriver or hot wiring it.

Furthermore, it was the first (and until now, the only) GTA game to include a full-fledged drug dealing mini-game to earn extra money. It was simply an incredible realization of how distinct GTA expertise the DS could provide.

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Pokémon HeartGold and Soul Silver

The Nintendo DS was home to a number of the higher entries within the Pokémon franchise. Still, as nice as generations four and five are, it's exhausting to beat these fantastic remakes of the second-generation games.

It's simply exhausting to beat the standard of life enhancements they provide (from the large graphical overhaul to only having your Pokémon follow you around the overworld). But what HeartGold/SoulSilver can continuously be remembered for is its huge quest. These epic campaign options are not simply the Johto region but the whole Kanto region from the first terrible games.

At the top of it all, the sport offers a banging sixteen athletic facility leaders to beat. While the series continues to evolve, adding additional options and Pokémon, several would say this remains the best possible game within the series, or at the very least, the good jumping-on point.

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Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

What goes on within Bowser? Okay, maybe no one ever asked that question. Still, Nintendo was determined to answer it anyway with this bizarre entry in the Mario RPG series in which Mario and Luigi lead their archenemy to assist him in battling a common foe.

Combat in this game concentrates on the temporal arrangement and is generally more action-oriented than in the typical RPG, as is customary for the franchise. The screenplay stands out for its excellent writing as one of the funniest—if not the funniest—in a well-known series.

All Mario and Luigi games are fantastic. However, Bowser's Within Story still stands out as the pinnacle of the series for its outstanding gameplay and fun bizarreness.

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The Nintendo DS game: Mario Kart

Even if it's a bit dated, there's still a powerful argument that Mario Kart DS is the best in the series. At the very least, it was a significant turning point that included many options that have continued to appear in sequels (such as the Bullet Bill, error power-ups, and remade tracks from previous games). 

But what Mario Kart DS may well be best remembered for is being the first game within the franchise to incorporate online play, giving it way more replay value than any of its predecessors. Sadly, the game's servers stopped working years ago, but a minimum of several of the game's tracks continue to exist in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

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Advance Wars: Dual Strikes

The Advance Wars series, which had spent several years in relative obscurity in Japan, suddenly became one of Nintendo's biggest portable blockbusters in the early 2000s. The Twin Strike is arguably the head of the series, taking the rock-solid strategy components of the previous 2 GBA games and adding 9 new COs. 

With the flexibility to command two of them simultaneously throughout the battle, they will balance each other's strengths and weaknesses. While earlier Advance Wars titles looked nice on the GBA, having access to extra unit data within the thick of battle and having the ability to use the touchscreen to style maps makes it onerous to travel back to those classics.

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Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright

Phoenix Wright: Ace Professional may be a visual novel journey game where the player takes the role of Phoenix Wright, a tyro defence lawyer, and attempts to defend their purchasers in five cases. In these cases, area units contend in an exceedingly specific order. Once finished, the player will replay them in any order.

Every case begins with a gaping medium cutscene, usually representative of a murder. Shortly after that, the player is tasked with defending the prime suspect in the case. The gameplay is split into 2 sections: investigations and court trials.

During investigations that sometimes occur before or between trial sessions, the player gathers data and proof by rebuking characters like their shopper, witnesses, and the police. The player will use a pointer to look at numerous things within the setting.

The player will move to different locations, examine proof, and gift proof to alternative characters by employing a menu. The player will access new data by showing bound items of proof to some witnesses.

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Professor Layton: Curious Village

Puzzles embody brain teasers, tricky puzzles, logic puzzles, and others. The player is given every puzzle and its worth and a vast amount of time to resolve it. Every puzzle has 3 hints out there for it. The player should pay one "hint coin" to envision every hint.

The player starts with 10 hint coins, which are area unit restricted. Additional ones are frequently discovered by looking closely at strange things in the hamlet. Depending on the puzzle, the player can enter the solution by selecting a solution, drawing a circle in a certain location, or formulating a solution by entering letters or numbers into the DS's touchscreen.

If the player is correct, the picarats area unit further to his total score and they are generally rewarded with an item. If the player is incorrect, they will hear the puzzle indefinitely. Although the primary double is wrong, the value of the puzzle can decrease by more or less a tenth every time (or more, in the case of multiple-choice puzzles).

There are certain problems where the player must create a series of movements to reach a specific condition and cannot provide an erroneous response. Although some puzzles are important to advance, a player has the option to leave one problem at any moment and check out another. The player can hear a solved puzzle at any moment from the game's interface.

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The World Ends with You

The World Ends with You, unquestionably the most inventive RPG on the Nintendo DS, took a few of the core ideas that Square Enix had previously explored in the Kingdom Hearts series and turned them up to eleven. At the centre of it, all could be a dark, fashionable exploration of an alternate version of Tokyo's Shibuya district steeped in contemporary Japanese culture.

But what the general public can perpetually bear in mind concerning this game is its unique battle system that sees you, at the same time, managing a partner on each screen. Even though the sport is currently making its way to multiple systems, this can be the definitive way to experience the world; it all comes down to you.

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WarioWare Touched

In this game, players need to find the right direction. The sport ends in an extreme game-over if four lives are lost, with the player's three previous highest scores displayed. The sport hastens because it progresses. Once every fifteen points are scored, the player should complete a "boss stage," an extended, generally harder microgame.

Touched! introduces touchscreen and electro-acoustic transducer controls to the WarioWare series; all microgames will use only one of the two. The sport has one hundred eighty microgames, not including boss stages.

The game's 9 stages have twenty microgames each. Every level incorporates a different theme, character, stage intermission, and input vogue. All input designs use the stylus to move with the screen in numerous ways, like poking or dragging.

Some microgames use the system's microphone; the player controls the sport by processing it. In addition to most stages, the player will also access "toys" by finishing a stage. These toys are straightforward mini-games, typically supported by microgames at the highest level.

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Conclusion

In the world of gaming and technology, people all over the world are crazy about playing games. And some of the most played varieties are NDs games. If you had a look over the above games, which are definitely some of the best NDS games, then you might have come across your favourite ones. Download the game and enjoy it to the fullest.