The Best Games on the Nintendo DS

The Nintendo DS originally launched on November 21, 2004, and it would eventually go on to become Nintendo’s best-selling handheld console. The unit’s dual-screen architecture and touch-screen functionality allowed it to be home to unique gaming experiences that weren’t possible anywhere else, as evidenced by some of the best games on the Nintendo DS. From ports, remakes, and remasters to original titles that were exclusive to the system, the Nintendo DS was a far cry from both its Game Boy Advance predecessor and competitors like the Sony PSP, and it was undoubtedly a prime example of how Nintendo is at its best when it goes against the grain to do its own thing.

• Release Date — November 13, 2007
• Developer — WayForward Technologies
• Publisher — Konami
• Genre — Run ‘n Gun, Shooter
• Review Aggregate Score — 83% (Generally Favorable)

The two screens of the Nintendo DS were utilized in some pretty novel ways throughout the lifespan of the console, and one of the more interesting was its use as an extended screen for the levels in Contra 4. WayForward’s excellent 2D follow-up felt like a return to form for the series after years of middling entries on the PS1 and PS2, and it was a perfect fit for a console like the Nintendo DS. Best of all, Contra 4 released just in time for the series’ 20th anniversary, which prompted Konami to include unlockable versions of classic games in the franchise (including the NES Contra) on the cartridge. That’s like getting multiple incredible Contra games for the price of one.

• Release Date — March 20, 2006
• Developer — Nintendo SPD
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — Puzzle
• Review Aggregate Score — 84% (Generally Favorable)

Nintendo handhelds and Tetris go together like peanut butter and jelly, so of course, the Nintendo DS had to have its own special version of the iconic falling block puzzler. Tetris DS is arguably the best Nintendo-exclusive version of the game since Tetris DX for the Game Boy Color, and it serves as a reminder of how playing the game on a Nintendo handheld just feels right. And like most of the other games on this list, the Nintendo DS’ unique dual-screen setup made for some interesting new game types that you won’t find in any other version of Tetris.

• Release Date — June 19, 2010
• Developer — Capcom
• Publisher — Capcom
• Genre — Adventure, Puzzle
• Review Aggregate Score — 83% (Generally Favorable)

The Nintendo DS was a fantastic handheld for a lot of reasons, one of them being that it served as many Western players’ first real introduction to the adventure and visual novel games that had been popular in Japan for years but remained mostly niche in the West. Games like Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, and Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective all rank as some of the best titles on the console, with the latter being an incredibly unique hidden gem that mixes horror and humor in equal measure as part of its adventure and puzzle-solving gameplay. Its remaster from 2023 only further underscores how great a game Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective truly is.

• Release Date — November 16, 2006
• Developer — Konami
• Publisher — Konami
• Genre — Action RPG, Metroidvania
• Review Aggregate Score — 85% (Generally Favorable)

Out of the three DS-era Castlevania games, Portrait of Ruin is arguably the weakest, but that’s only because both Dawn of Sorrow and Order of Ecclesia are so outrageously good. In any other scenario, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin would be a top-tier Metroidvania adventure, which earns it a spot on any list of the best Nintendo DS games. Portrait of Ruin takes a different approach from the other series games on the DS by featuring two protagonists that players can swap between at will, each of whom has ideal uses against the dozens of enemies and bosses that populate the sprawling castle map and the many sub-worlds players can enter by jumping into paintings.

• Release Date — September 28, 2006
• Developer — Game Freak
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 85% (Generally Favorable)

As the first games in Pokémon’s Fourth Generation and the series’ debut on the Nintendo DS, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl had a lot riding on them, and it’s safe to say they fully delivered. Aside from the major visual upgrade that Diamond and Pearl had over the series’ entries on the Game Boy Advance, the introduction of online connectivity (made possible by the Nintendo DS’ ability to connect to WiFi) made trading Pokémon and multiplayer battling easier than ever before. Throw in some welcome new mechanics and an exciting new roster of Pokémon to collect throughout the Sinnoh region, and you have an excellent start to one of the series’ best eras and one of the best RPGs on the Nintendo DS.

• Release Date — November 21, 2004
• Developer — Nintendo EAD
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — Platformer
• Review Aggregate Score — 85% (Generally Favorable)

Nintendo’s decision to port Super Mario 64 to the DS almost 10 years after its release only served to underscore how perfect a game the original is, with the DS version instantly becoming one of the handheld’s must-have titles. At its core, Super Mario 64 DS is the same great, revolutionary 3D platformer that players remember from 1996, but its new features on the DS (including the ability to play as different characters and a handful of fun mini games that make great use of the handheld’s unique features) set it apart as a distinct continuation of the game’s legacy, rather than just a straight up re-release.

