Gaming DS Games That Surprised You?

[Mars]

-Elite Beat Agents surprised me. I generally don't play games of that genre, but I ended up beating the game. It is one of my favorite DS games.

-Phoenix Wright for the same reason above.

-Most recent Crash games suck, but I decided to give Crash of the Titans a go anyway. It turned out to be a great 3D platformer, much like the PS1 games.

Offtopic: What is with all the similar-looking Profile Icons.

It's International Bonemonkey Week.

 

[tenchan4]

Geometry Wars. I saw the release topic, and everyone was...well...freaking out about it. So, I decided to give it a try even though the title sounded really nerdy

and now, it's one of my favorite DS games, and by far the most addicting

I too, was pleasantly surprised by how addicting Geometry Wars has become for me.

 

[halljames]

Kirby Canvas Curse for me.

It sounded dead childish and kiddy, but I cant put it down, I just love it.

 

[Moots]

Rocket Slime, I had heard it was fun, nd when I finally got around to picking it up, I was more than pleased. It is so simple, yet so fun.

Its what I want out of games more these days. More solid fun, less gimmick.

 

[knilsilooc]

Elite Beat Agents. I heard it was good, but I had no idea how incredibly addicting it was.

 

[VBKirby]

You will no doubt find me a total sissy for this, but I downloaded it just for the heck of it, and one of the GBA games of it was actually very good.

Disney Princess: Magical Jewels.

I know. It's disney, and a girls game, but it's actually quite good. a very large game with lots of stuff to collect. The first GBA game of this was very good too. It was a surprisingly fun and difficult platformer. Though Disney games are always too difficult for their target audience. Though I'm disappointed that Ariel and Jasmine only get really crappy mini games in this one. They're my favs. They also had the funnest, yet hardest stages in the GBA game, so that really sucks that that couldn't be kept for this game. (I mean, does anyboby actually like Snow White?)

I'm pleased they sped the characters up a lot though. In the GBA they crawled at a snail's pace. Though the controlls were a lot easier in that. Very poor stylus detection in the DS one.

So yeah. a neat game, but it's very long times before you can stop. Plug you NDS into the charger and put in sleep mode for this one. And of course, keep the sound off, and skip the terrible story.

 

[VBKirby]

Sorry to double post, but this one's important. I quit the disney game.

I've played most of the Garfield games I could, and sadly, they all sucked. However, I downloaded Garfield's Nightmare and I am surprised at how great of a game it is.

It's got New Super Mario Bros type graphics, but actually way better. Very smooth 3D movements, and very awesome looking 3D models. It also plays very similar to New Super Mario Bros. and the original Super Mario bros. It is a platformer where you get from one side of the level to the other, but there are a couple different paths you can take. You stomp on enemies to kill them, and when you collect 100 doughnuts, you get an extra life. (sound familiar yet?) Also very true to the original Mario, there are 4 levels, and then a boss. Okay, so technically the boss was in level four in mario, but the boss is a separate level after level 4 in Garfield, so it's similar. And true to New Super Mario bros, you stomp on the boss three times to kill it, Garfield can do a ground pound, and there are save flag poles. Though in Garfield, every time you get to a flag pole, it saves your game.
Another worthy comparison to New Super Mario Bros is that the only time you use the stylus is in the mini games.

There aren't a lot of enemies in it so far, but I imagine it will get harder. It's almost as if this was a prototype for a mario game, but they canceled it and replaced the graphics with Garfield. It wouldn't surprise me if this was true. So if you like Mario platformers, you might want to download this. Also if you want proof that 3D models on the DS don't infact all suck, you should download this. The only trustworthy looking rom I can find for it is the (E) version. The (U) rom has a very strange looking title.

 

[bluebright]

Draglade, and it was the best generic japanese fighting game ever...EVER...okay, its not, but it still was smooth as silk and addictive.

 

[2dere]

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales.

Its a really fun game with lots of things to do. Its pretty and its style suits the mood and story of the game. It doesn't come off too kiddy for anyone who isn't to enjoy. Infact it comes off as a game you wish was on a console so you could play it with your kids.
At its core it revolves around minigames (Didn't Hardrian call 'em puzzle-me-do's?) But it makes sense that they exist and there is more incentive to play 'em some more once you've done enough to progress further in the story since some milestones give you cards to collect for the games own card game, as deadly simple as it is to play is really really fun and great to play multiplayer. These card games are also vital to continuing the games story and there exists 'micro-games.' Mini-games that aren't essential to the story but offer rewards in place of cards that you'll want.
I haven't looked at the manual to see what wi-fi has to offer but I dl'd this and my gf's little brother and cousins all love playing this with me I ended up buying a whole lot of copies when my local gamestore had this for $20 so now there is five of us playing the game and its always in someones DS.

Just tryin' to spread the love so more people can enjoy a game we all love down here.

