Nintendo DS/DSiWare/3DS game recommendations

[xavierhm]

I will make a new reply with proper recs once I have the time, but I wanted to pop in and say hi as a HUGE 3DS fan (it is my favorite console ever lol).

I have an incomplete shrine page on my site. I am hoping to work on it again soon and add more games/stuff.

A quick rec I can for sure offer is Apotris, a Tetris clone that got ported to the 3DS. It's available in Universal Updater.

My PNID is 4394-2967-3390 if anyone wants to add me!

[Warthog]

I've got a lot to share but I'll just do two niche ones for now.

Code Name S.T.E.A.M: Mix of strategy game and shooter where you control a team of four characters, each character has a 'steam' resource determining how much they can each turn, attacks have to be aimed with stylus. The roster draws from the public domain so you've got the Cowardly Lion and John Henry as early recruits for example.

Ever Oasis: Cute little action RPG where you build up your oasis in the desert by going on quests and exploring Zelda like dungeons, you bring back materials for shop keepers to use to make their goods.

[maecom]

may i suggest the Gameloft DSi games?
no clue why but Gameloft ported a decent amount of their J2ME games to the DSi, and the games they've ported are actually pretty fun! Soul of Darkness, Hero of Sparta, their quality is all over the place but i found stuff like Gangstar 2 to be a fun take on the 2D GTAs.

there is a lot of good 3DS stuff that hasn't mentioned on the thread either.

the River City series - also called Kunio-kun - got some entries on the 3DS, Rival Showdown and Tokyo Rumble are both pretty fun games, they feel like extensions of the original NES game, SMT IV is the best game in the whole series but there's also Soul Hackers, Strange Journey Redux - recommending this for people like me who's 3ds cant run the DS Strange Journey without it running at 12 FPS for some reason. - , the Persona Q games are really nice dungeon crawlers, especially if you are a fan of the Etrian Oddysey series since they are based on those games.

As for the DS, Tetris DS is one of the best takes on Tetris, so much that i tend to return to it every now and then, the Plants vs Zombies DS port is worth checking out for the exclusive stuff on it, the Retro Game Challenge series is amazing - the second game being Japan-only, having an english patch. -, Blue Dragon has art made by Akira Toriyama, the Castlevania DS games are all amazing, Dragon Ball: Attack of the Saiyans is a really good RPG, the FINAL FANTASY DS games are all pretty great, Meteos is one of the greatest puzzle games ever created and i heard some pretty good things about Solatorobo.

[Roxie / Eight !]

For both DS and 3DS, the Ace Attorney series is amazing and my top recommendation for the systems. Great games with a fun plot and amazing story. The original Pheonix Wright Trilogy are my personal favourites
The Cooking Mama games are also always fun, I've played the DS original and the 5th entry   

[Trench_Man]

Never Played DSI so I will list off the ones for DS and 3DS I have played (though I've only played DS games through a 3DS)

For DS:

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is an AMAZING Castlevania game and one of my favorites in the franchise.

New Super Mario Bros. is a DS classic of course, I loved playing through that on the couch.

Pokemon: HeartGold Version is great too I spent a lot of time on that one (though I never got Ho-Oh because I spent my Master Ball on one of the two other legendary elemental Pokemon in the game LOL)


For 3DS:

New Super Mario Bros. 2 is not the most well regarded of the series but I remember loving it a lot and I still do.

Yoshi's New Island is a wonderful Yoshi game for the 3DS and it's one of my favorites in the Yoshi series.

Mario Kart 7 is a lot of fun and felt quite robust as a handheld Mario Kart game. I liked it a lot.

[PurpleHello98]

Tetris DS is one of the best takes on Tetris, so much that i tend to return to it every now and then

Seconded! Tetris DS has my favourite aesthetic of any Tetris game! It's 8-bit/80s-inspired and while you play on the bottom screen, the top screen has a little video that transitions every 10 or 20 lines between different '80s Nintendo games, like Mario 1, Mario 3, Zelda, Metroid, etc, as you play along. There's also a version of Puyo Puyo Tetris for the 3DS that's been dubbed into English available on the hShop if your 3DS is homebrewed. I go back and forth between which one I prefer but both are amazing.

