Summary

• Lesser-known DS and 3DS games like Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times and Contact offer unique gameplay experiences.
• LostMagic and other hidden gems utilize the DS touchscreen for engaging gameplay.
• Games like The World Ends With You and Corpse Party offer captivating visuals and gripping stories on the DS platform.

Since the launched in 2004, there has been a variety of models, including the Nintendo DS Lite and the . Each of these handheld consoles is known for havin❀g a unique design with two screens, one of which is a touchscreen that you can interact with to perform various functions within different games.

Although this line of consoles is known for a variety of popular games, there are also quite a few excellent games on the platform that never got🌺 quite as we🙈ll-known as these did. Since Nintendo has moved its focus to the Nintendo Switch, a lot of DS and 3DS games have been forgotten.

Updated on April 8, 2025, by Rebecca Phillips: The Switch 2 may have just been announced, but nothing beats the classic Nintendo DS and 3DS, hey? If you're still looking for great games on these handheld consoles, which added another fantastic title you might not have heard of.

22 Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times

The game is known as🥃 Enchanted Folk and the School of Wizardr൩y in Europe.

While Animal Crossing: Wild World and New Leaf were undoubtedly the kings of the cozy genre on DS 💎and 3DS, Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times is easily on par with them in terms of quality and fun. You join a wizardry school, and are tasked with learning spells by going to lessons. You can choose whether the lessons happen - in the day or the evening - to suit your schedule, as the game follows real time.

You can also befriend your classmates and the townspeople - just like Animal Crossing, there's a big roster and the game randomly selects which characters live the⛦re when you🧜 start the game. The 'Mysterious Times' part of the title refers to mysteries that happen around the town. You'll need to investigate them and ask around to discover the truth behind them.

21 Contact

Grasshopper Manufacture’s 2006 DS game Contact is a dist💮inctive RPG that isnꦦ’t afraid to break the fourth wall through its eccentric character the Professor. To power his spaceship, the Professor recruits (more like kidnaps) Terry to gather the cells his ship lost.

As the🎀 player, you are a character in the game, as the Professor directly addresses you and acknowledges that you are the one controlling Terry. The game also utilizes two contrasting art styles across the DS’ two screens, with the top screen using pixel graphics and the bottom using pre-rendered, watercolor-like graphics; it’s a unique experience you’re unlikely to find in any other game.

20 Solatorobo: Red The Hunter 🦩 🐽

Red Savarin, an anthropomorphic dog, known as a ‘Caninu’, is Solatorobo’s protagonist. He is an adventurer who 🤡finds himself embroiled in a quest to unravel the w𒁏orld’s secrets after coming across a Felineko (a cat person) named Elh during one of his missions.

The game is set in a vibrant Steampunk world, where Red pilots his own mecha that can be customized and upgraded; ho๊wever, where the game truly shines is its story. There are twists and turns throughout to 🧸keep you engaged, going deeper than you’d expect for a game about dog people and mechs.

Solatorobo’s opening movie was animated by M🐻adhouse, the same animation studio behind classic anime like Death Note and 2011’s Hunter x Hunter.

19 LostMagic

LostMagic follows a young boy na🅺med Isaac who inherits the Wand of Light from his father, which he can use to cast magic. While the game’s story is fairly simple compared to other RPGs, its gameplay is 💝great fun and makes use of the DS’ touchscreen.

To cast magic, you can draw runes using your stylus on the DS’ touchscreen; there are lots of d🔥ifferent runes to cast, so you have plenty of options when battling enemies, though its difficulty can often🙈 be a challenge. It has a lot of charm and it's worth checking out.

One of the game’s artists, Yoshiharu Satō, also worked for Studio Ghibli, specifically on the movies Only Yesterdaꦛy, Porco Rosso, and The🎃 Cat Returns.

18 🦂 Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon ꧟

The draw of the Rune Factory series is that, alongside runn✃ing a farm, raising liv𝓰estock (or monsters in this case), and getting to know the locals as you would in other farming sims, you get to experience a fantasy story as well. Rune Factory 3 is no different.

In this entry, you play as Micah, who learns that he is⛄ half a monster, and can transform into one himself. Like other farming sims, you can also romance one of the characters; however, unlike others, this plays into the overall narrative, which is unusual for games in this genre. Rune Factory 3 is one of the best entries in the series and is worth playing on DS.

17 Crimson Shr💦ou🌳d

Level 5’s Crimson Shroud is an example of the 3DS’ ingenuity when it comes to video games. Similar to tabletop games l♔ike Dungeons & Dragons, in Crimson Shroud, the roll of the die c🔯an turn the tide in battle - and, of course, you roll the die using the touchscreen.

The game is dedicated to the tabletop style that it uses as inspiration, as the character and enemy models are mini figures in battl💮e. Its compelling narrative is conveyed through text on a static background, evoking a similar tone to narrating a tabletop game at the table; if you’re a fan of tabletop or unique RPGs, Crimson Shroud will appeal to you.

16 Monster Tale 𒊎

Monster Tale’s main character Ellie finds herself in the Monster World, where she meets 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:her monster companion, who she names Chomp. Alongside Chomp, Ellie discove🧜rs that other humans, the Kid-Kings, have infilt🍎rated the world, but are taking advantage of the monsters.

To help the monsters, Ellie and Chomp travel the world, freeing them of the Kid-Kings. The game mixes the Metroidvania aꦡnd monster-taming genres, as you gain new skills and take care of Chomp, and it utilizes the DS’ two screens, having Chomp move between the two depending on whether💎 you’re using him in battle or taking care of him.

15 𒈔 Shinobi 3D ♋

Sega's Shinobi series has been around for more than♌ three decades, having first appeared in arcades way back in 1987. Theಌre are 13 games in total, and many argue that Shinobi 3D for the Nintendo 3DS is the series' best.

The game was one of the better-looking games for the system at the time of its 💧launch and played like a dream. While the visuals may ꦍnow look a bit dated, the hack-and-slash combat remains just as enjoyable as ever and the story is every bit as captivating, and there is even a selection of half-decent minigames thrown in there too, just for good measure.

14 Theatrhythm Final Fa꧟ntasy 🎀

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy and its sequel, Curtain Call, combine the incredible music of Final Fantasy with 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the rhythm-based gameplay of games like Guitar Her🎶o and Rock Band to great effect. Like many games for the 3DS, they definitely look a little rough around the edges, but the gameplay and sound quality are exactly what you'd expect from a Square Enix game.

You'r♕e able to form a party of four characters from the first 13 games in the series and must use them to battle enemies by timing your button presses just right. Many of the series' best tracks are included, with the sequel even allowing you to download additional characters and son🐈gs as DLC.

The Switch title, Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line, is great too. If you are a b🌸ig Final Fantas✨y fan, you really do owe it to yourself to check out the Theatrhythm games.

13 ♚ Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime ♈

While plenty of people played 🐷the mainline Dragon Quest games for the DS, the Heroes titles passed a lot of players by. This was largely due to their limited marketing and perceived niche appeal, but these simple little adventure games are actually very enjoyable when approached with the right attitude.

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is probably the pick of the bunch and plays more like a fast-paced action game than an RPG. Believe it or not, the game is all the better for it, and a well-crafted RPG is a fine thing and all, but sometimes it can be nice to just focus on good,𓂃 clean fun; and that's exactly what Rocket Slime is.