Top 15 Best Nintendo DS Hidden Gems

Today we’re going to be talking about overlooked games for the Nintendo DS. This handheld made major waves at release for numerous reasons. Nintendo initially planned for the DS to be a ‘third pillar’ while continuing support for the GBA. The focus with this new handheld was around unique features. It had two screens with one of them supporting touch inputs via an included stylus. This was before smartphones popularized touch screen gaming. The Nintendo DS came out at the right time because it took the market by storm. It was cheap and easy to develop for, and software sold gangbusters on it. The market was absolutely flooded with software. There is a high volume of games many were overlooked. Today we’re going to take a look at what I consider to be the top fifteen best Nintendo DS hidden gems in alphabetical order. Let’s start with a few rules:

• Today we’re focusing on North American releases. You won’t find any Japan or PAL-only games here. We’ll cover those in a separate list.
• The term ‘hidden gem’ is tough to define. Everyone has their own ideas about it. We’ve tried to limit this list to games for the platform that aren’t often brought up today. Some may have had hype at release, but by and large these have been mostly forgotten about now.
• This list is by no means definitive. I was just mentioning how everyone has a different idea of what a hidden gem is, and these are simply mine.

With that out of the way let’s dive right in. Here’s our list!

Big Bang Mini

We’re starting off strong here with a game that makes great use of the system’s features. Big Bang Mini offers a bizarre premise. You control a character on the bottom screen using the stylus. Enemies appear on the top display, and you dispatch them by shooting fireworks vertically. Of course you also have to worry about falling debris so your focus will be divided. It is a simple concept but one that’s highly addictive. Unfortunately it’s difficult to do this game justice from a mere description. I’m sure it sounds off the wall and overly complicated. Only half of that is true. While there is a learning curve Big Bang Mini is surprisingly easy to learn and adapt to. Big Bang Mini doesn’t really fit neatly into any genre. It’s most similar to a shmup with puzzle elements.

It also helps that the graphics are plenty colorful and vibrant which perfectly suits a video game focused around fireworks. Add to that a pumping electronica score and you have a very aesthetically pleasing game. It’s a real shame that almost no one has heard of Big Bang Mini before because this truly is one of the great overlooked Nintendo DS games. I think I know why no one played it however. In a library of unique concepts a puzzle title based around fireworks doesn’t exactly sound compelling. Somehow the developers made it work however. It can also be had for cheap so there’s no reason to wait!

Contact

Developer Grasshopper Manufacture is known for their quirky titles. Their first game on the Nintendo DS was a bit unusual for them in that it was a turn based Japanese style RPG. Generally this developer is very action forward with their releases. As you can expect from them there some very unique twists to the formula. You play as yourself, the player with the Nintendo DS. You’re an onlooker who bridges contact between a professor in a space ship crash landed on an alien planet and a young man named Terry. The top screen shows the view from the ship with the kindly scientist and his dog. Below that the point of view is of Terry’s scenario. Both displays use a different art style which is really cool. There’s interactivity between the two screens in some really neat ways.

You guide Terry by taking control of him as he goes on a quest to regain the power cells to restore energy to the professor’s ship. It’s a top down sprite based RPG that looks like it would have been right at home on the Super Nintendo. Combat is simple as Terry moves on his own after engaging a foe, but you can power him up using stickers and even changing his abilities via a neat job system. This one is vaguely reminiscent of Earthbound both in art style and overall zaniness. The sense of humor is spot on. If you’re a fan of that game, and the Mother franchise in general you’ll really appreciate the approach here. Contact is crazy, and amazing.

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime

This is game is actually a sequel. The original was called Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest and came out on the Game Boy Advance, but only in Japan. It’s strange then that we got this one especially because the franchise wasn’t doing particularly well in the West at the time. Dragon Quest Heroes has the benefit of being an early release for the platform allowing it to fill in the software void when there actually was one. If you know me then you know I love this series and its spin-offs, and this is a rather good one.

The gameplay here is different from the rest of the series. This is an action game where you play as the mascot enemy of the franchise; the blue smiley slime character. You traverse several areas full of enemies with one basic attack; Rocket can stretch and propel himself forward. It may sound pretty basic but gameplay is very fun and interesting as it makes heavy use of this mechanic. The boss battles in particular are crazy with you loading ammunition into a tank to fire at the enlarged foe. At times it’s so over the top it’s hilarious. Dragon Quest Heroes has that typical charm the series is known for, and as a spin-off it’s fantastic.

Flower, Sun, and Rain

Here’s another title from Grasshopper Manufacture, and it’s just as unusual as the last one. Flower, Sun, and Rain is actually a de-make of a PS2 title of the same name. The premise is the same, as is the gameplay, but clearly the DS was less powerful hardware. Thus the graphics have been toned down quite a bit. That’s not a big issue because Flower, Sun and Rain relies more on its unique art style than it does pushing tech. In some ways I even think this is the better looking version.

