Schild vs. Nintendo DS! Round 2! Fight!

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Schild vs. Nintendo DS! Round 2! Fight!


Caution: Pops Up Into a Modem-Unfriendly Massive Picture
There's a story about how I came to like the DS. Nay, love the DS. Though, in the beginning, "love" wasn't really an apt description. I suppose this is as good a place of any to discuss how I got to where I am and how a picture like the one above pops into existence.

I bought one at launch. As in, day one. I had no intention of doing so. At the time I was a manager at a one-screen art house theatre. While a movie was being shown, I had nothing to do. The day the DS came out, I remember the move we were showing was about 3 hours long. I decided to bite the bullet and pick up a DS with five launch titles (Feel the Magic, Mr. Driller, Tiger Woods, Wario Ware, and Super Mario 64). The launch lineup was horrendous and there was no sign of the catalog getting better. We still haven't gotten a decent Metroid or Zelda. Well, we almost got a Zelda this Christmas... But I'm getting ahead of myself here.

So this first DS, it was a silver one. I suppose that doesn't matter since the only color available at the time was silver, but there it is. This one lasted less than 24 hours. Immediately upon getting out of the car after purchasing it, the infernal machine managed to fall out of my pocket inbetween the car door and the car itself...

As it was closing.

To be continued. After the jump.

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[bhodi]

I will murder you in your sleep for using "After the jump."

[Strazos]

I can't believe you didn't keep WarioWare.

[geldonyetich]

Good list.  Added quite a few to my wish list.

The DS is pretty hardcore, probably for much the same reason the GBA was (for which it is backwards compatible): Less multimedia capability means the developers have to put more focus into making the game itself good.

In my tiny 5-game DS collection, I've only one game to add that Schild didn't cover:

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time is pretty good.  It's an RPG with action-based resolution to hitting and dodging, with some good Marioish moments here and there.  It seems a little too short, but then, that's kinda how one knows that they weren't bored of it at the end.  Get it if you've nothing against mario and simple RPGs with action-based elements.

Also, whenever I hear a reviewer say something is a "fushigi no dungeon-like game", even if it was made by the same company that made fushigi no dungeon, I feel that said reviewer has respect for the greater world of Roguelikes for which fushigi no dungeon is but one tiny congregation of console pilgrims.  Also, fushigi no dungeon.

[schild]

Yes, the new pokemon was made by Chunsoft. I normally don't specify them as "Roguelikes" because it's such a special subset of them. But ya, technically, it's a roguelike.

[Raph]

My kids managed to lose my copy of Lost in Blue before I even got to play it.

[schild]

My kids managed to lose my copy of Lost in Blue before I even got to play it.

Raph vs. Children Who Lose Impossible to Find Games! Round 1! Fight!

[voodoolily]

Lost in Blue was one of the titles I picked up with my xmas Best Buy gift card last year. It is a great as everyone says. Having three ways to end the game is genius.

I thought Super Princess Peach could go on the list. Not because it's a must-have, but it is pretty fun. A bit too easy (the end gets a bit tougher), but a great teething ring for your budding gamer girl.

Although I covet the pink DS Lite, I like being able to carry around two games in one unit in the clunky old DS (being GB backwards compatible and all).

[schild]

Note: These aren't must-haves. They're just what I bought. The DS Lite, as you can see in the picture, has room for both game carts.

About Mario & Luigi and Princess Peach... Well, they're not NSMB. I tend to pick my battles with Nintendo titles going for the best of what their offering because when they stray a little bit, it starts to feel really half-baked. Hell, maybe Tose makes that stuff. Who knows. But those two titles just didn't compare to NSMB.

[voodoolily]

I'm either a big fat pussy or NSMB was a little hard. I stopped playing when I got this close to heaving my DS through the window. I'm a very emotional gamer.

[Prospero]

Nice list Schild. I didn't realize the new Phoenix Wright was out. I need to get a copy of that stat. Here are a couple you missed.

