Name your DS title you love/hate

[TheLastBlade]

Its that time of year again where people decide to be nostalgic (though it actually has been only a year). So to remember the good and bad times, pick your favorite and most hated title you have on your DS library.

Love: Jump Ultimate Stars- Cuz you know, it's actually the best fighting game on the DS.

Hate: ????- I actually don't have any I could hate.

[cortjezter]

Love: Tetris DS. I just can't seem to put enough hours into this. A four-hour flight zips right by.

Hate: Rhythm Heaven. F this game. I love the idea, and the stuff that works is fun. But the central flicking mechanic is just fundamentally flawed, making it a frustrating if not impossible experience for some of the challenges (I'm looking at you, ping pong).

[Jirachi]

love:radiant historia and dragon quest v
both games have excellent stories and great gameplay.
hate:final fantasy 4 ds
my god why is this game so damn hard?

[CorusFace]

Love - Solatorobo: Red the Hunter. Flawed? Maybe. But tons of character and detail were put into this game. There's a whole universe waiting to be explored in there! Here's hoping for that 3DS sequel....
Hate - Anything with "Mama" in it. Come on!

[Mirr0rR3flection]

Love: Pokemon Platinum

I was able to get a ton of legit Shinys thanks to a program algorithm I learned a while back.

Hate: Pokemon White

I CAN'T SEEM TO FIND A FRICKEN SHINY SOLOSIS or HATCH A SHINY ZORUA ALL THESE YEARS!!!

DX<

[Koopzilla]

Love:This is tough. All three Castlevanias are fantastic. Mario Kart DS was great. Also loved Final Fantasy 4 remake. Chrono Trigger is still one of my favorite games of all time even though it's virtually the same as the SNES version. The World Ends With You was also an excellent game. And of course every Pokemon, probably my favorite was Soul Silver simply because you could have your Pokemon follow you around. I can't really pick a favorite, my heads gonna explode.

Hate: This on the other hand is easy, Star Fox Command. Oh man, this is by far the worst Star Fox game I have ever played (and i've played them all). I got it in a bargain bin for $9 and still felt ripped off.

[KingBroly]

Love: The World Ends With You

Hate: Metroid Prime Hunters

[Battlestriker123]

Love: New Super Mario Bros.; after all, it was the first 2D sidescrolling Mario game in 15 years. And it was fun, especially the multiplayer.

Love even more: Mario Kart DS; that game was pure fun. I loved the addition of mission mode, and local Battle Mode was almost as much fun as MK64's battle mode back in the day.

Hate: Yoshi's Island DS; I loved the original Yoshi's Island, but Yoshi's Island DS took everything bad about the first game and made them worse. The levels were too long and frustrating, not to mention completely uninteresting at all.

Hate even more: Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time; the original is my favorite game of all time, BiS is an amazingly fun DS game. PiT? Absolutely annoying. Cliche story, too short, too much grinding, zero exploration, babies suck, and the worst final boss I've ever seen in a Mario game in terms of design. Ugh.

[Blue_Falcon]

Love:

Pokémon Platinum - It's one of the best games I've ever played, which means it's also the best Pokémon game I've played.

Pokémon Soul Silver - Not as good as Platinum, but there's nothing wrong with being close second.

Bowser's Inside Story - Should be evident.

Days of Ruin - Fantastic strategy game.

Dragon Quest V - Its sense of adventure is matched by very few games.

Yoshi's Island DS - Recently popped this in, and it's a lot better than I remember it being.

Contact - There's just something about this game.

Those are favorites, but I'm probably forgetting a couple.

Don't like:

Diddy Kong Racing DS - The original might not be perfect, but the remake is just awful. Despite being fueled with nitro-nostalgia, I still couldn't enjoy this game.

Pokémon White - I touched upon my complaints in this thread.

New Super Mario Bros. - For the same reasons as Pokémon White, but in the context of Mario games. Nothing more than a cash cow taking advantage of nostalgia.

Dragon Quest IX - Read the post I linked.

