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Adam Riley, Senior Editor

There are so many
Nintendo DS games on the market now that it becomes difficult to even
pick out some of the most popular titles, let alone those that either
did not sell as well as expected, or have been quickly forgotten about
despite a rapid burst of sales around the globe. One particular effort
definitely strikes a chord, though, especially in the absence of a
Western release for Cave and ARIKA’s Ketsui Death Label (Rising Star Games, use your current deal with Cave to sort this out!). The game is none other than Big Bang Mini
from small French developer, Arkedo Games. The wealth of colour,
creativity of stage creation, intense difficulty level, clever game
mechanics, addictive soundtrack, and the superb inclusion of an online
mode, make this one of the freshest DS games on the market even today,
and one that hopefully gamers decide to pick up eventually, even if just
to encourage Arkedo to resurrect its plans for a WiiWare version.







Falling into the same category as Big Bang Mini is Nanostray 2,
another in the ‘shmup’ genre. This particular shoot’em-up comes from
German outfit Shin’en Multimedia, the brains behind some other brilliant
efforts, such as fellow shooter Iridion II on Game Boy Advance, and fantastic WiiWare releases like Jett Rocket and FAST: Racing League.
This hardcore shooting experience pushes Nintendo DS to its limits,
with high octane space action that will test even the most hardened
gamer to the maximum. The developer has always had a knack of using the
hardware it works on to its full potential, but with Nanostray 2
it excelled further than ever before, putting it in the same category
as the legendary team at Treasure in Japan. Anyone looking for a pure
shmup challenge will definitely be in heaven.







On a slightly alternate slant, though, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales
should certainly not have been as overlooked as it was. Whilst drawing
in sufficient sales in Japan to warrant a (never translated) sequel,
the rest of the world did not warm to the fluffy yellow bird’s card
battling RPG and mini-game antics quite as much. It proves to be a
highly entertaining experience that can be played with the whole family,
with addictive objectives thrown in that can be enjoyed with friends
and family to compete for high scores, yet also works well as a solo
adventure for those wanting to delve deeper into the picture-book world
that h.a.n.d. (Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts Re:coded on DS, plus Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Dungeon on Wii) created for Square Enix. Another classic that unfairly went by the wayside.

Mike Mason, Features/Reviews Editor

I've always thought that Pac-Pix
was unappreciated in DS' launch window. Namco took their mascot, threw
in some wax crayons and a dab of creativity to come up with a new way
to play before other drawing games had had the chance to sharpen their
pencils. Pac-Man's ghostly adversaries haunt the touch-screen, but
rather than the hungry yellow blob darting around a labyrinth after
them, it is up to the player to create both protagonist and his 'maze'
to do away with the spooks.







By drawing an approximation of Pac-Man - input recognition is pretty
liberal as long as you get the shape of the mouth right, leading to
some funny beasts - the ghost-gobbler can be brought to life in crayon
form, ever-chomping and ready to eat up the enemy. His direction can be
changed by drawing walls, and other items can be scribbled in to help
out, such as arrows to shoot down foes residing on the top screen. Pac-Pix
used Nintendo DS' new input methods in a novel way from the very off,
and the quick, simple arcade-style play is still fun even towards the
end of the system's lifespan.




Slide Adventure: MAGKID is not so much a hidden gem as it is
one that is buried deep within Earth's crust. One of Nintendo's most
experimental titles on the touchy handheld never made it outside of
Japan, where it was unfortunate enough to slide away into obscurity
almost instantly. Part of that was possibly to do with its pricing -
around 1000 yen higher than other DS titles at the time. There's a good
reason for that, however; Slide Adventure: MAGKID included a
giant peripheral in the box that attached via the Game Boy Advance slot,
a slanted stand that stood the console up at an angle. Inside is a
built-in rumble function. Underneath is a red LED, which effectively
turns your DS into an optical mouse.







The whole point of Slide Adventure: MAGKID is to move the
entire system around to control a magnet character, sliding it along a
surface to shift the cute on-screen circle. While slipping around this
way you must bump into enemies to daze them, forcing them to join a
worm-like chain behind you, while solving problems such as recovering a
toy robot's missing limbs, dodging into familiar household objects such
as pencil cases to be transported to different areas. Slide Adventure: MAGKID is not a mindblowingly brilliant game, but it is a fun one that did not deserve to sink so stupendously.

