DS/GBA game recommendations ?

[doc_bean]

So I got my DS Lite a few days ago (a white one), a bit earlier than I planned too, and it is AWRSOME. I also got Advance Wars:DS (fantastic game) to go with it and have already got Castlevania DS, Zelda the Minish cap and Astroboy (last two GBA) from ebay (due to arrive soon, I hope).

I know a few Orgahs have a DS and/or a GBA, so I was wondering if anyone had any other games to recommend.

EDIT: can someone fix the title ? My spelling is so 1337...

[frogbeastegg]

EDIT: can someone fix the title ? My spelling is so 1337...

Done.

[Xiahou]

New Super Mario Bros. is pretty great imo. If you liked the other Marios this wont disappoint. My only gripe is the save system- but its not a huge problem as long as you dont mind playing for more than just a couple minutes at a clip.

Also, you can always just pause and close the DS- it goes into sleep mode.


How do you like Castlevania? I've been thinking about getting that for awhile....

[Fragony]

Age of Empire is great fun, and nobody should be without mariocart and metroid prime: hunters. Nintendogs is a guilty pleasure that should not be missed, but don't show it to your mum because she would be worried. As for the GBA, get the fire emblem games, they are GREAT. Baldurs Gate is also fun for some hack&slash on the go.

[Xiahou]

Yeah, let me second Mario Kart, thats a real winner- especially with the ability to play friends (or strangers) all over the world via the Internet.

Also, for a budget title Brain Age is loads of fun imo- and it's supposedly good for your brain...

[doc_bean]

How do you like Castlevania? I've been thinking about getting that for awhile....

It hasn't arrived yet and I have to leave until the weekend, but I'll give a mini review when I get a chance to play it

[doc_bean]

Age of Empire is great fun, and nobody should be without mariocart and metroid prime: hunters. Nintendogs is a guilty pleasure that should not be missed, but don't show it to your mum because she would be worried. As for the GBA, get the fire emblem games, they are GREAT. Baldurs Gate is also fun for some hack&slash on the go.

AoE sounds interesting, allthough I'm not really a fan of the PC series, does it play a bit like advance wars (quick, tactical) ? MP:H just looks uncomfortable and I don't have wi-fi (maybe one of my neighbours does, I'd have to try it someday ) without wi-fi Mariokart doesn't look that interesting either. I'll see if I can get a good deal on it on ebay or in some shop.

Fire emblem games seem hard to find, even second hand they're expensive. Is there word of a Fire Emblem DS by any chance ?

Also, for a budget title Brain Age is loads of fun imo- and it's supposedly good for your brain...

They're selling it at full price here, I'll look into it when the price goes down. I just can't get myself to part with €40 for a game like this (or puzzle games like Meteos or Tetris, for that matter).

EDIT: and thanks for changing the title froggy !

[Fragony]

AoE sounds interesting, allthough I'm not really a fan of the PC series, does it play a bit like advance wars (quick, tactical) ? MP:H just looks uncomfortable and I don't have wi-fi (maybe one of my neighbours does, I'd have to try it someday ) without wi-fi Mariokart doesn't look that interesting either. I'll see if I can get a good deal on it on ebay or in some shop.

AoE plays a bit like advance war, also turnbased goodness, it cannot be compared to the pc version (having that on the DS would be oh so sweet, finally a console that could do RTS).

And about Metroid, don't worry.

[Lehesu]

I second Fire Emblem. You could probably skip the first Fire Emblem and go straight for Sacred Stones.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Get Fire Emblem. And the Sacred Stones.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Warioware is an excellent time-killer you can pick up and put down in seconds, should the need arise.