Mario Hoops - Awesome sports game for people who don't generally like sports games. Take a standard basketball game, add Mario Kart style power ups, and an excellent stylus based UI. Totally tasty.

Starfox DS - Decidedly meh. So far the most fun I've had is playing deathmatch with friends. The controls are pretty nice once you get the hand of them, but a non-stylus based option would have been nice.

Metroid Pinball - If you like video pinball this is a pretty solid game. It could stand to have more tables, but the tables it has are well done. Plus this game gives you the rumble pack that is used in a handful of other games.

[Trippy]

Note: These aren't must-haves. They're just what I bought. The DS Lite, as you can see in the picture, has room for both game carts.

GBA carts do stick out a bit from the DS Lite since it's smaller than the original and also it doesn't have a door to keep the slot protected when not in use so they provide a "slot filler" that fits flush but is easy to misplace. It's a small price to pay, though, for much much nicer screens and of course the slightly smaller size.

[MrHat]

So I'm putting together a xmas list for myself.  DS lite is what I want (and a good pair of inner ear headphones).  But I have to be mindful of games, would be nice to have a couple that the wife (only game she plays regularly is guitar hero).  I was in WalMart (fucking walmart's electronic section isn't half bad), and got a chance to play Elite Beat Agents and MiniMario?, EBA was perfect, and I think Mario: Lemmings would be a good pick for the wife.

As for me, FF, Castlevania to get started.

[Trippy]

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - Ring of Fates is supposed to come out at the end of this week (assuming it hasn't been delayed yet again) and it supports 4 players over Wi-Fi.

[Strazos]

Erm, wasn't Crystal Chronicles kind of...bad?

[Trippy]

Erm, wasn't Crystal Chronicles kind of...bad?

Single player, yes. Well it wasn't horrible, just sort of medicore despite its very nice visuals. I never tried MP which is what interests me about this game since it can be played over the Internet instead of the ridiculous setup for the GC version.

[geldonyetich]

Bad enough that eBay is clogged with under $10 offers to sell it.  It did have a certain multimedia appreciation aspect to it, I suppose - so far as gauntlet clones go, it was pretty fully featured.  A pity that the game mechanic quality didn't match.

I did play it multiplayer from the same console, I wasn't any more impressed than the single player game.  Perhaps the best part of it was that it came with a half dozen or so downloadable GBA games.

[Samwise]

I'm either a big fat pussy or NSMB was a little hard. I stopped playing when I got this close to heaving my DS through the window. I'm a very emotional gamer.

I'd say NSMB was pretty hard compared to, say, Princess Peach, but paled in comparison to the NES SMB games.

[Litigator]

Jesus, you buy a lot of games.

[trias_e]

Any thoughts on Metroid Prime:  Hunters?  Anyone?

I highly enjoyed MP on Gamecube, but I don't know if it will translate well to the DS.

[schild]

Hunters? Not so good.

Mega man ZX is a good replacement for that Metroidvania/Castleroids gameplay though. And omg, Portrait of Ruin comes out this week.

[Strazos]

I thought Hunters was alright, though I haven't tried MP on it.

And Schild, you're getting the special edition of Ruin, right? With the case that looks like a nice envelope or something?

[schild]

You mean that? Oh hells yes.

[Kail]

Any thoughts on Metroid Prime:  Hunters?  Anyone?

I highly enjoyed MP on Gamecube, but I don't know if it will translate well to the DS.

I like aiming with the stylus (compared to an analog stick), but it's still not as comfortable as a mouse, and with the removal of the lock-on command, combat feels awkward to me.

The single-player campaign felt tacked on.  Rather than running around collecting abilities to bypass obstacles, you're just collecting different weapons to open different colored doors.  The bosses are awful; there are only two or three of them, but you fight them over and over and over again.