Rhythm Heaven - For literally the same reasons Cort mentioned. Damn that block-headed (both literally and figuratively) figure to hell.

Partners in Time - More or less of what the guy above me said.

Jump Ultimate Stars - So much for the hype. Seriously, Smash Bros. with a bunch of cool anime characters? (sure the stories and character development suck, but most of the characters are aesthetically cool.) Sounds awesome, but when I finally got around to playing it thanks to a friend who imported it, boy was I underwhelmed. I won't deny that part it was due to me overhyping it, but even with that in mind, the mechanics still suck.

[TheLastBlade]

FUUUUUU- now I remember what game was terrible... It was so bad that I forgot it even existed.

POKEMON WHITE/BLACK

.... F you people for thinking its a good game!

[Jerome]

I just got a DS about a year and half ago, so I haven't gone through that many games yet, but I do think Mario Kart DS is quite good, with a good deal of content and excellent controls. I just wish the items weren't so stinkin' overpowered and unbalanced, but that's been my main gripe with every Mario Kart game after the first. Advance Wars DS and NSMB are also good, but for various reasons I wouldn't quite put those in the "love" category. I've recently bought several more games like Bowser's Inside Story, Trauma Center, and Henry Hatsworth, (awesome sale at Best Buy) but I haven't played them much yet.

As for the "hate" category, I second Koopzilla's sentiment about Starfox Command, though I actually paid less for it and ended up reselling. Also, I was quite disappointed with 'Lost In Blue'. It's ridiculously tedious, and the characters seem more like bottomless pits than human beings, requiring constant feeding and care not to be on the verge of death.

[GiriOni]

Love - The remakes of Dragon Quest 4-6
I was at the store and I saw a copy of DQ4 and thought, eh might as well pick it up and see what it is (as it was a bargain bin game at Best Buy). And to say I was amused would be an understatement, it was pretty good so I pulled a few internet strings and got my hand on DQ5... NOW that was the best game I ever played on the DS. And I'm looking forward to DQX, as these games have made me into quite a huge DQ fan.

Like - Golden Sun
Eh it was good... was too easy in some parts, easy to miss things for the rest of the game, copied a lot from Golden Sun 2, and felt lacking, but N should improve and release a 3DS sequel ASAP.

Hate - Metroid Prime Hunters
Hate to say this but it was worse then Other M... I mean it had the same 3-4 places and 3 bosses except for the last boss, and to be honest it was too easy.

[Since1776]

Love:
Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure - Phenomenal game that needs more love so we can get a sequel.

Brain Age - Uniqueness and all around awesome.

Kirby Canvas Curse - Favorite Kirby game, fantastic and unique game play, needs a sequel.

Kirby SuperStar Ultra - Missed the original on SNES, was blown away.

Metroid Prime Hunters - Never understood all the negativity. Maybe not a pure metroid game, but tons of fun.

Hate:
Honestly cannot think of any ds game I hate.

[bobafruit]

love:radiant historia and dragon quest v
both games have excellent stories and great gameplay.
hate:final fantasy 4 ds
my god why is this game so damn hard?

Love: Final Fantasy 4 DS
Hate: Final Fantasy 4 DS

[KingBroly]

A more thorough listing:

Love
- The World Ends With You
- Dragon Quest IX
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations
- Tetris DS
- Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
- Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
- Chrono Trigger
- Animal Crossing: Wild World
- Elite Beat Agents
- Mega Man ZX
- Mega Man ZX Advent

Hate
- Metroid Prime Hunters (It's a very buggy, poor controlling game)
- Final Fantasy III (Way too hard)
- The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
- Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

[nGen]