 

[Jaejae]

Mario & Luigi Partners in Time.
This surprised me, it was nowhere as good as I had expected, I expected something at least on par with Superstar Saga, but it was repetitive and boring most of the time.

 

[Clxmj]

Draglade, and it was the best generic japanese fighting game ever...EVER...okay, its not, but it still was smooth as silk and addictive.

Same here, i couldn't leave it alone especially with the Bullet collecting.. Story was naff though. (When you revisited a town the story would play out again!?

)

 

[VBKirby]

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales.

Its a really fun game with lots of things to do. Its pretty and its style suits the mood and story of the game. It doesn't come off too kiddy for anyone who isn't to enjoy. Infact it comes off as a game you wish was on a console so you could play it with your kids.
At its core it revolves around minigames (Didn't Hardrian call 'em puzzle-me-do's?) But it makes sense that they exist and there is more incentive to play 'em some more once you've done enough to progress further in the story since some milestones give you cards to collect for the games own card game, as deadly simple as it is to play is really really fun and great to play multiplayer. These card games are also vital to continuing the games story and there exists 'micro-games.' Mini-games that aren't essential to the story but offer rewards in place of cards that you'll want.
I haven't looked at the manual to see what wi-fi has to offer but I dl'd this and my gf's little brother and cousins all love playing this with me I ended up buying a whole lot of copies when my local gamestore had this for $20 so now there is five of us playing the game and its always in someones DS.

Just tryin' to spread the love so more people can enjoy a game we all love down here.

Really? I found that game horribly frustrating and aggravating. I don't know if you've been trying to beat the gold rank on the micro games though. If you haven't, it's no wonder you find it fun. Wi-fi lets you do pop up card duels when you get the professional deck which holds 15 cards. If you don't beat the micro games and mini games' records/requirements for cards, you'll have a hard time winning any duels. If you want to avoid the frustration of getting all the cards, you could download my sav file that has all of them. Some of the games are fun though. The first two games with the hamster are really fun, and there's one similar to the Kirby's Chicken race mini-game in tilt n tumble that is fun. Others will have your veins popping out and have you wanting to punch the DS. Some are completely based on luck, and those will drive you crazy. Though considering how much I didn't like it, I somehow or other ended up playing through it 3 times. Also, in the credits when you beat the game, there is a mini-game where you have to tap as many of the letter "O" as possible. you will get cards if you get enough. Knowing this now will prevent you from watching the horribly long credits twice.

 

[Jaejae]

Also Ouendan, I didn't really like EBA, but I played Ouendan, and the songs were better (although some are really shit) than the generic pop rock shit in EBA.
inb4 weeaboo, because, trust me, I'm not.

 

[2dere]

Really? I found that game horribly frustrating and aggravating. I don't know if you've been trying to beat the gold rank on the micro games though. If you haven't, it's no wonder you find it fun. Wi-fi lets you do pop up card duels when you get the professional deck which holds 15 cards. If you don't beat the micro games and mini games' records/requirements for cards, you'll have a hard time winning any duels. If you want to avoid the frustration of getting all the cards, you could download my sav file that has all of them. Some of the games are fun though. The first two games with the hamster are really fun, and there's one similar to the Kirby's Chicken race mini-game in tilt n tumble that is fun. Others will have your veins popping out and have you wanting to punch the DS. Some are completely based on luck, and those will drive you crazy. Though considering how much I didn't like it, I somehow or other ended up playing through it 3 times. Also, in the credits when you beat the game, there is a mini-game where you have to tap as many of the letter "O" as possible. you will get cards if you get enough. Knowing this now will prevent you from watching the horribly long credits twice.

Hahahah. Yeah well I get the Gold Rank hate. I've already come across a few that will take me forever to get gold on. Then there is vol. 2 of the beanstalk which I can't do well for the life of me. I'm only three crystals in atmo but I'll keep the credit info in mind for when its needed thanks. I'm playing with kids younger than me so I'll probably always end up with a larger collection of cards to play with so for the time being I can handle struggling to get gold for now. I might take advantage of your sav and give it to one of the kids with his R4. See if that gets me beat. The only game of luck I've come across yet was the magic pot one where you stab blindly hoping to hit the gob. Luckily that had a low gold requirement and I ended up hitting it second time around. The mircogames that have gotten the better of me atmo are the blow dart one (0ff by two can't seem to hit gold) and the Bomb game right at the beginning.

 

[Cermage]

i found Lost in Blue pretty fun, everyone was yelling ZOMFG! it sucks and don't play it!!~@~!! the gameplay is frustrating~!@~!@#@!ineoine!@~! i found it suitable but a little unlife like, it was still fun =D

 

[VBKirby]

Hahahah. Yeah well I get the Gold Rank hate. I've already come across a few that will take me forever to get gold on. Then there is vol. 2 of the beanstalk which I can't do well for the life of me. I'm only three crystals in atmo but I'll keep the credit info in mind for when its needed thanks. I'm playing with kids younger than me so I'll probably always end up with a larger collection of cards to play with so for the time being I can handle struggling to get gold for now. I might take advantage of your sav and give it to one of the kids with his R4. See if that gets me beat. The only game of luck I've come across yet was the magic pot one where you stab blindly hoping to hit the gob. Luckily that had a low gold requirement and I ended up hitting it second time around. The mircogames that have gotten the better of me atmo are the blow dart one (0ff by two can't seem to hit gold) and the Bomb game right at the beginning.

