top 10 DS games … so far

i’m finishing up a loooong game, so i thought i’d post my fourth in a slowly ongoing series of top 10 games (the otherwise most recent was my list of top 10 game boy (and game boy color) games from a year ago). although i played a lot of gamecube games when i first started getting back into video games, the system that i’ve ended up spending the most amount of time on overall has been the DS. the DS seemed to inspire a lot of new gameplay ideas, much more so than the wii with its sometimes tiring motion controls, and its library features great new entries from long-established franchises as well as many completely new ones. i could wax on, but rather than sing its praises i’ll let my list do the talking. incidentally, although the system is on its way out, there are still games that i’m hoping will make it over stateside, including the hotel dusk sequel, and especially the latest fire emblem game, which was released in japan almost a year ago to the day, but has yet to be announced for release outside of japan. i’m still among those who cling to the smallest shred of hope, however, and if you do as well you should sign this online petition.

anyway, to get back to the topic at hand, as with previous lists i’ve included some other people’s lists for comparison, namely nintendo power and IGN’s. NP’s is from 2008, but although their list is a bit dated it should still provide an interesting comparison. IGN’s list is from 2010 (their 2009 list was more similar to NP’s). also, keep in mind that this is a work continually in progress, and that there are many more DS games i have yet to play that could very well be future contenders. without further ado, here it is (with links to my corresponding blog entries):

TOP DS GAMES (SO FAR …)
#	my list	NP’s list	IGN’s list
1	elite beat agents	elite beat agents	mario kart DS
2	advance wars: dual strike	new super mario bros.	new super mario bros.
3	brain age	mario kart DS	picross DS
4	animal crossing: wild world	the world ends with you	pokemon heartgold/soulsilver
5	osu! tatakae! ouendan	tetris DS	mario & luigi: bowser’s inside story
6	kirby: canvas curse	castlevania: dawn of sorrow	the legend of zelda: spirit tracks
7	hotel dusk: room 215	contra 4	the world ends with you
8	the world ends with you	the legend of zelda: phantom hourglass	elite beat agents
9	yu-gi-oh! world championship 2007 (1 | 2)	phoenix wright: ace attorney justice for all	grand theft auto: chinatown wars
10	fire emblem: shadow dragon	sonic rush adventure	tetris DS

it turns out there’s quite a variety among the lists. the IGN list favors very recent releases, and my list ignores two major franchise iterations: new super mario bros., which was in my 11th position due to being just too familiar, and phantom hourglass, which was in my 12th position for feeling just too easy and mindless (the same could be said of NSMB). i’m not completely convinced that yu-gi-oh! world championship 2007 deserves a spot on my list, especially considering my second experience with it, but it along with shadow dragon (a perfectly good strategy game but not among the greatest in the fire emblem series) probably won’t hold their positions for that long, considering all the great DS games i have yet to play. and to conclude, i have to give a mention to all the other enjoyable DS games i’ve played but didn’t quite make my list of greats for various reasons, including metroid prime hunters, advance wars: days of ruin, and trauma center, as well as all the games that provided worthwhile experiences even if they weren’t must-play games, including nintendogs, polarium, and feel the magic XY/XX. definitely looking forward to playing more of the great library of DS games!