Multiplayer is better, but I don't have wi-fi, so I haven't played it online.  There are some really cheap mechanics, and some significant balance issues with the characters.  The gameplay didn't impress me (compared to something like Unreal Tournament), with being limited to four players in a small number of tiny maps.  I love the way the game lets you set up bot matches, though, so you can play the multiplayer mode by yourself if you want.

[Strazos]

Slight Necro.

Played 2 new (to me, anyway) DS titles tonight. Work was dead. I have no idea why our store is open until 10pm. Sure, I'll take the hours, but I won't have any actual work to do. Anyway...

After playing some DOA4 (BTW: it's trash), and not being able to change the game in the 360, decided to pull out a DS and see what I could play. First up:

 - Elite Beat Agents -

   I knew going in that it was a rhythm game. I'm not real big on these kind of games. I don't like looking like an idiot while I play, nor do I like feeling like an idiot because I am terrible at the game. I don't like to dance much anyway, so I stay away from DDR. I'm horrible at Guitar Hero. This game, on the other hand, does not make me feel stupid. Hence, I found it to be quite fun in the limited time I had to play it. The actual timing with the songs seemed pretty good after I got over the learning curve, and I liked the direction they took with the art and script. I was laughing out loud while playing the first real "stage." I didn't think much of the game going in, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Next:
 - Cooking Mama -
 
   Now come on...we've had games about farming, raising pets, and whatever else is in WarioWare, but Cooking? I was just a Bit skeptical. But I will say that the only reason I picked this game out of the drawer in the first place is that I remembered Schild saying something about it, so I just had to at least try it.
   
   Do you like stuff like WarioWare or Trauma Center? I do, and I was very surprised to find that I really liked Cooking Mama as well. It's just another one of those unconventional Nintendo games where, going in, the premise sounds really stupid; Oooo, you cook. I hate cooking in real life. I refuse to do it. I don't have the patience to look at my food while preparing it, and not being able to eat it. Unlike real cooking, I actually like cooking in this game. I made me some tasty fried octopus dumplings, straight out of Osaka. And then, among other things, I made a sweet double-decker sandwich with all the fixings. And what the hell, the game is $20. It's a lot of fun for what it is. And it's the game that I could see getting a lot of replay.

And for the record, I'm probably better at cooking on the DS than I am in a real kitchen. Yes ladies, I am available.

[schild]

DOA4 isn't trash. At least not with the DOA stick it isn't, but I think those go for $100 or so now on ebay.

I like Cooking Mama. You'll be surprised at how big the final menu is.

[Strazos]

Eh...for me it's trash. Soul Calibur is more my style.

Oh, and on Cooking Mama....I had no idea cooking rice could take so many steps. Also, it's coming out for the Wii. I'm all about that.

[schild]

You can't even compare DOA and SC! Good christ man! That doesn't make it bad!

Yea, I know, I can't wait for more minigame based Wii games. Surely we won't be flooded with them over the life of the console.

[Strazos]

Maybe you can't compare them, but I certainly can. If I was going to buy a fighting game for the 360, it would only be one. The only thing I see that DOA has going for it are booby graphics, and at times even that is debatable.

DOA may look better, but SC plays better.

I should cut down on my derailments.

[andar]

I hate your pink DS.
But I loathe my Apple White iDS 

[Yegolev]

I hate your pink DS.

Coral.  It's Coral.

[Roac]

Coral.  It's Coral.

To go along with salmon colored shirts?

[Azazel]

DOA4 isn't trash. At least not with the DOA stick it isn't, but I think those go for $100 or so now on ebay.

360 question:

Can you use existing wired X-Box controllers and stuff on it? I have two big-ass arcade fighting sticks for my X-Box/PS2 (dual console) and would like to be able to continue using them when I eventually get a 360...

[schild]

No, you can't. USB to pS2 adapters might work though.

[Azazel]

The 360 uses standard USB ports then for it's controllers? What about X-Box to USB adaptors? Shame Sony killed off Lik-Sang, which was where I got this kind of shit. Fuckers.