which are the games to get?

[paz9x]

im getting mario kart for xmas
and im getting my wife mario & luigi

other than those what are two must haves?

im looking at
trace memory
meteos
lunar
trauma center

does lunar utilize the touch feature at all?
and how does it compare to the golden suns (ive never played a lunar game)

[Scorch]

AVOID LUNAR AT ALL COSTS. Among the bad things in the game, you cannot choose who you attack in a battle with multiple enemies, and you actually LOSE health if you run! That's how they tried to extend the gameplay.

Trauma Center is beautiful, so is Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Pick up Animal Crossing as well!

[Graystone]

Lost in the Blue is good. Mario kart is good, but only for mutliplayer and you only need one cart.
Super mario 64
Sonic rush and everything the OP has listed except Lunar.

[paz9x]

i dont want to buy mario 64 because im replaying the n64 version

scorch, thanks for the lunar info, i was on the razors edge on buyign that tonight actually.

what are the must haves though?
i dont want just good i want to be hooked

Lost in the Blue is good. Mario kart is good, but only for mutliplayer and you only need one cart.
Super mario 64
Sonic rush and everything the OP has listed except Lunar.

[sketch226]

Advance Wars: Dual Strike and Kirby Canvas Curse are solid choices

[daroga]

Meteos, Kirby, Castlevania, and Phoenix Wright

[zewone]

Castlevania: DoS

[Swingman]

The games I'm wanting are...

Mario Kart
Meteos
Nintendogs
Advance Wars: Dual Strike
Mario and Luigi Partners in Time
Fifa 06 (not sure about this one but might get it)
Sonic Rush
Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow

Coming down the road
Top Spin 2 (1/23/06)
True Swing Golf (1/23/06)
Age of Empires: Age of Kings (January 06)
Metroid Prime: Hunters (3/20/06)
Legend of Zelda DS (2006)
New Super Mario Brothers (2006)

[Arkay Firestar]

Mario Kart is perfectly fine and fun for singleplayer. Has a lot of unlockables, and plays a lot better than Mario Kart GBA or GCN...perfected gameplay IMO.

[LaseK]

I recommend Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Advance Wars Dual strike, and Mario Kart DS.. Everything else for DS was "good while it released", like Kirby and Yoshi Touch & Go, but now that this batch of games hit, I can't recommend anything else. I also haven't played Lost in Blue, Lunar, Viewtiful Joe, or Tony Hawk, so meh ;_;

[Kapwanil]

AVOID LUNAR AT ALL COSTS. Among the bad things in the game, you cannot choose who you attack in a battle with multiple enemies, and you actually LOSE health if you run! That's how they tried to extend the gameplay.

I second that. I picked it up for $20 at Best Buy when it came out and it's really sad. Some of the great things are back like character designs by the artist for the entire series and whatnot, but everything else just...well, went to hell. The battle system and the way you acquire items and experience is just completely idiotic and unnecessary. Losing health by dashing is also a piss-poor idea, especially since RPGs as of late have been trying to include dash functions to speed up gameplay where necessary. And targeting in battle, as was previously mentioned, is beyond sad.

What really annoys me greatly is the complete and utter lack of Noriyuki Iwadare on the compositional side of things. Without him behind the soundtrack the magic just feels...well, gone. Couple that with another Ubisoft translation and...ugh, not good. Not good at all. I'm just glad I picked it up for $20.

And I only complain about Ubisoft's translation because of the way they handled Lunar Legends on the GBA (translation issues as well) and the utter lack of polish on the dialogue. Working Designs, admittedly, went above and beyond anything they really had to do with dialogue for their localizations in the past (good lord, the work they did...out of all of the text in Lunar: SSSC I think there were two spelling mistakes and a grammar error). The fact that Ubisoft didn't even bother to double-check what they did for Lunar Legends was a kick in the teeth, and it extends into Dragon Song as well. No polish on the dialogue (characters are unique, still, but they don't have the vitality that previous Lunar characters had), spelling mistakes...not good, not good at all.

Honestly, hold off on Lunar until you can get it on a price break or a reprice. Since it's a Ubisoft release it should drop in price in several months or so like Lunar Legends did, and if you grab a used copy over at EB or GameStop later you can save quite a bit more. And, unlike WD releases, they'll be around quite a bit longer before they only pop up Used and all, so you have time to wait and whatnot on this.

Sorry if I rambled a bit but I've been a fan of the series since the Sega CD days and I found Dragon Song to be a waste of time. It's not entirely Ubisoft's fault (although they really need to step up their localizations for RPGs) but Game Arts...oh god, they just really missed the mark on this one. Granted, it was a huge step for them and all but there's pretty much no stylus interaction in the game, the general game system is silly, and the battle system is quite poor.

[LaseK]

I dont think Game Arts did Dragon Song. It's "Marvelous", or something akin to that.

[TheYellowDart]

I think everyone here is overlooking the best game for DS. Whac-a-Mole.

Best decision i've ever made.

[Technique]

I think everyone here is overlooking the best game for DS. Whac-a-Mole.

Best decision i've ever made.

