Learn about Chevy's new hybrid from AutoblogGreen!
GameDaily
Add to: My AOL, MyYahoo, Google, Bloglines
Joystiq presents

DS Fanboy Favorites: Dave's top five


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.

I own a total of 19 DS games. Yes, just 19 games. I've never been too crazy about handheld systems, mostly because I'm the type of gamer that enjoys the escape of playing something more immersive, like console games. That's not to say the DS isn't capable of presenting games that allow me to escape, even some of which are in my collection, but gaming lends itself a bit more to pick-up-and-play, quicker gaming sessions on a handheld when compared with a console.

With that in mind, let me show you my top five DS games.

Dave's Top Five DS Games


1. Age of Empires: Age of Kings


I love RTS games, I really do. With the DS, before this game came along, I thought the interface of the touch-screen would lend itself wonderfully to RTS games on the platform. I immediately thought of Warcraft ports on the DS and the wonder of playing fresh titles from the genre on the system. Then Age of Empires: Age of Kings came out for the system and I found the wonders of a turn-based strategic title on the system. I'm hopeful that we'll see developers learning from that game, putting out bigger and better RTS and turn-based games on the platform.


2. Meteos


I'm a big puzzle junkie. Can't enough of games like Tetris, Mr. Driller and Super Puzzle Fighter II, to be honest. That's why Q? Entertainment's puzzler ranks so high on the list. The first time I ever played this game was during E3 2005, in the hotel room of a colleague. He had downloaded it via the stations set up by Nintendo and as I checked it out for the first time (I had been stuck in Sony developer meetings all day; this was before I worked here), I didn't think much of it. I didn't find that it maximized the use of the DS' features, nor did I think that the puzzler's gameplay would stay fresh long enough to want gamers to finish the title. Oh, how wrong I would be upon the release of the game to retail.


3. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney


What kind of employee would I be if I didn't mention the game that changed my life forever? Well ... it didn't really change my life, I just tell people that so they'll check it out. Yes, it is that good, melding together humor and investigative gameplay together in such an overall dazzling package that to look upon the cartridge is to go blind. Seriously, I can't tell you why this game is so good, you have to have played it to understand.


4.
Tetris DS

Yawn, another puzzle game? Well, don't knock it until you've tried it, buddy! See, Tetris is the O.G. (that's "original gangsta," kids) of the puzzle game genre and the DS version, with all the Nintendo fanservice, new game modes and competent Wi-Fi functionality, easily makes my top five. I've played this game a lot and for those of you who come to Game Night, you can attest to how frequently I'm trying to get a match in.


5. Electroplankton


It's funny, because I wasn't rushing out to pick this game up when it first released to retail. I figured it would come down in price eventually and I would snag it then. Well, I eventually picked it up during a buy 2, get 1 free sale from Toys 'R Us, and am I glad I did. This game is incredibly endearing and for those quite fond of music (that would be me), it's a perfect way to invest your time. My returns always show profit (ynuck, ynuck).


Honorable mentions: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Sonic Rush, Animal Crossing

I spent a lot of time frowning over these last three games. I knew I wanted to fit them into the top five, but it was a hard sell. First of all, Dawn of Sorrow is a great game, but the stylus-driven death sequences for bosses just really feel out of place, causing me to drop it to the honorable mentions section. Don't get me wrong, I loved the game, but we're talking the "best of the best" here, folks!

As for Sonic Rush, this was an easier call to make. The game is great, drawing heavy inspiration from the series entries of old and bringing the tension through speed back to the gameplay only helped it that much more, but the game is incredibly short. And incredibly easy. So, sadly I have to drop Sonic Rush down to the honorable mentions section, as well.

Finally, we have Animal Crossing. This was the hardest decision to make. I so desperately wanted to get it into my top 5, what with the game having incredible replay value and all, but then I considered what makes a top 5 game. A game that I would consider to be one of the top 5 best on the console would have to be a game I still steadily play, or at least desire to play on some sort of consistent basis, correct? That is where Animal Crossing loses some points, as it's been months since I checked in on my town, Hinkton.


Game I wanted to love, but just couldn't: Resident Evil: Deadly Silence

In a lot of ways, the Resident Evil franchise is what got me into the gaming industry. If it hadn't fascinated me when first released on the Playstation, I might've ended up becoming a doctor or the dictator of a small third-world country. Who knows what I could've done with myself? But no, the allure of gaming was too strong and I found my place amongst the sleep-and-food-deprived mass that is gaming journalism. Anyway, for this port of the first game, which suffered from horrible graphics and controls, I wanted to love it because I love the franchise. However, the sub-par port of this game brought me back to my senses.

Related Headlines

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Gaming to Go!