Minecraft for the 3DS is actually pretty good! Not quite the same level as legacy console versions but it's a great on-the-go Minecraft which I play a lot, and it has a legacy-console vibe to it.

[chantolove]

There's this 3DS title called Adventure Bar Story that I adored the demo of as a kid. Finally picked it up when the eshop shut down, and it's just as charming as I remember.

For DS, I found this bargain bin used game called 'Burger Bot' that's super hard to get a hang of... but pretty fun if you can figure out what it actually wants you to do! All that fun kind of hinges on using the stylus, though, so an emulator would probably be pretty miserable

[gh0ulixh]

i am a story driven gaymer, and these are the ones who touched me

DS
- the world ends with you. not only is the story a delightful biblical allegory turned on its head mind twisting bash, the game play is chaotic and fun as hell, with a difficulty slider so you can adjust the challenge to your liking
- pokemon mystery dungeon explorers of sky. sky specifically for the extra content and more forgiving dungeon failure punishments. i'm thirding or fourthing this game on this here thread lol
- kingdom hearts 358/2 days - yeah yeah funny weird name until you realize Why The Name and your heart is promptly run through a paper shredder :,) this game has the best dialogue out of all the DS games i've played, all the kingdom hearts series, and is one of the best dialogue-havers of like, all time in my opinion. (yes, even and especially the meme'd on "ice cream" line. you'll have to play it if you want to cry about it). while kingdom hearts is a difficult series to get into from what i hear (i grew up with it since 6, so not only am i Biased but i'm also familiar from a formative age), i've been told by people who started the KH series with this game that it functions well as a standalone title of the series.

significantly less familiar with 3DS titles, but i think my favorite 3DS games are kid icarus uprising and the remake of the legend of zelda majora's mask. uprising has some exciting as hell gameplay, and majora's mask was my first opportunity to play that game, and dang is it a lovely, melancholic ride

[Corgithellama]

The World Ends With You is a wonderful game on the DS that I think everyone should play at least once in their life, it got a second game on the switch 14 years later called Neo: the world ends with you :)

[sproutknip]

The Nintendo DS is my favourite console of all time, and I am still slowly collecting games for it! I’m excited to see recommendations here for games I don’t yet own.

As for my own recommendation… I’ll say the Etrian Odyssey series! I’ve finally gotten into the series over the past year, and I’m really, really enjoying them. They are quite challenging dungeon crawler games with a heavy focus on cartography. The artwork is lovely and the music is simply incredible!

The first three games got a HD release on modern consoles, but the DS is just perfect for the cartography aspect of the games. I’ve managed to find the first two titles for fairly reasonable prices, but the third is not cheap…

[BlazingCobaltX]

I am currently downloading all sorts of games on my 3DS so this is a great thread to go through. Some recommendations I haven't seen yet:

• As a kid I really enjoyed playing Custom Robo Arena and Dragonball Z: Supersonic Warriors on my DS. I think the former is aimed at kids and may not be enjoyable without the nostalgia element, but it's also a relatively easy game. As for the DBZ game I just love how it has branching storylines for every character.
• I haven't seen the Zero Escape series being recommended much but 999 and Virtue's Last Reward are still worth your time. Zero Time Dilemma? Just watch an LP of that.

[chxshire22]

if you play any game on the ds play ghost trick


3ds, id recommend pokemon x or y, fantasy life, and new leaf is great on it. well. a lot of great games on these two consoles but better to play a few than to get recs and then hoard them without playing so just play these few games

[WhiteFelineWonder]

I've been playing with my DSi XL a plenty for a while ever since I got it (even moreso than my New 2DS XL actually), so I got a LOT of DS/DSi games to suggest! Anything that has an H to it means it's a homebrew game.

