Not your usual Nintendo DS titles...

January 3, 2008 2:53 PM

I'm looking for any good Nintendo DS games that are unusual, particularly innovative or just plain weird. In a genre of their own kinds of stuff.

I'm dusting off the old DS. It got packed away because I'm not a fan of Mario or Zelda or mindless ports or kids' TV and movie franchise tie-ins. The titles I have for it are:

• Bomberman
• Bomberman Land Touch
• The Opera Browser (which I would have used heaps more if my ISP didn't change their webmail to something incompatible about a week after I bought it.)
• Electroplankton
• Jam Sessions
• Puzzle Quest

Now I'm looking for any interesting new stuff. Do you know of any titles I might be interested in?

Note; I've been to this thread and I'm not interested in anything listed there that I don't already have.

posted by krisjohn to sports, hobbies, & recreation (19 comments total)

Hard to get weirder than Wario Ware Touched.
posted by Nelsormensch at 3:00 PM on January 3, 2008

Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:04 PM on January 3, 2008

I like Advance Wars: Dual Strike. It's a turn based strategy/war game. It's also pretty hard and while sometimes frustrating, it's a lot of fun. Worms 2: Open Warfare is also pretty good on the DS, but avoid Worms 1 on the DS like the plague.
posted by Effigy2000 at 3:06 PM on January 3, 2008

Even though you said not to include any of them from this thread, I'm going to go ahead and post all of them so people can quickly check if their suggestion was on that list.

Animal Crossing
Brain Buster Puzzle Pk
Clubhouse Games
Cooking Mama/Cooking Mama 2
Elite Beat Agents
Harvest Moon
Hotel Dusk Room 215
Jewel Quest
Mario 64 DS
Meteos
New Super Mario
New York Times Crossword
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Picross
Pokemon Trozei
Sudoko Gridmaster
Tetris DS
TouchMaster
Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Zoo Keeper
posted by burnmp3s at 3:07 PM on January 3, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Cool Papa Bell: "Zelda: Phantom Hourglass"

Normally I'd agree but given the asker has said he is not a Zelda fan, I'm not sure he would like this.
posted by Effigy2000 at 3:07 PM on January 3, 2008

Trauma Center: Under the Knife is certainly in a genre of its own and pretty strange too. You use the stylus to perform surgery on patients.
posted by galaksit at 3:09 PM on January 3, 2008

Feel the Magic XY/XX is both normaller and weirder than Wario Ware Touched. I recommend it as a unique experience! Unique except for the sequel, that is (Rub Rabbits, probably about 80% as good as Feel the Magic).

Elite Beat Agents is fun and different. It's a rhythm game.
posted by aubilenon at 3:10 PM on January 3, 2008

Hotel Dusk: Room 215 was in the previous post, but if that was one you've already played, give Trace Memory a try; it came before Hotel Dusk, and has the same format. Borrow it or buy it used, though, because it's frustratingly short.
posted by sarahsynonymous at 3:16 PM on January 3, 2008

I would highly recommend Kirby: Canvas Curse, regardless of your interests, and it hasn't been mentioned yet.
posted by troubadour at 3:53 PM on January 3, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

lego star wars the complete saga.
cute, funny, music is awesome!
posted by bkiddo at 3:54 PM on January 3, 2008

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, keep them coming. This is a much more interesting list of titles than the normal top 20, or whatever.

And thanks to burnmp3s for the quick reference list from the other thread.
posted by krisjohn at 4:17 PM on January 3, 2008

Seconding Elite Beat Agents and Kirby: Canvas Curse. Both are a big weird, in their way, and both VERY fun. I also enjoy Kirby Squeak Squad and Mario Kart DS (although Mario Kart isn't very weird).

My DS-lovin' friends recommend Worms Open Warfare, Touch the Dead, Trace Memory, Yoshi Touch & Go, and Yoshi's Island DS, but I haven't played them.
posted by korres at 4:20 PM on January 3, 2008

To add some seconds, Elite Beat Agents is a great game. Also, Phantom Hourglass is really impressive, Zelda fan or not.

I've heard some good/weird things about Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime but i haven't played it yet.
posted by gnutron at 4:33 PM on January 3, 2008

The Sims Urbz is interesting...you have to run around town doing different tasks for people.

Sims castaway is ok, but SHORT and MySims is a kiddie version.

Sim City DS is an interesting port of the series...better than Sim City Societies anyway :)

I know you said you don't like Mario, but one of the series for the DS is basically a Mario version of Lemmings and its pretty cool as its puzzle solving rather than platforming.
posted by legotech at 6:31 PM on January 3, 2008

Pac-Pix is a Pac-Man based puzzle game in which you have to draw Pac-Man and steer him towards enemies to eat and away from hazards. Very addictive and way underrated.

The familiar mazes are gone, replaced with a single open screen for Pac-Man to traverse. Obstacles can change his path. Players can use the stylus to draw strokes that act as directional barriers and change Pac's direction, while some levels contain blocks that, when touched, bump our hero back along the direction he was traveling before hitting the block. Some ghosts hide behind energy barriers which also cause a change of path. By the time players master drawing Pac-Man, the game tosses in some extra drawable objects. Drawing an arrow causes an arrow to shoot off towards out-of-reach enemies or switches. Bombs (once lit) can explode and demolish certain barriers and stun ghosts.

(Here's a mini-review of the game on my gaming blog if you'd like to know more)
posted by Servo5678 at 7:19 PM on January 3, 2008

I really enjoy the two player mode of Bust a Move DS
posted by jlweber at 7:35 PM on January 3, 2008

From the OP, if you're looking for unique games in a genre of their own, here are a few not suggested yet:

Love Love Hamster (kinda like nintendogs, but cuter/stranger...there's an english version of this game as well)

Contact (interesting use of the top screen)

Cooking Mama (this game I was skeptical on when I first picked it up, but it actually turned out to be quite fun)

Touch Detective (kind of feels like one of the old Sierra classics...a little cutesy, I've only tried the first one, the 2nd is reportedly better)

Polarium (since meteos was mentioned, this is another quick to get into puzzle game)

The more mainstream, but also possibly fun titles I can remember having are are nanostray, mario cart, metroid prime, final fantasy III, castlevania(s), big brain academy, umm that's enough for now I think..

(on preview: oops, cooking mama was mentioned, I'll leave the link there still just in case)
posted by samsara at 10:11 PM on January 3, 2008

All I ever play is Mr. Driller and I love it.
posted by callmejay at 11:15 AM on January 4, 2008

Remember that it can play GBA games.

I highly recommend that Wario Ware style game Rhythm Tengoku

It's only available in Japan but you can easily buy it from someone like play-asia.com, and it's utterly superb.

Then there's the original Wario Ware, and the brilliant Wario Ware Twisted.

Finally, I should mention the Bit Generations games. Dotstream and especially Digidrive are worth seeking out.

Happy playing!
posted by Magnakai at 8:47 AM on January 5, 2008