Gaming Best NDS games for Kids

[xiaobao]

well, my nds is for my lil bro. but lately, after he completed kirby squeak squad, there seems like there aint too much games for him..... er, any games? i would like to start. anyone? perhaps this can be stickied too? of course not with my single measly contribution

kirby squeak squad [action side scroller]
quickspot(and it's japanese counterpart) [Spot the difference]
warioware [minigames compilation]
sonic rush [side scroller]
Bleach Ds the 2nd [fighting]
Elite Beat Agents [music rhythm]
Ouendan 1 & Ouendan 2 [music rhythm]
Nodame Cantabile [music rhythm]
Kekkaishi Ayakashi Kidan [side scroller action]
Mario Kart [racing ]
Cooking Mama [minigames]
Danny Phantom [shooter]

 

[beautifulbeast]

Good question. I was about to post asking the same question since my little cousin is coming soon and I would like to introduce him in the world of videogames (so he can be as nerdy as me when he grows up

). I guess age play an important role in this kind of stuff: my cousin is 4.5 y/o and I was thinking to show him Kirby Power Paintbrush, since it looks really intuitive, the first levels are very easy and it's like, you know, painting.

Over that age, I guess anything inspired on cartoons he sees on tv could be ok, maybe Nintendogs too, but I haven't tried that one yet.

Any advice/experiences?

 

[FAST6191]

Some of the racing games (quadbikes and such) are pretty mindless entertainment although if you are attempting to instill taste then maybe not.

Bomberman was pretty good when I was 7 or 8 and you are never too young for that.

Platformers are a good bet as well, New Zealand story revolution

You also have a whole world of 8bit era titles to choose from as well.

Oh and tetris, probably one of the first GB games I ever played.

 

[OSW]

haha i saw some father buy some ds games at eb for his son - he blindy accepted the employees reccomendations which included (if i remember correctly) harry potter or some other dodgy games XD.

Anyways, how olds you bro?

 

[Veho]

Pac Pix
Kirby's canvas course
Tetris
New Super Mario
Warioware Touched
MarioKart

 

[TheStump]

Mine is 7(brother), i gave him my GBA SP and put a 1G flashcart in it, he complained about all the crap games on it(i put a whole bunch of Scooby Doo type games) so then i put Pokemon and digimon on it and havent heard a complaint yet.
at least he has taste

 

[Tenkaichi]

To the OP - what is your age range? Like beautifulbeast said under your post, age is a little important in deciding what they can actually play, or if they're just there to mess around with the touch screen.

I would say that anything with a lot of simple mini games, or something mindless (like above), I'll second Kirby's Canvas Curse and add that I stuck a bunch of my cousins on the cute mini games in Super Mario 64.

 

[archagon]

1. Mario Kart DS DS Nintendo 80 8.9 92.3%
2. Advance Wars: Dual Strike DS Nintendo 62 8.7 90.5%
3. New Super Mario Bros. DS Nintendo 80 8.8 88.8%
4. Meteos DS Nintendo 69 8.4 88.7%
5. Kirby: Canvas Curse DS Nintendo 64 8.4 87.6%
6. Animal Crossing: Wild World DS Nintendo 71 8.6 86.6%
7. Super Mario 64 DS DS Nintendo 79 8.6 86.5%
8. Tetris DS DS Nintendo 61 8.4 86.4%
9. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time DS Nintendo 55 8.6 85.6%
10. Tony Hawk's American Sk8land DS Activision 40 8.2 84.9%
11. Nintendogs: Labrador and Friends DS Nintendo 81 8.3 84.6%
12. Nintendogs: Chihuahua and Friends DS Nintendo 81 8.4 84.5%
13. Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends DS Nintendo 80 8.4 84.5%
14. Sonic Rush DS Sega 59 8.5 83.2%
15. Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime DS Square Enix 43 8.3 83.2%
16. WarioWare: Touched! DS Nintendo 69 8.4 82.1%
17. Yoshi's Island DS DS Nintendo 48 8.0 82.1%
18. Clubhouse Games DS Nintendo 33 8.1 81.7%
19. Nintendogs: Dalmatian and Friends DS Nintendo 9 8.3 81.7%
20. Metroid Prime Pinball DS Nintendo 53 8.0 81.5%

(All rated E. Last two numbers are average vote and average score.)
(Nicked from gamerankings.com.)
(Not all of these are age appropriate, obviously.)