In this version you play as a private investigator named Sumio. He, along with his computer briefcase… thing named Catherine arrive at an island called Lospass in Micronesia. It’s up to you to explore, solve puzzles, and advance this non-sensical story to figure out just what’s going on. It’s a classic adventure game for better or worse. What I mean by that is your objectives are often extremely vague. This is one of the few instances I recommend using a guide right from the start. The story is disjointed and odd, but the game oozes style and I really did enjoy exploring this weird island. This is definitely one of those oddball Nintendo releases that deserved more attention.

Infinite Space

Platinum Games are no stranger to the hidden gems moniker. For the most part their titles have never gotten the attention they deserve, but their devoted fans and cult following have kept them alive. Infinite Space is one of the most ambitious games released for the Nintendo DS. Scratch that. It’s one of the most ambitious games they’ve ever released. The fact that it came out on a handheld in this time is extremely impressive. There is so much tweaking and attention to detail here that it’s astounding.

This is an RPG where you manage a fleet of spaceships as you do battle with other armadas or ships in this sci-fi anime setting. The sheer amount of customization is insane. You can customize each of your ships with a variety of different options. There’s also a large cast of characters you can recruit as crewmates for each vessel. They have differing abilities, strengths and weaknesses. Two people can play this title and get a very different experience from it because of the sheer amount of options. Outside of battle the story is handled kind of like an adventure/visual novel type game with a few branching plot elements. Infinite Space is simply incredible.

Magician’s Quest: Mysterious Times

It’s strange that so few have tried to copy the Animal Crossing formula. Wild World on the Nintendo DS is one of the best selling games worldwide for the platform. Magician’s Quest is the only outright clone that I know of for the platform. It does however have enough to differentiate it from Nintendo’s game. You’ll constantly be reminded of Nintendo’s own title while you play, but get an overall different experience from this one. It isn’t simply Animal Crossing with wizards, if that’s what you’re worried about.

This is a life sim using a real-time clock where you live in a town full of animal villagers. You have your own room that you decorate using furniture, wallpaper, and flooring that you acquire. What differentiates Magician’s Quest however is that you attend a magic school to learn new spells, and the villagers are your classmates. This adds more layers of complexity and interactivity to the game. Having an actual premise rather than just paying off loans is neat. The characters themselves, and their speech is much more varied and dynamic than in Animal Crossing. In a lot of ways Magician’s Quest is actually better than it’s source material. If you’re love Animal Crossing but want something slightly different then you can’t go wrong with this one.

Meteos

Q Entertainment is best known for their puzzle title Lumines which launched on the Sony PSP. That one is so popular it’s still going on today. Meteos is the lesser known of their puzzle titles, but it’s actually better. I mean that. Meteos may be one of my favorite puzzle games of all time. While it scored well at the time of release it just didn’t have that same ‘X factor’ that Lumines does. What I mean is that it isn’t as cool or edgy as the PSP game. I will say however that gameplay is more fluid, unique, and dynamic here. Meteos is more focused around twitch gameplay than it’s older brother.

This game makes use of the traditional side view set up with falling blocks that you must eliminate. The method to do so is quite different in this case. Meteos utilizes the touch screen for its gameplay. You have to line up like-colored blocks in traditional fashion. This is done by physically dragging them along the touch screen. The difference is here is that they turn into rocket thrusters pushing entire sections upwards. If they don’t have enough momentum you can simply push them with another set of matched blocks. You can of course set off the thrusters in other blocks to give your initial push a boost. It’s a really cool concept that works surprisingly well. Gameplay is fast, frantic, and a ton of fun.

Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors

I’m not a huge fan of visual novels. Just being honest. One would have to be very special to catch my eye. That’s precisely what Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors is (999 as I’ll refer to it from here on out). This game has a very dark story and premise wherein you have to escape a cruise ship compound making decisions that drastically affect the plot. It turns into a very interesting ‘who done it’ story and it’s surprisingly engaging. With the anime based graphics I was initially expecting something either full of fan service or aimed at kids. That’s not the case here at all. 999 is clearly aimed at the older crowd with its macabre, almost horror based plot.

The main gameplay comes in the form of solving puzzles. These function kind of like escape rooms so if you’re in to that sort of thing you’ll absolutely love it here. Basically you’re given static rooms to look for clues in using the touch screen. This includes things like opening safes, manipulating 3D objects, etc. Some of these tasks almost feel like mini-games, but in the best way possible.  I also enjoyed the fact that a few of them had multiple solutions. This really keeps you on your toes and greatly increases the replay value of this title. It may be a little short but with the branching storylines and different endings this one is highly replayable. 999 deserved much more attention.