• Release Date — February 15, 2007
• Developer — Level-5
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — Adventure, Puzzle
• Review Aggregate Score — 85% (Generally Favorable)

Level-5’s Professor Layton titles are each incredible adventure and puzzle games worthy of a spot in any DS owner’s library, but the first game in the series, The Curious Village, stands out as the best on the console. As both a series introduction and many newer players’ first real introduction to the classic style of point-and-click adventure games, Professor Layton and the Curious Village nails its balance and puzzle design, being just challenging enough to tease the brain without its puzzles being so obtuse as to cause frustration. And when it comes to systems perfectly suited to help bring about a renaissance in adventure titles, the DS was a natural fit, with Professor Layton and the Curious Village a perfect gateway game.

• Release Date — December 20, 2007
• Developer — Matrix Software
• Publisher — Square Enix
• Genre — JRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 85% (Generally Favorable)

The 3D Nintendo DS remake of Final Fantasy III was so well-received that Square Enix decided to just keep on rolling right into Final Fantasy IV, giving us an incredible reimagining of one of the series’ best games and one of the best RPGs on the Nintendo DS. And like the original Japanese version of Final Fantasy IV on the Super Famicom, the Nintendo DS version of Final Fantasy IV pulls no punches when it comes to challenge, delivering a surprisingly tough RPG experience that really forces you to strategize and embrace the game’s new mechanics (like the Augment System) if you’re to see Cecil’s journey through to its conclusion. And unlike a lot of other DS-exclusive RPGs, Final Fantasy IV is now playable on other platforms.

• Release Date — October 21, 2008
• Developer — Konami
• Publisher — Konami
• Genre — Action RPG, Metroidvania
• Review Aggregate Score — 85% (Generally Favorable)

Depending on who you ask, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia is easily the best game out of the series’ trilogy on the Nintendo DS. And while I wouldn’t necessarily agree with that sentiment, it’s hard to ignore how incredible a swansong the game is to one of the Castlevania series’ best eras. Order of Ecclesia switches things up dramatically compared to its two DS-era predecessors by splitting up its massive world into different sections that can be backtracked to and revisited, and its new Glyph system puts a unique spin on combat that calls back to the Tactical Soul System without outright copying or reusing it. Lest we forget, Order of Ecclesia also has some of the most stunning visuals and art direction of any 2D game on the Nintendo DS.

• Release Date — September 18, 2010
• Developer — Game Freak
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 87% (Generally Favorable)

For evidence of how popular and enduring the Nintendo DS was, look no further than the fact that it was home to two complete generations of Pokémon games, with the Fourth Generation kicking off courtesy of Diamond and Pearl and the Fifth Generation beginning with Black and White. Pokémon Black and White were a significant step up over Diamond and Pearl, especially where their setting and story are concerned. For the first time in the series, players had new battle types to look forward to (triple and rotation battles), a full seasonal cycle, an urban setting (with Unova modeled after New York City), and a darker, more complex narrative. For all their improvements, Black and White fell just short of Diamond and Pearl‘s sales, even though they’re arguably the better games.

• Release Date — November 3, 2010
• Developer — Atlus, Headlock
• Publisher — Atlus
• Genre — JRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 85% (Generally Favorable)

Atlus’ Radiant Historia is an incredible RPG that most players likely remember for its excellent 3DS version, but it actually debuted on the Nintendo DS several years prior. On the DS, though, Radiant Historia went criminally underplayed despite being one of the best RPGs on the console, where it felt like a fitting companion game to the system’s excellent port of Chrono Trigger. As far as time-traveling RPGs go, Radiant Historia is perhaps the only one that even comes close to Chrono Trigger in terms of the strength of its gameplay and story, and Radiant Historia‘s use of a unique grid-based battle system that blends elements of TRPG combat into a traditional JRPG is genius.

• Release Date — September 12, 2009
• Developer — Game Freak
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 87% (Generally Favorable)

And here we are, finally getting to talk about the best Pokémon games on the DS. It would end up being the remakes of Pokémon Gold and Silver that take the crown for DS Pokémon supremacy rather than the newer entries, though it’s still worth pointing out that HeartGold and SoulSilver are so great because they utilize Pokémon Diamond and Pearl‘s engine alongside their classic gameplay and iconic rosters. When it comes to monster-collecting RPGs, Pokémon Gold and Silver were already a highlight of both the genre and their respective series, and the HeartGold and SoulSilver remakes are a perfect example of how to honor that legacy while updating them for modern tastes.

• Release Date — February 11, 2009
• Developer — AlphaDream
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 90% (Universal Acclaim)

Alongside the return of Mario’s RPG outings on console with games like Paper Mario and the Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario, handheld owners got to get in on the fun with the Mario & Luigi series, whose second entry is one of the best games on the DS and one of the best RPGs to feature the iconic Nintendo mascot. The plot is a classic set-up, where Mario and Luigi get inhaled by their longtime nemesis Bowser and have to embark on an adventure to escape the confines of his body, which leads to plenty of inventive settings, scenarios, and combat — along with plenty of humor. For a lighthearted RPG experience featuring great characters and a bucketload of charm, you could hardly do any better than Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story.