 

[joesmokey]

Depending if they'd be able to play it or not, Magical Starsign is a very kid oriented game.

Yoshi's Island DS would be another good one.

 

[Fieryshadowz]

haha i saw some father buy some ds games at eb for his son - he blindy accepted the employees reccomendations which included (if i remember correctly) harry potter or some other dodgy games XD.

Anyways, how olds you bro?

i watched one being persuaded to by Brain Age... i mean thats cool and all.. i play it sometimes.. but i dont think a child will get too into it.. i recommended FF:III to him...

 

[xiaobao]

er, nah, not only for my bro peeps. er, well, let's set an age range aite? well, my bro is 7. so let's make it 4.5 - about 9? quality games that aint too complicated. *see above, he completed kirby squeak squad, hated power paintbrush... he likes bleach ds too... well, 1 more easy for children quality game up again. Bleach Ds the 2nd. FFIII c'mon, lets contribute...... FFIII 's difficulty knock the air out of my lvl 59 characters.... so i wonder what's that to a child....

 

[spokenrope]

My little brother is 4 years old, and he loves playing New Super Mario Bros.

I don't let him play when I go home anymore because he erased my save when I was only a handful of coins away from 100%, but that's beside the point.

 

[Shelleeson]

Mine is 7(brother), i gave him my GBA SP and put a 1G flashcart in it, he complained about all the crap games on it(i put a whole bunch of Scooby Doo type games) so then i put Pokemon and digimon on it and havent heard a complaint yet.
at least he has tasteÂ

LMAO well i can tell you from experience that
mario kart ds
sonic rush
rayman raving rabbids
final fantasy fables: chocobo chronicles
are all going down a storm over here

i want my ds back

 

[lemdg]

old thread, but i needed it for some 5 year olds with a r4...

DS #0520: Miss Spider - Harvest Time Hop and Fly (Europe)
is good with no reading and basic gameplay...

 

[mcp2]

Harvest Moon DS, he might like it, I didn't understand how to get seeds but oh well.

Any of the FIFA games would be good, yes the graphics are kind of rubbish but it's still great game play

Any Mario and Wario games too.

Spiderman, Nintendogs, Need for Speed and Tony Hawks games.

Your bro should like them.

EDIT

Damn the guy above posted and I didn't see it was an old thread.

 

[Leah]

A great game that any kid is bound to enjoy has gotta be Cooking Mama! The interaction with the touch screen is brilliant. Pretty babyish to most adults (even tho I love it and I'm 21!) but no kid should go without playing it in my opinion! Also, Animal Crossing is pretty simple, (again tho, I'd recommend from 8+) and all kids are bound to love it I reckon

Regards

 

[xiaobao]

just updated my list. it came as a surprise to me as well...

 

[.TakaM]

chocobo tales seems like the perfect fit

 

[leetdude_007]

My *almost* two-year-old nephew loves Electroplankton. It's not really a game, but it's filled with interactive sounds that have actual scales to them like an instrument. The mildly abstract visuals are great for any person, especially if you have a young one in the house.

If the kid has better motor skills and higher attention span, consider almost any game in the market, with obvious exceptions of course! A lot of them are for kids. Tetris on the original GameBoy was apparently fun for me when I was five, although I don't remember playing it until I was six + 1/2. It's a semi-healthy addiction.

As an experiment, try a Mario game of generation of console. It's fun to watch.