Nostalgia

I keep it no secret that Skies of Arcadia is one of my favorite video games of all time. It’s brand of airship exploration and swash buckling has yet to be matched. That’s why I was incredibly interested in Nostalgia. From early previews this looked like it was at least highly influenced by Sega’s best RPG. It not only featured a world map based around exploration in airships, but also battles that take place entirely in the sky using your modes of transport as the combatants. While Nostalgia wasn’t nearly as good as Skies of Arcadia there’s still plenty to appreciate here.

This is an RPG set in a steampunk version of old London where you explore an anime style version of the world with airships. Combat is typical RPG fare with characters lining up on one side of the screen an enemies on the other as the two groups exchange blows. It’s pretty standard fare in this regard. Features like the skill trees are interesting enough to keep this one from being completely ordinary. What’s really interesting however are the airship battles I mentioned earlier. The developers took some serious notes from Skies of Arcadia here because they play vaguely similar. Combat in these encounters is still turn based, but it’s airships shooting each other down instead of little guys lining up with swords and shields. These encounters are fast paced and a lot of fun to watch play out.

Okamiden

Capcom’s action adventure title was one of the big PS2 hidden gems. It did not sell particularly well at launch but managed to gain a cult following. Few played it at the time, but even less people know there was a sequel. Enter Okamiden. This one picks up right where the original left off. You play as the son of the white wolf Amaterasu who must deal with the new threat as demons begin returning to the world. While the graphics have been toned down out of necessity to the hardware Okamiden still uses the same cel-shaded watercolor art style. It looks absolutely beautiful on the small screen.

Fans will be happy to know that, despite the less powerful hardware, Okamiden plays very similarly to the original title. You run around this 3D world fighting off foes either with melee attacks or using the celestial brush to draw objects into the world. The touch screen really enhances the drawing mechanic. It feels like a better realization of the mechanics behind the celestial brush. This mechanic isn’t just reserved for combat however. The game has its fair share of puzzles requiring you to draw objects for the solution. Okamiden doesn’t quite reach the same heights, but it’s still a really good game. This is a showpiece for the hardware in my opinion.

Point Blank DS

The Point Blank franchise represents some of the best light gun action the Sony PlayStation had to offer. While most games of this sort were focused on realism and gunning down bad guys these titles took a more fun approach. It’s like a shooting gallery. A really crazy and over the top one at that. Point Blank did the polar opposite of taking itself too seriously. This worked really good because the games were just plain simple old school fun. Not all games have to be serious to be good, and Point Blank absolutely proved this to be true.

Part of the reason light gun shooters died off is because the technology isn’t compatible with HD televisions. That’s where the Nintendo DS comes in. While a touch screen isn’t exactly the same experience it’s close enough. Particularly when it comes to Point Blank. This DS iteration is sort of a ‘best of’ compilation including mini-games from all three of the original titles as well as some brand new ones. Rather than firing a plastic gun at a screen you instead tap the screen with a stylus. Again, it isn’t quite the same but who cares because it’s still fun. The franchise was mostly forgotten by the time this handheld iteration released so it didn’t sell particularly well. Unfortunately this release didn’t get a lot of attention, and even most fans of the franchise don’t know about its existence.

Retro Game Challenge

This is another title I was initially really hyped for. Retro Game Challenge is based on a game show in Japan (the license was dropped in the localization). This is sort of a collection of eight classic style pixel based video games. These are all small and very short, but are original and designed to look and feel like something you would find on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Each is based on a different genre from platformer, shooter, racing, to RPG and more. The concept is really interesting for fans of retro video games. Gameplay in each may be extremely derivative, but that’s kind of the point here.

You have four challenges per title to complete which will task you with separate objectives. It sounds simple, and it really is. The tasks you’re asked to complete range from defeating a number of enemies in a set amount of time, getting specific amounts of points, etc. You can even free play these titles but because they’re short none will last you very long on their own. The fact that the developers explored so many different genres is really neat. The games themselves are fun  and feel like perfect bite sized representations of each genre. It’s like a gaming time capsule. I was pleased as punch with Retro Game Challenge, and I still love it to this day.

Sands of Destruction

The Nintendo DS had more than it’s fair share of RPG ports and spin-offs. What I wanted was some truly original, big budget, yet classically styled role playing games for the platform. I got just that with Sands of Destruction from Imagepoch and Sega. Sands of Destruction uses 2D sprites on polygonal backgrounds. It immediately reminded me of the big budget role playing games released on the original Sony PlayStation. It was very refreshing in a sea of remakes and ports.