Love

-The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks - #5 in my Favorite Zelda Games List
-Dragon Quest IX - A Great Adventure that gets even better when you finish the story
-Hotel Dusk: Room 215 - One of the best visual novels I've ever played
-999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - One of the best visual novels I've ever played
-The World Ends With You - The perfect game for Dual Screens
-Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective - A hell of a fun ride and story
-New Super Mario Bros. - A great trip back to what made Mario so great in the first place
-Big Bang Mini - An absolute fun shmup
-Prey the Stars - One of the oddest games I've ever played and that's why I love it
-Shantae: Risky's Revenge - The best game on DSiWare
-Custom Robo Arena - A collect-them-all game for the more action oriented. Love this game
-Space Invaders Extreme - Of all the retro revival in the past few years, this one was my favorite
-Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime - Probably my favorite DS game ever, the tank battles are amazing

Hate

-The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - That damn Temple of the Ocean King, unimaginative Dee Ess island and Maze island
-Away Shuffle Dragon - Art style clashes and dungeons that get boring right around the third one, waste of talent
-Legend of Kage 2 - Dull, dull, dull, dull, dull
-Puzzle Quest Galatrix - Slow puzzles, incredibly slow story, unlocking locks sucks
-SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS - Aside from the game breaking bug, the card fighting is slow and uninteresting

[Iridium077]

Going down the list, in alphabetical order:

Love:
-Animal Crossing: Wild World
-Chrono Trigger
-Elite Beat Agents & Ouendan 2
-Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
-Kirby Super Star Ultra
-Mario Kart DS
-Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
-Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (et al)
-Professor Layton and the Four DS Games (but especially Unwound Future.)
-Picross DS
-Pokemon Platinum - IMO, the best Pokemon game on the DS. Haters gonna hate.
-Radiant Historia
-The World Ends With You

Hate:
-Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon - Though I'm planning to give it another chance soon, now that I'm done with Jeanne d'Arc. Worst case scenario, the latter looks better.
-The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks - It may have been a better game than Phantom Hourglass technically, but honestly, I enjoyed the latter more. Spirit Tracks just felt completely uninspired. I even got used to the Ocean King temple, but the Tower of Spirits makes me want to cry with boredom.
-Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 - Actually not a terrible game, but it's such a departure from its magnificent predecessor that it's almost tear-inducing.
-Pokemon Trozei - KILL IT WITH FIRE.
-Scribblenauts - I hear the sequel is much better, but I just can't get over this one.
-Yoshi's Island DS - Again, just felt uninspired in comparison to the first one.

Not Sure If Hate or Love
-Dragon Quest IX - This game is a horrendous groanfest and grindfest wrapped up into one, and I don't know why I enjoy it so much.
-Golden Sun: Dark Dawn - I adored this game when I first got it, but since, I've gone back to play the first two games, and now it just feels significantly weak in comparison.
-Metroid Prime Hunters - I enjoyed the game when I got it. A lot. I don't know if I still do.

[cero92]

Love: Lufia Curse of the Sinistrals- I really enjoyed the mechanics and graphics. Some of the boss battles are ridiculous though.
Okamiden- Very good game, though it doesn't quite live up to Okami.
Valkyrie Profile Covenant of the Plume- Perhaps my fav. strategy game. The battle system is excellent.
Hate: Wario Master of Disguise- I just found this game to be so boring.

[InvalidRobot]

Love:Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Rhythm Heaven)
The Japanese version is so better due to the singers actually knowing how to sing. I know there wasn't many with words, but those very few were some of my favorites. They were so bloody awful in English it was just embarrassing, and I would love to slap the idiot who approved those songs. The soundtrack alone is truly pheonmal, and one of my all time favorites. I see a certain individual had trouble playing the game, but I was not one of them, cleared it many times over, and loved every moment of it.


Hate:Professor Layton series
This should be more of a love/hate, because it's really only one flaw is that I'm not smart enough for these puzzles. I love puzzle games, and the design is fantastic, but I'm just really bad at this game.

[changer1701]

Love:
- Advance Wars Dual Strike
- Mario Kart
- True Swing Golf
- Age of Empires (both titles)
- Professor Layton Series
- Meteos
- and more

Hate:
- Lost in Blue
- Rayman (the launch title)

[sundin13]

love: the world ends with you
hate: none yet, but i just started my DS gaming so....