The ones you listed are indeed very hard. The pot one with the swords(Magic Pot Luck) is my most hated one since it must have some amazing psychology info or something, and it's all about luck. I always hit every single wrong one. Jelly Jiggler (with the three coloured balls) the hardest one that requires any form of skill, but it also ends up being all about luck near the end, when you're randomly spinning the board, hoping the balls don't fall off. Leap toad can be tricky too. Up, Up, and A-Kweh is all about luck pretty much. Though some of these you won't have gotten too yet, or you could at this point, but you haven't saved the right Chocobo card yet. Tomb raider is all about how lucky you get with the set ups. And the blow gun one is pretty much all about luck. Mystifiying Magnets is really hard too.

As for the story books, both of the three little piggies books are hard, and the second one requires a ridiculous requirement. And I agree that the second book of Titan and the beakstalk is hard.

The ones that I find fun are
the first book of Unicorn and the town musicians
Both books of the adamantoise and the cactuar
Both books of Shiva and Ifrit
the first book of The boy who cried Leviathan

As for micro games
I actually like the bomb one at the beginning called Bomberwall
I like cliffhanger
Job juggler
silly scribbles
Cheese chase
Boggling bridges
Blizzardy Blocks
Redeye rampage
and Rodeo Roundup (similar to Pokemon ranger)

So I guess there actually were quite a few I liked, but it doesn't make up for all of the hard ones since the fun ones are easy to beat and don't take a long time, where as the hard ones take forever. There were also some games that I didn't hate, but I didn't like either. and there is also some stuff you have to do after you beat the game, such as duel all of the guardians and crystals again. Plus they all have more HP than the previous time. When you fight a crystal a second time, you talk to the crystal and it will say "the crystal reminds you of that battle" or something. Unfortunately the dumb chocobo failed to remember how much HP they had.

 

[2dere]

I forgot about the magnet game. That one did do my head in since for some reason I didn't complete the path for the chocobo to his house yet clearly I had. So we just sat there... waiting for the timer to hit five minutes since I then learnt there is no way to exit mid flight of a micro game. The thing that gets me is that I don't know what I had done wrong. There were extra pieces there so at first I thought that I had to use 'em all but three minutes into it I knew it was impossible to complete the path using all six pieces. /rant.

Its the card game I love the most. If we had physical copies of the card you could play it as easily as its played in the game (say with coloured marbles or a counter to keep track of the crystals.) And it'd still be a game you could play with the little ones. Despite you being able to show its flaws and frustrations coupled with my own I'll still enjoy the game just for its card game. Though with how much we've talked about it and the points you've made I wonder if we've scared off more people than I hoped to attract Hahahah.

 

[VBKirby]

I forgot about the magnet game. That one did do my head in since for some reason I didn't complete the path for the chocobo to his house yet clearly I had. So we just sat there... waiting for the timer to hit five minutes since I then learnt there is no way to exit mid flight of a micro game. The thing that gets me is that I don't know what I had done wrong. There were extra pieces there so at first I thought that I had to use 'em all but three minutes into it I knew it was impossible to complete the path using all six pieces. /rant.

Its the card game I love the most. If we had physical copies of the card you could play it as easily as its played in the game (say with coloured marbles or a counter to keep track of the crystals.) And it'd still be a game you could play with the little ones. Despite you being able to show its flaws and frustrations coupled with my own I'll still enjoy the game just for its card game. Though with how much we've talked about it and the points you've made I wonder if we've scared off more people than I hoped to attract Hahahah.

Hmm. that would be a neat card game in real life.
Also, for the magnet game, you do have to use all of the pieces. And I know there are times when you think it's right, but once you get the correct path, you will realize "oh. I guess that does make sense after all."

The card really is the only real good point. That's why I made the sav file. People won't have to play the actual game now.

 

[NDS_N00b]

Picross for me. Never expected to be so happy to see a .gif image

 

[Azn_Tomato]

Castlevania, as i had never played one before and i wasn't expecting much.
Phoenix Wright was good. I wanna be a lawyer, but thats the only reason i bought it. Turned out nothing like i expected
Kirby Canvas Curse was great, although short as hell and i don't feel like getting the gems or whatever (haven't played it in forever)
FFIII (although my mother****** SD card broke and i had 15 hours into the game now im going to kill people)

And the game that unpleasantly got me was Pokemon Pearl
I mean honestly, that game just pisses me off. All the crap you have to do and all the annoying ass stuff like IV and EV training makes me afraid to even touch the game