Sands of Destruction features fantastic dungeon designs as well as a combat system based around combos which works surprisingly well. It’s like Xenogears in terms of battle system, but in my opinion much better. I even really liked the story here. It’s a typical adventure to save the world but the characters are charming and there are plot twists aplenty. The graphics and soundtrack are fantastic especially considering the platform. I got vibes of Grandia and Xenogears both of which I love. Despite this Sands of Destruction feels like its own game. If you’re a fan of traditional RPGs then this one is surely worth checking out. Don’t let Sands of Destruction fade into history.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey

I tried to not convolute this list too much with the Shin Megami Tensei franchise. Fact is outside of the Persona games these just aren’t very popular outside of Japan. This entire list could have been Shin Megami Tensei if I didn’t show some restraint. Strange Journey is the best SMT game on the Nintendo DS. For all intents and purposes I feel like this is strong enough that it should not have been a mere spin-off. This could have been Shin Megami Tensei IV for all intents and purposes. It has strong gameplay mechanics and of course the ever consistent demon based battle system. All of this is wrapped up in higher than usual production values and a sleek interface.

Strange Journey uses the typical first person viewpoint while exploring detailed and maze-like environments. You create your own party with a main character as well as demons you recruit from battles. In this sense it’s a little like Pokemon’s ‘gotta catch em all’ mechanics, but Megami Tensei was doing this years before Pocket Monsters. The recruitment aspect gives players a ton of choices in how they want to play. You’ll need to experience with these because this game isn’t exactly easy. The battle system here has been refined with different focuses such as demons that can attack co-operatively with one another. With the sheer amount of options and strategies this is a truly meaty RPG.

SNK Vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS

If you read my Neo Geo Pocket hidden gems list then you already know my feelings about Capcom/SNK’s brand of card battling. The fact is when these two developers get together magic is made. Even with something as far removed from their fighting game franchises as card battling. This Nintendo DS version is largely more of the same, but more refined and with much more content. Of course the graphics are also better, and due to the platform’s wireless options multiplayer had a lower bar for entry as well.

You collect cards and battle against NPCs and even humans should you so choose. The matches are turn based and similar to something like Magic the Gathering or the Pokemon Trading Card game, but with Capcom and SNK characters for the artwork. It was hyped when announced, but Card Fighters DS fell victim to a game breaking bug that killed all momentum it otherwise might have had. The Nintendo DS didn’t support patches so the publisher had to replace cartridges. The damage had already been done by then, and all hype was washed away. It’s unfortunate too because SNK Vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS is a lot of fun.

Honorable Mentions

There is a ton of games in the Nintendo DS library. We couldn’t just leave it at fifteen hidden gems! Here are our honorable mentions. These are the ones that just barely didn’t make the cut.

Bangai-Oh Spirits

For decades Treasure refused to release sequels to their games. They preferred making original titles. When they finally came around Bangai-Oh was one of the franchises they decided to revisit. This game is a 2D shooter/adventure game. It’s an odd-ball mix of genres as you hover around stages in a giant mecha unleashing screens full of shots against the enemies. There are seven weapons to choose from but your ship can also perform melee attacks as well. Bangai-Oh Spirits isn’t as enjoyable as the original release on the Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast, but it’s still a lot of fun. I[‘m happy to report that this one retains much of the spirit of its predecessor. If you want an absolutely chaotic shooter for the Nintendo DS then this is a good choice. It’s just a shame that almost no one played it.

\

Chibi-Robo!: Park Patrol

The original Chibi-Robo was a very overlooked release on the Nintendo Gamecube. This had you guiding a tiny robot through a house completing little chores to make life better for the family living there. Nintendo decided to follow it up with a sequel on the Nintendo DS, but they made a major mistake. The original game was never popular to begin with. They decided to make this sequel a Wal-Mart exclusive. It makes little sense if you ask me. Gameplay is largely the same here. You guide Chibi-Robo through 3D environments but this time instead of performing chores in a house you are tasked with revitalizing an outdoor park. The graphics have been downgraded pretty significantly but it still looks quite good for the platform. Better yet it’s fun, and unique to boot. Chibi Robo Park Patrol is a game that deserves far better than the fate it was given.

Moon

Renegade Kid was never a popular developer, but their Dementium titles on the Nintendo DS were mildly enjoyable. While those had a small cult following everyone seems to have ignored their third release simply titled Moon. Like their previous efforts this is a first person shooter but the emphasis here is more on science fiction rather than horror. You play as a commando tasked with exploring and destroying sentries unleashed on Earth’s Moon. The graphics are really impressive given the platform, and gameplay is surprisingly smooth. Personally I prefer the themes in Dementium, but Moon has a really unique atmosphere that I enjoyed. Even the touch screen controls work well, and the game puts the dual screen set up to good use. The DS wasn’t well known for its first person shooters and in my opinion Moon is the best one.