DS:

• Bejeweled 3: Simple match 3 puzzle game with shiny gems. Got a few gamemodes like Zen and even Poker.
• Clubhouse Games: Play a variety of games such as Ludo, Darts, Bowling, and more by yourself or with friends!
• Drawn to Life/Next Chapter/Spongebob Edition: You get to draw your own hero and save the day! Pretty fun!
• (H) Ikachan: This one's a homebrew recommendation. It's based on a game from the same fella who made Cave Story.
• Mario Kart DS: Fun racing game with the Mario characters!
• n+: Based on a flash game. Get a stick figure to the goal while avoiding obstacles.
• New Super Mario Bros.: One heck of a classic DS title. It's Super Mario but in the palm of your hands!
• Nicktoons Attack of the Toybots: Vaguely remember seeing some kid on the school bus play this on their DS and that mental image has stuck with me ever since. Plus you can play as Tak.
• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series: My first introduction to the DS and RPGs was with Explorers of Sky. Absolute banger trio of games.
• Rhythm Heaven: Fun beats with a fun style, what more could you want?
• Solatorobo: I vaguely remember seeing someone on Twitter years ago mention this game (long before it became that notorious wasteland) and it's pretty technically cool with the characters being 3D and having a full on RPG!
• Sonic Rush: High speed action combined with the ability to play as either Sonic or Blaze!
• Sonic Classic Collection: It's Sonics 1, 2, 3, KiS2, & S3K all in one. Pretty handy if you wanna play the Mega Drive classics.
• Tetris DS: Super fun, different game modes that include the various pieces, almost feels like this game was given that NES remix spice to it!
• Ultimate Card Games (Telegames/cosmigo): Plenty of different card games to enjoy. Classics like Klondike and Spider Solitare are included as well as tons other gamemodes.
• (H) Vector Tower Defense: Another homebrew game. Simple tower defense game where you have to defend yourself with different sentinels
• WarioWare DIY: Make your own microgames!
• WarioWare Touched!: Plenty of different microgames to play that utilizes the touch screen (and even microphone)!
• (H) Super Smash Bros. Crash!: A pretty impressive old homebrew DS game that tries to bring the Super Smash Bros. formula to the DS.
• (H) Aperture Science DS: Homebrew game that brings the portal formula to the DS.

DSi:

• 3D Mahjong (cosmigo): My dad likes playing some mahjong, and I wanted to see what it was like. With this, I can see the appeal since it's just mahjong and nothing else. Plus when you run out of possible moves, you can always reshuffle. Handful of different tile themes and backgrounds to choose from as well.
• 5 in 1 Solitaire: Klondike, Spider, Golf, Freecell, & Gaps, all available to play.
• AlphaBounce: It's Breakout but with a space atmosphere. Travel across space in a grid to search for powerups to improve your paddle, your ball, and other gizmos.
• Anonymous Notes 1, 2, 3, & 4: If you're looking a straight to the point RPG game to play, you got these four. Just know that if you die in a map, you lose whatever's in your inventory.
• Art Style Series PiCTOBiTS: Unique puzzle game where you have to match pixels together by color so you can form a picture on the top screen.
• Aura-Aura Climber: Swing a little sun as high as you can!
• Bird & Beans: It's Pyoro from the WarioWare games but as a standalone title you can play.
• Bloons TD & Bloons TD 4: Putting these two together. Classic tower defense game where you have to gun down balloons with the power of highly-skilled monkeys!
• Cave Story: The fact they got Cave Story to fit in a DSiWare title is impressive.
• Cut the Rope: This one's a hella classic mobile title. Get some candy to a little cute critter.
• Dark Void Zero: an NES-styled light Metroidvania.
• Earthworm Jim: It's the first EJ game.
• Go! Go! Kokopolo!: Get a plant to eat some critters, though be sure to keep your speed!
• JellyCar 2: Physics game where you play as a jelly car and you have to reach the flag.
• Legends of Exidia: a rename of Might and Magic 2. RPG game where you can slay monsters as you try to save a princess.
• Mario vs. Donkey Kong Minis March Again!: DK's upset he didn't get a Mini Mario, so he takes Pauline instead! Get your Mini Marios to the door as you make your way to confront DK!
• Mighty Flip Champs & Mighty Milky Way: Flip Champs has you flipping screens to reach the goal. Milky Way has you guiding an alien girl to the next area with the power of gravity!
• Paper Airplane Chase: Another WarioWare classic that's gotten its own standalone title. Guide an airplane through a neverending tower as you try to go for the high score!
• Plants vs. Zombies: Help defend your turf from oncoming waves of zombies with the power of your garden (and some help from a man wearing a pan on his head)!
• Rayman: The first Rayman game!
• Rhytmik Retrobits: You can make tracker-like music with tons of beeps and waves to choose from!
• Shantae: Risky's Revenge: Risky's back at it again with stealing treasure. Play as Shantae and put a stop to her once again!
• Zelda Four Swords Anniversary Edition: A light LoZ title where you play as two (or more) Links, having to bring yourself back to one person as opposed to being split in four.
• Zuma's Revenge!: Get colored balls to match each other before they enter the skull's mouth.
• Not a game, but Flipnote Studio: You can make your own flipnotes and even connect to Sudomemo to check out and download other peoples's flipnotes!