Dude, you are overlooking wayyyy to much. Hands down. Best. Game. Ever.

Snood 2: Ultimate Vacation!

Best desicion I've ever made.

[asianxcore]

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Meteos
Mario Kart: DS
Trauma Center

[Scobie]

Meteos, Kirby, Castlevania, and Phoenix Wright

daroga's on the money here... I'm especially enthusiastic about Phoenix Wright! What a great game! Takes me back to the old gaming days and is closer to what Trace Memory should've been.

(As an aside, I had very high hopes for Trace Memory, but Nintendo dropped the ball big time. There's absolutely no challenge, it's over in about six hours, and there's virtually no replay value. The graphics and sound are very good, but it could've and should've been a lot better).

Other games I'd recommend:

-- Advance Wars DS: I've got about 40 hours logged so far and still loving it... it's awesome in LAN multiplayer mode if you have the time. It far exceeds the previous AW titles IMO. Black Boats, Stealth Bombers, Mega Tanks, etc., new COs, new maps... good times.

-- Wario Ware Touched: Brilliant experience. Frantic, silly, challenging, tons of fun, a huge amount of unlockables, and just an all-around great handheld experience.

-- Metroid Prime Pinball: A+ execution; flawless gameplay and a wonderful recreation of the Metroid Prime world.

-- Animal Crossing: Wild World: Even though it doesn't come out till the Dec 5th, this one's going to be golden. I haven't been this excited about a game in a long time.

[paz9x]

thanks for the post scobie, thatsd exactly what i was looking for.
i havent been able to find pheonix wright anywhere, i havent really searched but ive checked all the local places.

ill be picking up animal crossing wednesday and possibly meteos as well, unless i find pheonix wright first.

itd be great if i ever got my f'ing best buy bucks in the mail they owe me over $100
thats atleast four ds games =)

[Scobie]

itd be great if i ever got my f'ing best buy bucks in the mail they owe me over $100 thats atleast four ds games =)

Also, see if you can dig up a copy of the December issue of Nintendo Power. There's a Best Buy coupon for $5 off up to three games and accessories $19.99 and up. It expires 15 January. Dunno if it's stackable with Best Buy Bucks.

I think there was a thread somewhere with some high-res scans of it, but that kinda thing is YMMV. TRU stores often carry old issues of NP.

[paz9x]

Also, see if you can dig up a copy of the December issue of Nintendo Power. There's a Best Buy coupon for $5 off up to three games and accessories $19.99 and up. It expires 15 January. Dunno if it's stackable with Best Buy Bucks.

I think there was a thread somewhere with some high-res scans of it, but that kinda thing is YMMV. TRU stores often carry old issues of NP.
im tryign to use the 10 off 29.99.

thanks for the heads up on the other coupon
ive got some of the bb gcd's with coupon as well, but 10 oo fis better than 5

[daroga]

daroga's on the money here...

Frickin awesome! I rule! Or, I got one thing right, ever. ;)

MP:Pinball is prehaps the best pinball game I've ever played (2nd best would go to thr GBA Pokemon Pinball and GB Kirby's Pinball Land both). It's a lot of fun. Multiplayer is simple, but fun. And the rumble pack is great.

Mario Kart DS is hands down my favorite game on the system... but that's the thing, every other game is awesome too. What to choose?! If you start out with Meteos and Mario Kart, there's not a chance you'll be bored for several weeks. Get AC:WW too, and you're golden beyond belief, and have many different genres represented. :)

[jfunkdpg]

Meteos - an incredibly fun and addictive puzzle game. I dont think I've played a puzzle game as much as Meteos since Tetris for the original Gameboy.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow - my 2nd favorite Castlevania game behind SotN.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - This game was so much better than I thought it was going to be. The story is engrossing, and it's a great throwback to the point-and-click adventure games (reminded me of some of the old Lucasarts games).

Mario Kart DS - Incredibly fun, this is a must buy I've you've got a wireless router (or if you've got broadband, get the USB adaptor). I've already played this game a ton, and if I didn't have a ton of other DS games + a rapidly growing backlog, I'd be playing this all day.

Sonic Rush - brings me back to the days of the Genesis when I'd lose half a day (or more) playing Sonic 1 & 2. If you're a Sonic fan, defjnitely pick this up.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - I'm not too far into it yet, but I'm having just as much fun, if not more due to the 2 screen features, than I did playing through M&L1. There aren't too many rpgs for the DS (even fewer good ones) so if you like rpgs and the Mario universe, pick this bad boy up.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife - cool concept, incredibly executed with the stylus control. Also, it's incredibly difficult, so beware.

Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble - I really liked this game, and I'm not even that big of a VJ fan. Good use of the touch screen, and crips visuals. Not as much combat in this one compared to the console games, but I actually kinda like that.

[captaincold]

Mario Kart DS - $25 at Best Buy with Coupon. Best.Mario.Kart.Ever

Puyo Pop Fever - $15 at Best Buy with GGC. 2nd Best DS puzzle game behind Meteos.

Feel the Magic - $10 at TRU. Just a great quirky game