Shane Jury, General Writer

It wouldn't
really be an exaggeration to claim that DS has one of the most diverse
and quality-packed gaming libraries in recent memory, and yet there was
one key category that its successor has already outdone it in. The
fighting genre was rather sparse on Nintendo's dual screen wonder, so
it's even more of a surprise that Bleach: Dark Souls didn't stand
out more, even more so considering the equally-zany JUMP games couldn't
break out of Japan. No mere licensed franchise tie-in, Dark Souls built upon the foundation of the superb four-fighter Blade of Fate
and offered more of everything: extra fighters, arenas, a brand new
story that tied in with the animé, solid online play and buckets of
unlockables to strive for. Even Bleach critics could enjoy this one.







Continuing the Treasure tribute is another of their criminally
overlooked gems, and the true sequel to Nintendo 64 / Dreamcast classic Bangai-O, Bangai-O Spirits.
An absolutely bonkers sidescroller with bullets flying in every
conceivable direction, you pilot a small flying mech-robot tasked with
taking down all enemies with an assortment of combinable weapons;
baseball bats, bouncing bullets and swords among them. The game offers
an immense level of value with over 150 stages to beat, a level editor,
and a unique way to share stages: through sound!

Rudy Lavaux, Reviewer

I admit I shamefully
ignored most of DS games released in Europe that weren't part of
well-established franchises or highly hyped new IPs. It didn't help that
there are so many of those on DS that getting a hold of and playing all
of them has been very time-consuming... and costly! That being said, on
the odd occasion I got my hands on a couple games that, in my eyes,
didn't receive the coverage or attention they deserved.




Boulder Dash Rocks
is one of them. Once a renowned franchise, it made quite a good
comeback on DS and PSP. The basic concept that made the series popular
in the mid-1980s is still the same. You need to collect a certain amount
of diamonds in a cave to open the exit and go to the next level while
digging your way through dirt, pushing boulders, avoiding enemies and
traps, or getting stuck while you explore... There's always the
possibility to collect more than what's required to score big, but it's
at the risk of running out of time or getting killed before you can
reach the exit. Items such as rock-pulling magnets and guns to
disintegrate boulders and enemies were added to the mix to give the
original recipe a new taste. A game truly worthy of selection for any
fan of puzzlers.







Soul Bubbles
is another very engaging, good looking and criminally overlooked puzzle
game, built around an interesting concept that works really well. At
its core, you could compare it to the Kuru Kuru Kururin series,
in that you need to go from point A to point B, while avoiding obstacles
and enemies and collecting stuff. It's neither very long nor
challenging, but the bit of collecting to do in each level to complete
the game at 100% ensures that you get enough for your money, especially
since it can be easily found for fairly low prices. If you're a fan of
the concept and genre, make sure you get your hands on this one.




Infinite Space,
though it was talked about a bit more than the two previous titles, is
also one of those games that didn't perform nearly as good as it should.
Our C3 review
will tell you all you need to know about it, so I'll refrain from going
into too much detail. However, fans of 'space opera', strategy, animé
or games with a bit of an Ace Attorney feel to them - or all of
these elements combined - would do well not to overlook this
chef-d'oeuvre developed by Platinum Games, the brains behind Wii's MadWorld, as well as Bayonetta and Vanquish, both on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.







However, in my opinion, the Palme d'Or for the most surprisingly ignored game on Nintendo DS should be awarded to Suikoden Tierkreis.
Undoubtedly one of the handheld's best RPGs and one of the best looking
- and sounding - games on the system, full stop. What's even better is
that, unlike an awful lot of other games in the same genre on the
system, it isn't a remake or port of a classic. Finally, the icing on
the cake is that the game did get a European release, a
feat rare enough to be mentioned. Despite all of these and being part
of a well-known franchise, it wasn't even talked about that much, got
zero commercial push in the West and didn't perform well at retail in
those parts as a result. Like many other games, it drowned in the depth
of the vast library of quality games released on the DS. Fans of the RPG
genre and DS owners, if you haven't already, get this game while you
still can.

Ross Marrs, Podcast Editor

With such an
extensive library of games for the Nintendo DS, there’s always bound to
have been software that has slipped under my radar. Perhaps a game
didn’t sell to well or it didn’t receive enough marketing or maybe it
just didn’t get many reviews. That’s not to say some of them could be
fantastic though. I am fortunate enough to have played one of the lesser
known games on DS, Ninjatown, and it comes highly recommended if you love tower defence games.