This Month's New Games

Name Date
Bleach: Dark Souls
Oct 6
Legend of Kage 2
Oct 6
Crash: Mind Over Mutant
Oct 6
Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals
Oct 6
My Japanese Coach
Oct 14
Korg DS-10
Oct 14
Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2 Oct 14
FIFA Soccer 09 Oct 14
Populous Oct 14
Rock Revolution
Oct 14
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Oct 21
Theresia
Oct 21
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows Oct 21
Away: Shuffle Dungeon
Oct 21
Tornado
Oct 21
Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon
Oct 21
What's Cooking? With Jamie Oliver Oct 21
MySims Kingdom
Oct 28
Ninjatown Oct 28

Get homebrew on your DS!

Popular on DS Fanboy

The story
More like it
Nintendo reveals the DSi
News
Lock's Quest review
Reviews
BTS: Cakemania
BTS
G2G: Clubhouse Games
Gaming to Go
Preview: Big Bang Mini
Features
Features
Another Week in ... (50)
Bury the Shovelware (16)
Contests / Giveaways (21)
DS Daily (572)
DS Fanboy Lite (42)
DS Fanboy poll (41)
Friday video (70)
Game Night (158)
Gaming to Go (15)
Items of Import (7)
Metareview (58)
Point/Counterpoint (6)
Promotional Consideration (58)
Show and Tell (73)
The DS Life (68)
What are you playing? (90)
Bits
Accessories (147)
Downloads (68)
Fan stuff (1419)
Features (292)
GBA (130)
Hacks (82)
Homebrew (230)
How-tos (75)
Imports (939)
Interviews (156)
Meta (135)
Mods (17)
News (3327)
Nintendo Wi-Fi (190)
Reviews (192)
Sales (196)
Screens (996)
Video (740)
Rumors (193)

RESOURCES

RSS NEWSFEEDS

Powered by Blogsmith

Featured Galleries

Roogoo
Mother 3 Fan Translation
Show and Tell: Five ways to love the Game Boy
Neopets Puzzle Adventure
Hot 'N Cold
Show and Tell: Epic
Goodbye, GBA slot
Mario & Luigi 3
Nintendo DSi

 

Most Commented On (14 days)

Recent Comments

Weblogs, Inc. Network

  • Autos
    • Autoblog
    • AutoblogGreen
    • Autoblog Spanish
    • Autoblog Chinese
    • Autoblog Simplified Chinese
  • Technology
    • Download Squad
    • Engadget
    • Engadget HD
    • Engadget Mobile
    • Engadget Chinese
    • Engadget Simplified Chinese
    • Engadget Japanese
    • Engadget Germany
    • Engadget Korea
    • Engadget Polska
    • Engadget Spanish
    • Switched
    • TUAW (Apple)
  • Lifestyle
    • AisleDash
    • DIY Life
    • Gadling
    • Green Daily
    • Luxist
    • ParentDish
    • Slashfood
    • StyleList Blog
    • That's Fit
  • Gaming
    • Joystiq
    • DS Fanboy
    • Massively
    • Nintendo Wii Fanboy
    • PS3 Fanboy
    • PSP Fanboy
    • WoW Insider
    • Xbox 360 Fanboy
    • Big Download
  • Entertainment
    • Cinematical
    • TV Squad
  • Finance
    • BloggingBuyouts
    • BloggingStocks
    • WalletPop
  • Sports
    • FanHouse Main
    • NFL
    • NBA
    • MLB
    • NCAA Football
    • NCAA Basketball
    • NASCAR
    • NHL
    • Golf
    • Free Fantasy Football
  • Also on AOL
    • African-American Culture
    • Cars
    • Games
    • Maps
    • Money
    • Movies
    • Music
    • News
    • Radio
    • Sports
    • Stock Quotes
    • Television
    • Travel

Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in:

PS3 Fanboy
  • Capcom rewarded with first-ever branded PlayStation Store
  • Media Molecule comments on LittleBigPlanet delay, new dates revealed
  • Listen to the 'controversial' LittleBigPlanet song: Tapha Niang
WOW Insider
  • Christie Golden talks about Arthas, Rise of the Lich King
  • Stuff of legends: Old Ironjaw
  • Poll: How many Achievement points have you earned?
Xbox 360 Fanboy
  • Video: The evolution of Resident Evil
  • Video: XNA community games on the NXE
  • WRUP: space dismemberment edition
Nintendo Wii Fanboy
  • Point/Counterpoint: Is saving to SD the right way to keep Wii fridges fresh?
  • Mega Man 9 players may have a shot at Fake Man next week
  • VC Friday: A trip to the Fantasy Zone
PSP Fanboy
  • Dissidia may be a downloadable title too
  • Watch: Neverland Card Battles gameplay
  • American PSN Store update for October 16th
Big Download Blog
  • Two cut Warhammer Online classes coming in December
  • Freeware Friday: P.U.R.E.
  • New Team Fortress 2 blog update is...odd
Fanhouse Golf Blog
  • Hey, What Do Ya Know? Justin Timberlake Is Hosting a PGA Tour Event
  • Old Course Could Be Sea World by 2050
  • Tiger Is Expanding His Empire to Mexico