There was a thread here that I had saved a few months ago where people had recommended lots of cool lesser-known DS games. I finally got a flash cart a legal means of obtaining games but sadly all of the comments on that post have been hidden by the admins. Would be nice if we could start a new thread for recs
Shantae: Risky's Revenge
Trauma Center: Under the Knife 1 and 2
Electroplankton
Rhythm Heaven
N+
As luck would have it, I just finished topping off my own flashcart and I still got my 160 strong list of games in front of me.
Lesser Known Games you'll see recommended a lot
- Ghost Trick (Unique puzzle/VN game)
- Monster Tale (Cute creature sim/platformer game)
- Henry Hatsworth in The Puzzling Adventure (Extremely unique and tricky puzzle platformer)
- Hotel Dusk: Room 215) (Mystery thriller VN with a banger art style)
- Last Window: The Secret of Cape West (Sequel to Hotel Dusk)
- Infinite Space (Surprisingly good space based RPG by Platinum Games)
- Radiant Historia (Unique banger of an RPG by Atlus)
Weird Obscure but enjoyable games I've found
- Sim Animals/Sim Animals: Africa (Think park builder but habitat builder, sort of a puzzle game)
- Summon Night: Twin Age (A surprisingly fun action RPG dungeon crawler)
- Lost Magic (An action RPG where you're able to build parties out of recruited monsters)
- Ivy the Kiwi (Puzzle platformer, tricky but fun)
- Color Cross (Like Picross but you color in little pixel art puzzles)
Games that are absolutely not obscure but I'm recommending anyways
- Monster Rancher DS (I think this is my favorite version of the monster rancher games visually, the pixel art assets look so charming)
- Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 1 and 2 (They're good monster taming games)
- Rune Factory 3 (It's fun. There's also a very fun lesbian story romhack available)
- Drawn To Life (you can grab the collection that includes both games. The gameplay isn't great but drawing your own abominations is so fun)
- Pokemnon Mystery Dungeon (They're good. get them)
- Viva Pinata DS (Fun and cute)
Platformers: Mega Man Zero collection, Mega Man ZX + Advent, all 3 Castlevanias, Kirby Super Star Ultra/Squeak Squad
RPG/Tactics: Final Fantasy Tactics A2, Advance Wars DS, Knights in the Nightmare, Mario & Luigi PiT/BIS, Pokemon B2/W2
Puzzle: Meteos, Mr. Driller
Misc: Mario Kart DS, Elite Beat Agents, Jump Superstars/Ultimate Stars (JP only, unfortunately)
Haven't played it but I've heard The World Ends With You is good
ignoring the other good recs in this thread:
- Contact (if you only take one suggestion, make it this one. Yes, the combat is bad, everything else is unique and tailored for the DS in a way that couldn't be properly replicated with emulation, wonderful game).
- Chibi Robo - Park Patrol / Okaeri! Chibi-Robo! (you're a little robot who goes around and helps people)
- FF4DS (even if you've already played a version of FF4, this is a total 3D remake that doesn't feel weighed down by its source material)
- Final Fantasy 12: Revenant Wings (RTS sequel to FF12 that learns all the right lessons from Heroes of Mana)
- Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light (Bravely Default 0.5, FF1/3 feel with modern pacing and game design)
- Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 1st Love Plus (start of the legendary otome series)
- Ketsui Death Label (CAVE shmup for the DS, get fucked)
- Lock's Quest (best version of this game, SRPG/Tower Defense hybrid)
- Okamiden (really good sequel to Okami that doesn't get talked about anymore)
- Blood of Bahamut (Squeenix Monster Hunter)
- Suikoden Tierkreis (really good Suikoden entry, has a menu theme that goes so fucking hard )
- Mario Hoops 3v3 (we fly high, no lie, you know this)
- Maplestory DS (fun metroidvania translation of the MMO)
- the translated SaGa remakes (Final Fantasy Legend II and III but totally overhauled)
- Solatorobo: Red the Hunter (furry ARPG)
- Nanashi no Geemu (The Ring but instead of a video tape it was Dragon Quest 1)
- The Soukou Kihei Gun Ground (budget Front Mission: Gun Hazard)
- Pokemon Conquest (the DS equivalent of the Mario Rabbids game for the switch, "really fucking good SRPG for no apparent reason")
- Ore ga Omae o Mamoru: I Will Protect You (Otome metroidvania, about as good as the other Castlevania games on the console)
- The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road (as good as an average Tales of game, punches way above it's weight)
- Magical Starsign (Brownie Brown's game after Mother 3, sequel to the GBA game, fun little JRPG)
- Flower, Sun, and Rain (Suda 51's PS2 investigation game ported to the DS. Only not the best Grasshopper game on the console because Contact exists.)
- Feel the Magic XX-XY / The Rub Rabbits! (minigame collections from early in the console's lifespan when it was still trying to show off the hardware)
- Yakuman DS (my go to Mahjong game on the go)
- Death Note: Kira Game (stylish VN based on the manga)
- Sonic Rush 1&2 (great Sonic games with music done by the guy who did LUV CAN SAVE U from IIDX 24: Sinobuz. He also apparently did some graffiti games but who cares)
- Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer (more good mystery dungeon games)
- Style Savvy (fashion/business sim, deeply underrated)
- Bangai-O Spirits (sequel to the DC shmup by Treasure)
- Commando: Steel Disaster (Contra/Metal Slug inspired run and gun, about as hard)
- Ontamarama (rhythm game with TWEWY controls)
- Tokyo Beat Down (DS Yakuza)
- Metal Max 2 Reloaded (SaGa but in a tank)
- Super Robot Taisen OG Saga Endless Frontier / EXCEED (closer to Valkyrie Profile than the rest of the SRW series, story's shlocky but combat's fun)
- Witch's Wish (fun little VN)
- Coropata (The Incredible Machine for the DS)
- Ninjatown (turn your brain off tower defense)
- Front Mission (best way to play the 1st game, at least for now. SRPG that does Metal Gear's atmosphere and message arguably better than Kojimbo's attempts)
- Princess Debut (rhythm/otome game made by CAVE)
- WarioWare DIY (make your own Warioware games)
- Avalon Code (what if we gave a little anime kid the Akashic records)
- Utacchi (an actual original Bemani game just for the DS)
- Dragon Quest: Rocket Slime (10/10 platformer, if this doesn't get you to try it I'm not sure anything will )
- Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland / Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love (PS2's Chulip but better because you help Tingle from the Legend of Zelda bust a fat nutt)
- Retro Game Challenge/2 (Game Center CX games with a bunch of NES games that don't actually exist)
- Professor Layton series (British peodphile and loyal sidekick go around and solve puzzles)
- Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja/2 (really solid mystery dungeon games)
- Bleach: Dark Souls (the only good Dark Souls game. A licensed fighting game, but made by Treasure so it's actually really fucking good)
- Custom Robo Arena (Custom Robo, but without the agonizing pace of the GC entry)
- Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume (SRPG, has permadeath but only when you supercharge your party members )
- Fire Emblem: Shin Monshō no Nazo (has an english translation, follow up to Shadow Dragon, finally had the "arrow to the knee" memes patched out)
this is a very incomplete list, the DS has (in my opinion) the best library out of any console and I'll still be finding bangers for years to come. please give us a Sakura Note translation.
I really liked Castlevania: order of ecclesia which I played a couple months ago, the DS version of ff4 has been pretty fun so far too.
order of ecclesia
Never got around to finishing that one, but I remember buying it at launch. It's pretty tough. Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin are also great picks in the franchise. Hard to miss with the DS and GBA Castlevanias!
