10 Nintendo DS Games That Still Shape Gaming Today

The Nintendo DS era was absolutely unmatched. Never before and never since has a handheld system held my loyalty and attention quite like it. I had spoken about it for months in utter awe, before finally receiving a pink DS Light with Nintendogs for Christmas, the year after it was first released.

What followed was, at least for my family, regret as I was trying to teach my virtual labrador “Nina” to sit and come to me via the in-built microphone. I, on the other hand, was fully enamored, a trend that continued with every new DS game I received. Being so intimately familiar with what the DS lineup holds in store means that I can also see many influences in modern gaming to this day, so let’s take a look at my top ten.

10 Final Fantasy III

A Historical Moment for Final Fantasy Fans

The release of Final Fantasy III for the Nintendo DS in 2006 marked a historic occasion for Final Fantasy fans living outside of Japan, as they had finally been given the chance to play the game for the first time.

Whilst not the first remake of the series, its commercial success most definitely seems to play a big role in the strong remake culture we see now. Square Enix has, since then, released countless new and improved versions of entries within the series, and I truly believe that the success of FF III has played a big part in Square Enix often favoring handheld systems for them as well.

9 Pokémon Ranger

Pokémon Spin-Offs Rarely Miss

In Pokémon Ranger, instead of partaking in Pokémon battles, you’d use your Capture Styler to calm down wild Pokémon, usually as a means to help the local ecology. With approximately 2.7 million copies sold worldwide, it was a huge success, in part due to it utilizing the touchscreen so distinctly.

Whilst not following the same premise or even quite the same gameplay, Pokémon Go and its Curveballs feel strangely reminiscent of the old days. Generally speaking, the commercial success also allowed many companies to realize that spin-offs can be extremely financially viable to cater to their audience in-between releases of the mainline.

8 Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!

My Arithmetic Game Has Never Been Stronger

This game had me in an absolute choke hold. It made me better at math, and it most definitely made me fix my handwriting. Outside of that, this game felt so defining for this particular era of gaming. The Nintendo DS had a vast variety of extremely creative and experimental titles that were good fun, and it’s almost scary how well these titles sold.

Whilst the idea of it generally being able to improve cognitive function seems dubious, I have no doubt that the mere existence of this game vastly influenced the niche of video games in which self-improvement and gamification collide. I am not sure whether I believe that Wii Fit and Ring Fit Adventure would’ve been the resounding success they are without Brain Age setting the groundwork.

7 The Sims: Castaway

I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here

This game was different to everything else The Sims had to offer up until this point in the series, and it was a gamble that paid off. Instead of just sticking with the usual Life simulation formula, they added Survival and Crafting elements, with huge environments to explore.

The Nintendo DS wasn’t the only platform this game was released on, but it definitely aided in showing that survival games could still capture a modern audience. It took another 4 years until both Minecraft and Terraria were released, but I will always remember The Sims: Castaway as being the title that helped prime the market for Survival games.

6 Trauma Center: Under the Knife

Panicking With a Scalpel in Hand Is NOT It

This game was surprisingly morbid considering the platform it was on. It was also staunchly different from anything else on the DS at the time. Actively performing surgeries with the stylus translated way better than it had any right to. It was both extremely stressful and deeply gratifying to cut, stitch, and ultimately end up successful despite everything going wrong.

I am not going to pretend that it was successful enough to hugely inspire every simulation game made thereafter, but I do think about this game whenever I pick up another game that tries to turn a real job into gameplay. Whilst it didn’t invent the idea, it did showcase beautifully how far a concept can be pushed when it is actually being properly committed to.

5 WarioWare: Touched!

Five Seconds, No Thoughts, Many Vibes

Trying to explain WarioWare feels almost pointless, because it sounds like an utterly ridiculous concept until you’ve tried it yourself. You get thrown into a bunch of microgames that last about five seconds each, and sometimes you won’t fully understand what’s happening before it’s over. You’ll slice, blow into the microphone, pick a nose, or try to connect something that vaguely suggests it should connect.

Ultimately, the whole thing is extremely chaotic and fast, but it very naturally used everything the DS had going for it. I’m not going to pretend that it had a huge cultural impact on every modern game, but it’s hard not to think about WarioWare when looking at how many apps and games ended up being built around very quick interactions. Somewhere between Dumb Ways to Die and Piano Tiles, WarioWare gave birth to it all.

4 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time / Darkness

Being a Pokémon Is a Lot More Stressful Than It Looks

Turning into a Pokémon sounded amazing in theory. No trainers, no gyms, just you and your little partner Pokémon going on little adventures. This idea spiraled very quickly into heavy emotional damage and real distress from dungeon-crawling shenanigans. The Mystery Dungeon formula isn’t for everyone, but the loop of stepping into a dungeon, not really knowing what will be waiting for you, and sometimes literally having to pray things will go your way because you lacked common sense is one I will never tire of.

This title was another slam dunk for spin-offs, but most importantly, it was also a huge win for Roguelites, even if it doesn’t really get credited that way. Whilst the genre didn’t suddenly explode due to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon – that happened with Spelunky and The Binding of Isaac, after all – it definitely proved that the structure works. And more than anything, it also proved that Pokémon really don’t need humans to carry a story. Whilst it seems obvious now, especially with the smash hit that Pokémon Pokopia proceeds to be, they released this at a time when it really wasn’t.

3 Animal Crossing: Wild World

Logging in Every Day Was Not Optional

I’m not being funny, this made cozy gaming. I don’t think I’ve ever stuck with anything as consistently as I did with Animal Crossing: Wild World. Logging in every single day just became part of the routine. You check the shops, talk to your villagers, catch a few fish, and before you know it, you’ve been playing until 3AM on a school night. The real-time system did a lot of heavy lifting here, as did the soundtrack, and it was amazing to know that the game seemingly kept going without you.

Of course, since then, the series has come a long way, and I don’t even want to start thinking about how overrun my town must be with weeds. But even with that, it’s hard to overstate just how much this game managed to pull people in, even when they hadn’t touched a video game before. Animal Crossing: Wild World walked, so cozy games could run.

2 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Shouting "OBJECTION!" Will Never Get Old

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is another great example of why this was my favorite gaming era. An eclectic mix of visual novel, puzzle game and point-and-click courtroom drama should never have been one of the most recognizable things to ever come out of the DS era, but here we are. The moment where everything clicks, and you catch someone in a lie just hits every time.

I love that the game trusts you to figure things out. Sure, it guides you, but if you’re not paying attention your case will still fall apart. You feel very smug and smart when things go right, but also immensely stupid when they don’t. Whilst the trilogy hasn’t reinvented visual novels, they have definitely shown that they don’t always need to revolve around dating or passively reading through text.​​​​​​​

1 Picross DS

Just One More Puzzle

Filling in tiny squares based on numbers. Even just thinking about that concept probably made all of us yawn. Picross DS sounds incredibly boring on paper, but once you get going, it might just be one of the most addictive things you can put on a handheld. You solve one puzzle, then another, and suddenly you’re three hours in, fully locked in, trying to figure out where you messed up because something is definitely not adding up anymore.

It would be impossible to point to any specific game that has been influenced here. Instead, I feel pretty confident in saying that it has influenced the entire puzzle genre. This iteration of Nintendo’s Picross franchise has pushed nonogram puzzles into the mainstream, especially outside of Japan and to a younger audience. The consequence? You’re able to open Steam right now and find hundreds of games that will entice you to just solve one more puzzle. If that isn't influence, I don't know what is.