• Release Date — May 15, 2006
• Developer — Nintendo EAD
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — Platformer
• Review Aggregate Score — 89% (Generally Favorable)

The New Super Mario Bros. line of classically-styled 2D Mario adventures has been around so long now that it can be easy to forget that the series got its start on the DS. At a time when 3D Mario platformers were the norm, New Super Mario Bros. brought players back to the style of gameplay that made the character famous, and it was able to fully recapture the magic of those original NES titles while featuring some impressive visuals. All of the best games on the Nintendo DS deserved a place in players’ libraries, but New Super Mario Bros. is one of those games that was an essential pick-up and one of the system’s definitive titles.

• Release Date — June 23, 2005
• Developer — Intelligent Systems
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — Turn-Based Tactics, Strategy
• Review Aggregate Score — 90% (Universal Acclaim)

The Advance Wars series was one of a few franchises that had an incredibly successful run and carried itself seamlessly over to the Nintendo DS, and the first Advance Wars game on the console is easily one of the system’s best turn-based tactics games. Much like Intelligent Systems’ Fire Emblem series, Advance Wars has been around since the Famicom, but it would be the series’ handheld entries on the GBA and DS that would solidify its place in Western fans’ memories as some of the best titles on their respective consoles, and Advance Wars: Dual Strike is a definitive series highlight. And the dual-screen setup of the DS was almost tailor-made for Dual Strike‘s strategic gameplay.

• Release Date — November 14, 2005
• Developer — Nintendo EAD
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — Racing
• Review Aggregate Score — 91% (Universal Acclaim)

Perhaps the most surprising thing about Mario Kart DS is that, in a lot of ways, it’s far superior to Mario Kart: Double-Dash as the best Mario Kart game of its time. Not bad for a handheld-exclusive spin-off. In fact, Mario Kart DS laid a lot of the groundwork for the series’ eventual peak with Mario Kart 8, which built off of Mario Kart DS‘ follow-up on the 3DS, Mario Kart 7. The strength of Mario Kart DS ultimately comes down to its incredible tracklist and fine-tuned gameplay, which made it a must-have in the DS library and one of the many first-party Nintendo games that just about everyone with a DS seemed to own.

• Release Date — March 17, 2009
• Developer — Rockstar Leeds, Rockstar North
• Publisher — Rockstar Games
• Genre — Action-Adventure
• Review Aggregate Score — 93% (Universal Acclaim)

By the time Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars came to the Nintendo DS, we were already well into the “next-gen” of Grand Theft Auto courtesy of GTA IV. Somehow, though, Chinatown Wars was able to establish itself as an essential part of the series thanks to how it blended the classic top-down gameplay of the original Grand Theft Auto games with the open-world freedom and storytelling of the series’ PS2 trilogy. In that sense, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is the best of both worlds, blending two distinct eras of the franchise and being one of the more fun and ridiculous games in the DS library, all while making great use of the console’s unique features.

• Release Date — November 20, 2008
• Developer — Square, Tose
• Publisher — Square Enix
• Genre — JRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 92% (Universal Acclaim)

There’s not much to say about Chrono Trigger that hasn’t already been said, especially when it comes to pinpointing why it is and always has been one of the best games ever made. But when we’re looking at identifying which version of the game is the best, it’s hard to argue against the Nintendo DS port as being the definitive way to play this 1995 JRPG classic. Not only does the DS version do a great job of porting over the original game in all its glory, it adds in new content, makes great use of the DS’ dual screens, and includes fully animated cutscenes that bring Akira Toriyama’s iconic character designs to life. Fitting that the best RPG on the DS just so happens to be the best RPG ever made.

• Release Date — June 23, 2007
• Developer — Nintendo EAD
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — Action-Adventure
• Review Aggregate Score — 90% (Universal Acclaim)

While there are two Zelda games on the DS that each make great use of the system’s more unique features, the top spot arguably belongs to the first of them, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is by no means a bad game, but when stacked up against the unique controls, gameplay, and dungeon designs of Phantom Hourglass, it just pales in comparison. Phantom Hourglass is also a direct follow-up to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, which distinguishes it as one of the few sequels in the franchise to be connected to a previous game.

• Release Date — August 25, 2005
• Developer — Konami
• Publisher — Konami
• Genre — Action RPG, Metroidvania
• Review Aggregate Score — 89% (Generally Favorable)

Trying to pin down the all-time best game on the Nintendo DS can be difficult, given how stacked the console’s library was with incredible titles. But when it comes right down to it, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is the obvious choice. Both one of the best games in the Castlevania series and one of the best Metroidvanias ever made, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is basically Aria of Sorrow 2, but when you’re working with such an incredible foundation, it makes sense to give players more of a good thing. Were it not for the somewhat finicky sigil-drawing mechanic after defeating a boss, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow would be a perfect game.