Open world
GTA: Chinatown Wars
A fully fledged open world epic squeezed onto the dinky DS, com𓆉plete with extreme violence and adult plot. Gangsters in the palm of your hand.
Adventure
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Arguably Link’s best handheld adventure, it combines gorgeous cel-s൲haded vis💞uals and some of the series’ best puzzles yet.
Strategy
Advance Wars: Dual Strike
Don’t let the cutesy anime visuals fool you &nd𒊎ash; this is as hardcore as strategy games get. Warfare has rarely been so fun or rewarding as this.
Racing
Mario Kart DS
An outrageously fun kart racer that keeps the series’ bes💃t features and introduces Wi-Fi multiplayer thrills. Ideal for quick racꦫes against friends.
Shooter
Metroid Prime Hunters
A triumph of clever design that manages to reproduce the Metroid Prime series 🅺for the small screen, complete 🧸with multiplayer. Great blasting on the go.
Platforming/puzzle
Scribblenauts
A wordy platform puzzler in which you type objects into existence. Very innovative bဣut you might want to keep a dictionary handy to keep going. It’s a great ღidea hampered by some control problems and a jetpack that solves most puzzles, but it showcases the DS’s strengths very well.
Puzzle
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
The puzzler tꦓhat had the nation hooked thanks to gorgeously twee visuals and tougher conundrums than Countdown.
Platforming
New Super Mario Bros.
The Mario brothers return to their 2D roots in th🌊is riotously colourful adventure that proves Ni🔯ntendo haven’t lost their gameplay touch.
RPG
Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story
An RPG with many a delicious in-joke hidden beneath its moustache; best of all, you ge🐬t to p🔴lay as the mighty Bowser!
RPG
Pokemon HeartGold/Soul Silver
Time to catch ’em all, all over again. This Poke-adventure adds m🌸ore monsters and a weird step-o-meter device to the 𒉰mix.
The most hardcore action on DS
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
A more action focussed crack of the whip for Konami&rsqꦬuo;s superna♋tural series but still brilliant.
Contra 4
An ultra hard, side- scrolling shooter that has guts and guns aplent🍒y. But this is definit⛄ely not for faint-hearted gamers.
Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword
An easier outing than usual for Team Ninja but great use of the touchscre꧙en makes for a fine actioner.
Prince of Persia: The Fallen King
Don’t let the cutes꧅y visuals fool you. This touchscreen-enabled platformer gets really tough, really quick. It’s also not so great, but if you want to get hardcore…