[doc_bean]

Castlevania DS

the short version

Unless you're tired of Castlevania games, or just don't like them for whatever insane reason, GET THIS GAME.

long version

Owkay, the game is a direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow on the gba (and now available in the great value for your money castlevania double pack ) and the gameplay is pretty much the same. If you haven't played AoS, it's gameplay pretty much identical to Symphony of the Night, if you haven't played that (or any of the other gba castlevania's) GET THIS GAME.

the basics

You run around in a big castle killing stuff, occasionally killing bosses which will give you access to special abilities which you can then use to access other areas of the castle. On your way you'll find weapons and armour which you can equip, killing monsters gives you experience and occasionally after killing a monster you will get its soul. There are 4 kinds of souls: red for a secondary weapon (throwing axes for instances), blue for weapons/abilities which can be used for a longer period of time (for instance a flying armour which slows falling down and lets you jump further, or a bow which charges up more the longer you hold the R trigger), yellow souls that alter your stats or give you permanent abilities (say, extra strength) and gray souls which you permanent new abilities (like a double jump). At any time one red, blue and yellow soul can be equipped, gray souls are always active, you pretty much only get them from bosses though.

Good things

-It's castlevania
-It looks gorgeous
-the amount of different weapons and souls make it same like it will have decent replay value
-you have the map displayed in the upper window so you can easily navigate through the castle
-you can gain the ability to switch between two sets of equipment (incl souls) this saves some tedious micro management
-new monsters ! They're great too.


less Good things

-Boss fights so far have been pretty disappointing, usually it's a case of easy pattern recognition, finding the right spot to stand, and patience. The puppet master was great though.
-I'm a few hours in and still using one of the first weapons I got (claymore FTW !)
-Some souls are clearly better than others and you won't switch much between them (skull archer kicks arse)
-stylus use feels tacked on (you have to draw magic seals to lock up bosses, and can destroy ice cubes)
-Some secret areas have really crappy stuff hidden in them, so the joy of having discovered a secret area is often quickly turned into slight disappointment. Still, you can always seel them
-Since it's a Castlevania game, i'm probably already halfway through.
-I missed the first 20 minutes of Brazil-France because I wanted to explore an area...

Some other things

-It feels slightly harder than previous Castlevanias (since SOTN, the (S)NES ones were a hell of a lot harder)
-Unlike AoS where you can get the best weapons pretty quickly (they're sold very cheap) prizes in DoS are a lot higher.

Conclusion

Why haven't you bought this game yet ?

[doc_bean]

I've been playing some GBA games on my DS and find it extremely strange that they won't use the full screen. Is there any reason why ? Any way to stretch them out perhaps ?

BTW I got my last GBA game from ebay, a rather obvious pirate version of the minish cap (It claims to a US version yet has support for French...)
Well at least the other two look legit, I'm reluctant to order any more gba games on ebay however.

[Fragony]

Castlevania games are awesome indeed, but the GBA versions are a rare find nowadays. I got the double pack, but have yet to find a copy of symphony of the night

[doc_bean]

symphony of the night

Symphony of the night is for the PS1. Circle of the moon is the other GBA castlevania game, where you refeering to that ? I saw it on ebay a while ago but didn't bid

Apparently SOTN will be one of the first games on the PSP's PS1 emulator. I just might have to get a PSP after all

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Has anyone played Trauma Centre, the surgery game? It sounded like a really good, quirky idea for a game, and I imagine it would make good use of the stylus, but I'd like some confirmation it's been executed well before I part with cash.

[Xiahou]

Trauma Center is a good game. It sounds like you have it pretty well nailed too. It's quirky, and makes heavy use of the stylus- just don't expect anything close to surgical realism from it.

Also, some of the later levels are very difficult imo. Every operation is essentially on a timer and the harder levels require very quick, accurate movements.

edit: I also got Castlevania DS- and I agree that its a great game. I feel like I'm missing something having not played the prequel thought- even though they did a good job of bringing me up to date on the story.

-I'm a few hours in and still using one of the first weapons I got (claymore FTW !)

Tell me that you've at least upgraded it to a falchion!

[Ab Urbe Condita]

If you can find them, get Metroid Fusion and Metroid Zero Mission. Avoid Metroid Prime: Hunters unless you plan on buying it for the multiplayer, which is excellent. Also, you can't really call yourself a warm, compassionate human being unless you have New Super Mario Bros, which is beyond awesome.

As far as cult games go, if you can find it, you should definitely buy Trauma Center: Under the Knife. Surgery games only come once in a blue moon, and this one is pretty awesome (if not ridiculously hard).

Oh, and Tetris, believe it or not.

[doc_bean]

Tell me that you've at least upgraded it to a falchion!

I did that right after I posted, I now upgraded to the next thing too.