Gaming DS Games That Surprised You?

[GeekyGuy]

I was reading my latest issue of Nintendo Power (yes, for the one or two of you who know me a bit better, you know I'm a total geek

), and to my surprise, at the end of the issue where they give mention to games they didn't have time to fully review, they recommended Cars: Mater Natl.

Well, I try a lot of games, and I especially make it a point to try out anything that has even the most remote possibility of being good. NP recommended Mater Natl. DS? What the heck, I'll give it a whirl...

It's a pretty darn good game. Now, don't think that it's a "power of perception" thing, because I've also tried out many other games that folks have recommended that I ended up hating. But Mater Natl. has a ton of very cool tracks, the cars each have good and individual handling and speed, and it's just a good bit of fun. It's not the toughest racer I've played, but, then again, it was probably made with mostly the younger audience in mind.

Anyhoo, there have been several games I expected to be garbage or not that great -- games that ended up surprising me and keeping me entertained a good while. Other games on my list of surprises:

Tenchu: Dark Secret (not great, but a fun, guilty pleasure sort of thing)
FFXII: Revenant Wings (I wasn't expecting it to suck per se, but I also wasn't expecting to like it. I ended up loving it.)
WarioWare: Touched! (Again, like FFXII: RW, I wasn't expecting to like it, even though it got rave reviews, but I love it.)

Which DS games did you dread but ended up really enjoying?

 

[moozxy]

Chibi-Robo definatly, the idea of growing flowers to gain happy points sounded crap on paper, but I loved the gameplay of it

 

[GrayFox Cap]

Taiko no Tatsujin DS and Elite Beats Agents. I had no idea what I was getting into (Hadn't played/heard about EBA's Japanese counterpart at the time).

... except Taiko got to the point where I pretty much plateaued in skill and the Demon mode was way too hard for most of the songs... I would have had to start recording them and practicing them in slow motion. I haven't been THAT dedicated to a video game YET. :3

 

[Satangel]

Custom Robo Arena.
Started it with very low interest at 11.00 PM, kept playing till 8.00 AM

Completed it in 9 hours, and I loved the online modus.

 

[DjoeN]

Chibi Robo!
Hoshigami
Arkanoid DS

 

[ZAFDeltaForce]

Final Fantasy XII. Personally, thinking about an FF game with a RTS battle system disappointed me. However, I gave it a shot and I couldn't put it down

 

[hankchill]

Definitely Elite Beat Agents.

I thought it looked like kinda shovelware, but after playing it, I was totally and completely hooked. Couldn't put it down until I completed the hardest mode. I still enjoy playing it even today. Naturally, though, I'm a sucker for music games

 

[test84]

most games on nder-rated games are/were surprisingly good.

biggest ones were Chronos Twin, Vietnam, and Neves for me, i didnt expect from them but they turned to be good.

 

[KirbyM]

Animal Crossing
Phoenix Wright

 

[Gamesphere]

Draglade was a big surprise. Can't judge a game by it's boxart. Also Glory Days 2

 

[iffy525]

Phoenix Wright 1, 2, and 3.

 

[Taras]

Puzzle Quest & Dementium:The Ward

 

[pasc]

Eragon
Custom Robo Arena
Elite Beat Agents
Tales of Innocence (but was this really a surprise

?)

 

[Yam]

Draglade seemed like total crap at first, but I got into it and it kinda grew on me.

Everything else has been what I expected really :>

 

[lagman]

Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends - Harvest Time Hop and Fly -0443,0520-
Pac'N Roll -0106,0148-
Nodame Cantabile! -1009-
Yukkuri Tanoshimu Otona no Jigsaw Puzzle DS Sekai no Meiga 1 -1091-
Yukkuri Tanoshimu Otona no Jigsaw Puzzle DS Sekai no Meiga 2 -1092-
Trioncube -0860,1127-

Those are the games I remember now.

 

[xflash]

puzzle quest and phoenix wright. my brother had heard of it and told me about it and how he wanted to try it. thought being an attorney sounded boring to me so i had it on my flash card so he could try it. a few days later i got really bored and decided to try it and im glad i did cause now it´s one of my favorite game series

 

[GameDragon]

I'll have to go with Phoenix Wright. I didn't expect it to be fun at all, but I was dead wrong.

 

[myuusmeow]

Elite Beat Agents
Phoenix Wright Series
Asphalt Urban GT 2!

 

[Primworm]

Glory Days 2. I never thought id be addicted so fast. I still havn't beaten the game, it offers quite a bit of challenge.

 

[Twiffles]

I dunno, maybe it's just me. Luminous Arc.