Ninjatown is based off a toy line created by Shawn Smith
(former editor of Electronic Gaming Monthly) and comes from the
Shawnimal’s character called Wee-Ninja. The style of the game features
the same cute look as the toy range, which may have put some people off
and might have thought it was a simple game designed for young children.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Whilst it isn’t the most challenging
tower defence title around, it certainly isn’t a pushover. The premise
for game is fairly simple - a volcano erupts in the peaceful place known
as Ninjatown, and as a result a whole hive of monsters is unleashed
upon the townsfolk. Luckily, the folk in question happen to be ninjas
and they aren’t going down with a fight.




The game works from a top-down viewpoint and players have to place
ninja huts around areas of the town. This of course involves some
strategy and you have a number of ninja huts, housing different types of
ninja. There’re your standard ninjas which are fast but weak, ninjas
with catapults to hit far away enemies and snowball throwing ninjas,
which can freeze enemies on the spot. Furthermore, there are upgrades
that can be made to ninja huts to make them stronger and also special
moves you can choose from. Whilst all that strategy is going on, any
monsters come in range of the huts, they will get attacked by the
ninjas. If enemies get past, then you start losing lives - lose too many
and you’ll have to restart the stage.







Ninjatown received positive reviews back in 2009, but despite
that it never seemed to capture a big audience. The titles is by far
one of the most addictive I’ve played on the DS and now that you’ll find
it dirt cheap, I’d definitely recommend investing in it.

Aaron Elias, General Writer

First on my list has to be Neves. The concept of Neves
is so simple, but it is one of the most addictive games I’ve played and
really puts your brain to the test. Based on the popular Japanese
tangram puzzles, a basic picture is presented on the top screen, and you
have to create that image using the seven shapes handed to you on the
touch-screen. The shapes are always the same, but you can move, flip and
rotate them to piece them together using the intuitive controls of the
stylus. The first lot of designs are relatively easy to complete, but as
you begin to complete each one, they get harder and harder, with some
becoming almost impossible to emulate. With over 500 puzzles to conquer,
and other game modes which include beating the puzzles in set time
limits and in only seven moves, as well as a multiplayer option, Neves is one of the best puzzlers you can buy for your Nintendo DS.







Next up is Polarium, a game that tests your speed and reactions, similar to other popular block-based puzzlers like Tetris.
The main game has you viewing tiles of black and white squares on the
touch screen. Using the stylus, you drag over the squares to flip them
and turn them from black to white and vice versa. Complete a row
horizontally or vertically in the same colour, and they will vanish,
dropping down more mixed up tiles from above. The idea is to clear as
many tiles as possible as quickly as you can to rack up big scores. The
more rows you clear in one swoop, the more points you get. Naturally,
the game speeds up and drops tiles faster the more you go on, with you
losing if the tiles reach the pinnacle of the top screen. This mode will
really test you but it’s certainly addictive and will have you coming
back for more. Additionally, the puzzle mode of the game presents you
with fixed sets of tiles which you must clear in only one move. These
challenges are definitely another big incentive to replay the game, on
top of multiplayer fun for you and a friend.







Finally, in a twist from traditional Kirby platformers, Kirby: Power Paintbrush
sees you controlling the pink puffball using only the stylus in a
unique world. Kirby is transformed into a ball by a witch, and his home
turned into a world of paint, leaving you with an innovative, yet quite
wonderful, method to play through this game. You don’t use any buttons
to move around; you instead use the stylus to draw lines of paint for
Kirby to roll across. An ink meter determines how much you can draw, but
replenishes itself as you stop drawing. Tapping Kirby makes him dash,
so it is using this combination of painting paths and dashing that gets
you through each gorgeously-designed and colourful level. Familiar
enemies are ever-present, and are defeated by tapping them to stun them,
then dashing into them and stealing their special powers. There are a
great number of levels to complete, each with brilliant variation in
design, along with bosses to defeat in mini games at the end of each
world. Extra challenges involve beating certain levels in a set time and
using a certain amount of ink to reward you with unlockables. Kirby: Power Paintbrush delivers some of the finest uses of the stylus on the DS, providing a lot of fun and brilliant platforming.