[Carbondog]

Love:
Chrono Trigger (even though it felt a little more like a chore on DS)
Dragon Quest IX Sentinals of the Starry Skies (as well as IV-VI)
Pokemon Black and White as well as all the previous versions
Professor Layton Series
Trace Memory

Hate:
Rhythm Heaven (It makes me frustrated!)
Final Fantasy III (tried to play through twice but got stuck in the same area not sure where to go next)
Sonic Chronicles The Dark Brotherhood
Sprung (I got nothing...)

Still have a lot of unplayed DS games which I hope to start soon including:
9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors
Hotel Dusk Room 215
The Legend of Kage 2
The Legendary Starfy
Mega Man Star Force Pegasus version
Mega Man Star Force 2 Zerker × Saurian version
Mega Man ZX Advent
Okamiden
Solatorobo Red the Hunter
Wario Master of Disguise
The World Ends With You

[Rm88]

It's just impossible for me to pick a favorite one. So I'll just mention one I love, and was actually one of my first DS games:

Super Princess Peach: This is one of my favorite 2D platformers ever, it's very well executed, charming and honestly less formulaic than NSMB. A bit on the easy side? Maybe, it's still good. It's probably Peach starring it or something, but this game deserves way more credit than what it gets.

Marvel Nemesis: Rise of The Imperfects: Early in the DS life cycle I was craving for a fighter on my DS. Little did I know this genre would get mostly neglected on the system. Still, I bought this since the console version was apparently passable. Ugh, most broken, unfinished, awful game I've played. There's no way around it, you'll face a nasty glitch whenever you play it. Boring, repetitive, downright painful. I've never been an EA fan, but it's pretty telling when a company lets something like this hit the stores.

[JakeIsNotGross]

Love: Too many to count! If I had to pick one, though, it'd be either HeartGold/SoulSilver or Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise.

Hate: Tao's Adventure: Curse of the Demon Seal. Here I was so excited when I got it for my birthday and then it turned out to be quite a crapfest.

[Hamr]

Love: Metal Slug 7- Full disclosure: To be honest, this is probably one of my least favorite main entries in the series, and its existence was rendered almost entirely obsolete by XX. That said, even unfinished second-string co-op-less Metal Slug still beats everything else on the market in a walk. Non-stop action, giant robotic sandworms, a boxing match with a Truckasaurus Rex... Game is dope.

Lost Magic: Battalion Wars-esque mix of real-time strategy and action, but with magic instead of guns. The spell-casting system alone is *ludicrously* deep and works well with the tactical approach battles require (plus casting more powerful spells is tied directly to one's dexterity with the stylus). Had the best online multiplayer on the system too, though I suspect it is a ghost town now.

Kirby: Canvas Curse: A game with the Kirby IP built around creative touch controls and marble physics that work extremely well instead of cotton-candy platforming? Please, sir, can I have some more.

Hate: Phantom Hourglass: oh jesus christ why

Tenchu: Dark Secret: Thoroughly terrible, even by Tenchu standards. Broken controls, arbitrary mission objectives, and an absurd belief on the part of the developers that gamers care enough about the poorly-written story that it justifies forcing reams and reams of text on-screen because From Software was too cheap to create cutscenes. Thanks for localizing this, NOA.

Nintendogs: As awesome as dogs are, this is a nice illustration of why pet simulators need to be opposed at every turn. We can trace Nintendo's ridiculous obsession with the non-game/casualware trend -- and all the associated crap design that has leaked into their real games as a result -- directly to this piece-of-junk's 20 million+ units sold.

New Super Mario Bros: As a time capsule detailing what passed for okay design several decades ago, this succeeds fairly well. As a *game*, not so much. People frequently accuse 2D Mario games of largely being 'hold right to win' affairs, but this is possibly the only mainline entry in the franchise where the levels are so flat and the platforming so dull that such claims might as well be accurate. I like to think that Miyamoto created the unimaginably-superior Wii sequel largely as repentance for this travesty. Apology accepted.