The Top 10 Games for DSiWare that Don’t Suck

Nintendo is still a little new to the idea of downloadable games. After being out for a year and a half WiiWare has seen some quality titles but the new DSi shop still has much to prove. There are some games worth owning however and they are not all from Nintendo. After much researching and play testing, here are what I believe to be the ten best games out of the 35 games currently available for DSiWare. You only get 1000 free points (ten dollars) and 256 megabytes of space without an SD card so shop smartly.

10. Guitar Rock Tour (500 Points)

What may seem likes a cheap cash-in, is actually a neat little downloadable rhythm game for a sensible price. Touch screen controls work well when strumming the guitar or beating the drums and gets around not having a plastic accessory like some of its competitors. In order to fit into DSi size limit, the songs in the decent sized set list are all midi-instrumentals which aren’t great but they do manage to squeeze in a competent career mode as well as fun camera support.

9. Real Soccer 2009 (800 Points)

While not as good as FIFA, this game manages to be a port of a retail DS game at one-third the cost. The 3D graphics run well although using pictures as in game textures does not. Still, the actual game of soccer plays fine with either buttons or to a lesser extent the touch screen. Cheap portable soccer games work well on DSi.

8. Sudoku Master (500 Points)

There are already several Sudoku games available for DSi but Sudoku student stands out for me because of the impressive puzzle to point ratio. Even Sudoku fanatics will be playing this one for a while and in-game stat tracking encourages replays for faster times. Also, the titular “Sudoku Master” looks a bit like a Japanese Bob Ross which is also a good thing.

7. Bird and Beans (200 Points)

This was originally a minigame in the first WarioWare for the Game Boy Advance and literally nothing has been changed for the move over to DSi. Still, at two dollars this port remains a fun Missile Command style shooter worthy of being in your handheld at all times whenever time needs to be wasted. They were also nice enough to include the superior sequel “Bird and Beans 2” for no extra cost.

6. WarioWare: Snapped (500 Points)

Speaking of WarioWare, this DSiWare launch title continues the tradition of using Wario to show off some new technology. Four sections with about five micro games each does sound rather short but flailing around in front of the DSi camera to play them makes it worth it for five dollars. The camera doesn’t always work and it’s not really a portable game but it is still worth owning even as just an interesting tech demo.

5. Mighty Flip Champs (800 Points)

One of the few DS games in general that use the two screens in tandem in a compelling way, Mighty Flip Champs in a novel puzzle-platformer from WayForward. The concept is hard to describe but becomes simple to understand after the first level. However, navigating through multiple screens and keeping your 8-bit avatar out of harms way never becomes that easy. Much like Portal, Braid or other puzzle games based around foresight, the beauty of this game comes from the intricacy of its level design.

4. Asphalt 4: Elite Racing (800 Points)

Racing fans are lucky the only game in the genre available for DSi is actually pretty good despite being an iPhone port. The real-life car models look good and all handle differently, cash earned can be used to purchase a variety of upgrades and illegally racing on the streets of Paris, Shanghai, New York and more require skills like drifting in order to proceed. The amount of content in Asphalt 4 is comparable to its retail predecessors. However, those games didn’t let you put a picture of you face on a billboard while flashing a gang sign.

3. The Art Style Series (500 Points each)

This one is kind of a cop-out since there are six Art Style games available on DSiWare and each one of the creative and high-concept puzzle games are worth owning. However, if I had to choose one, I’d go with Pictobits. Not only is the touch-screen based puzzle gameplay fun and unique but the style surrounding the game from the chip tunes music to the giant 8-bit Nintendo character sprites makes it a must own for old-school Nintendo fans.

2. Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again (800 Points)

It’s the amount of features in this game that make it the best premium release from Nintendo so far. Much like Asphalt, it retains much of the content from Mario vs. Donkey 2 for the DS. The Lemmings-style puzzle gameplay is fun and addition to over a hundred pre-loaded levels, hundreds more can be downloaded through the Nintendo Wifi Connection. Although puzzles games aren’t his forte, Mario remains king on DSiWare.

1. Flipnote Studio (Free)

More of an app than a game, Flipnote Studio comes with all of the basic tools you’d expect from an animation program. Artistic skill is needed to get the most out of it but even doodlers like me can make fairly satisfying cartoons with a little perseverance. For the lazy people though, you can also take Flipnote Studio online to see the amazing animations than other people have managed to make as well as post on real website through a Youtube like service. Best of all, like the crappy web browser app, the best game for DSiWare is free.

- Jordan Minor

Posted by admin on 08/24 at 03:44 PM
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