3DS:

• WarioWare Gold: Grouping the previous WarioWare titles into one game, featuring voice acting and other goodies too!
• Paper Mario Sticker Star: Utilize the power of stickers to stop Bowser!
• Mario & Luigi Dream Team: M&L RPG where you travel between the dream world and the real world!
• Shantae & the Pirate's Curse: Another installment to the Shantae series. She's lost her genie powers and forms a truce with Risky Boots.
• (H) CTGP-7: An expansion of Mario Kart 7 featuring tons of new tracks, characters, and even mission mode!
• Sonic Lost World: Travel to the Lost Hex to stop the Deadly Six!
• LoZ A Link Between Worlds: It has that Link to the Past feel but this time you can merge with walls to discover secrets and stuff as you save Zelda from being trapped as a painting.
• LoZ Triforce Heroes: A more arcade-y type of Zelda game. Switch between three different Links to solve puzzles and progress through dungeons.
• Best of Mahjong: Just like 3D Mahjong for the DSi, but now with even more layouts and even different music!
• Runbow Pocket: Gonna be honest I'm only recommending this because the DLC for this game lets you play as both Shantae and Sash Lilac from Freedom Planet.
• VVVVVV: Flip gravity in order to find your friends!
• Art of Balance Touch!: A classic WiiWare title brought to the 3DS, which features new puzzles as well.
• Rhythm Heaven Megamix:
• Super Smash Bros 3DS: You should see the Gamebanana page for SSB3DS, it's honestly pretty cool.
• (H) prBoom: You can play through DOOM 1, 2, and even FreeDOOM! Shareware DOOM also works as well.
• (H) Sonic Robo Blast 2: Uses a late version of 2.1 of SRB2. You can play as Sonic, Tails, & Knuckles as you stop Dr. Eggman! Might wanna play on a New 3DS though. Old 3DSes don't quite have the horsepower for this.
• (H) SuperTux: An open source platforming classic! It's based on an old version of SuperTux where it has that more arcade-y feel as opposed to the current version of the game.
• (H) Apotris: Open source, multi-platform Tetris with tracker music and tons of customization. There's multiple different gamemodes as well, including Zen and even Effect!
• Shovel Knight: You get to play as a medieval knight with a shovel. Has an NES feel to it.
• Super Mario 3D Land: A fun Mario game utilizing the 3D features and even a bit of gyro controls as well.
• Bit Trip Saga: The WiiWare series in one game, you got stuff like Runner, Void, Flux, etc. Has a low-spec pixel style to it.
• Not a game, although... Flipnote Studio 3D: More colors to choose from, as well as more features than its DSi counterpart. There is a Hatena-like service for it called Kaeru Gallery. You can download flipnotes just like Sudomemo!

[BasilABST]

Okay, so this may be a bit weird but just a few days ago people managed to port Undertale and Deltarune to the 3DS, and though the Project Sunshine stuff (port that uses the second screen and all) is not fully done yet it feels very close.

Point being, even though these are not official releases I absolutely love that. These games were made to be played on a console like it IMO