CAG's Five Most Under Appreciated DS Games of 2006

[wraggster]

via cag

As someone who owns way too many DS games, it’s easy to see a few great games that the vast majority of people pass on for one reason or another. While several games, such as Elite Beat Agents, Brain Age and Cooking Mama, have benefited from being on the receiving end of positive reactions across the Internet, just as many games are passed on to fade from gamers’ collective consciousness.

This article is designed to illuminate five of the best, yet forgotten DS titles of 2006 that were lost in the shuffle of the biggest year for the biggest handheld in the world.

The Five Most Under Appreciated DS Games of 2006 (and the Cheap Ass Way to Get Them)

As a quick note, these were the five most under-loved games on Cheap Ass Gamer, not across the entire internet. That's why Contact and Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime will not appear on the main list as they've been pretty highly buzzed all year on CAG despite selling far below what we thought they should. Without further delay, here’s my list of the five most under appreciated Nintendo DS games of 2006 in no particular order:

1. Scurge: Hive
- Half Metroid, half Secret of Mana, all fun. While Scurge: Hive suffers from being almost identical to the GBA version of the game, the gameplay and story are both solid. Scurge: Hive pits you in the role of the intergalactic female bounty hunter Jenosa Arma. You suit up to fight a mutant virus ravaging a space colony, and yes, you're infected with it too. So plot-wise, this is a near total rip off of Metroid (particularly Fusion).

Why is this worth playing then? While the frosting on this cake is the same as Metroid, the cake of this game is as different as angel food and pineapple upside down cake. Because Jenosa is infected, she must constantly find purification stations to suppress the disease. If your infection reaches 100%, your health rapidly begins to decrease. The game is a constant battle between exploring the spaceship while searching for purification stations.

While the gimmick of the game is neat, Scurge: Hive would suck if the gameplay isn't as fun as it is. Playing sort of like the exploration part of Sigma Star Saga, Scurge: Hive has you exploring the world in an action RPG with your blaster and various gadgets. Furthermore, the game adds in a ton of strategy as you're given the option to change the type of energy your gun fires out. Unlike Metroid though, if you shoot an enemy with the wrong type of energy, it powers them up. This adds a huge amount of strategy to the game especially when you consider you're constantly having to find purification stations for your infections.

Scurge: Hive clocks in at around 12 hours, but multiple difficulty levels, hidden costumes and an unlockable boss rush mode lengthens the game quite a bit. Scurge: Hive can be found used currently at EB/GS for $19.99. It's an early candidate for Spring clearances as it hasn't sold that many copies.

2. Break Em' All
- Attention collectors. Break 'Em All is destined to be the next Monopoly, Battleship, Yahtzee, Boggle (currently the rarest DS game in case you're wondering). At only $20, it's a steal at the moment. Like most "rare" games, you'll probably want to pick up a copy to sell and a copy to play though because this is such a quality title.

Break 'Em All is arguably the best Breakout/Arkanoid port we've ever seen outside of the arcade. The DS control scheme allows for pinpoint controls that were never really pulled off all that well on a d-pad. Furthermore, Break 'Em All allows you to drag your stylus on any part of the screen if for some reason you don't enjoy playing on the bottom of the screen.

Break 'Em All offers a ton of replay value too. Tokoton Mode offers 50 well designed standard levels or over 3,000,000 (yes, three million) randomly generated levels of block and ball play. There's also a quest mode that adds in boss battles to the mix. Furthermore, Break 'Em All uses a neat Gradius like power up system to differentiate it from every other ball and paddle game.

Break 'Em All is a ton of fun for you and your friends. With 2-8 player single-card play, and a summer release date, I find it utterly shocking that this game never found an audience. Regardless, it's $20 right now, less if you can find it used or with a Gamer's Gift Card in Best Buy. Even if it doesn't become a huge collector's item, Break 'Em All is a ton of classic gameplay at a value price.

3. Magnetica - Of course, one of the games I choose has to be out of stock at all major retailers. Magnetica, better known in the United States as Zuma (which Popcap Games ripped off friends, not the other way around), is a puzzle game where you fling different colored marbles with your stylus at a constantly tightening string. Get three in a row and the marbles pop, combos get chained, and your score goes up. Simple, right? Well not exactly. Magnetica tosses in a variety of obstacles to try and slow you down. Between wind, black holes, magnetic walls, smoke screens, and a variety of other impediments, Magnetica is one of the most challenging puzzle games on the DS.

Magnetica (Actionloop in Europe) is easily one of the best experiences to be had with the Nintendo DS all year. The game features 99 levels of difficulty in challenge mode and 60 different and varied missions. The game also features single and multi-card competitive play that incorporates slots as a way to randomly select what hazards you’ll be sending over to your opponent (or help you’ll be giving to yourself).

Out of all of the games on this list, Magnetica is probably the most available. Being both a game published by Nintendo and part of the Touch Generations line, your local brick and mortar stores will have this in stock. Furthermore, both Best Buy and Circuit City have run sales in the past on both the entire Touch Generations line and Magnetica by itself. While Magnetica is still exceptionally high at EB Games and Gamestop ($24.99 at the writing of this article), it is a good candidate to be put on clearance in the near future. Your best bet to buy it now is through Gamefly for a mere $13.99. Don’t pass up on this puzzler that is just as addictive as it is challenging.

4. Lost Magic
- Arguably the hardest game on the Nintendo DS is also one of the most overlooked of 2006. Lost Magic is an Ubi Soft/Taito effort that sets out to make you feel like a wizard. Unlike every game on this list, Lost Magic was not a hit in the United States for a few very obvious reasons. This strategy RPG was exceptionally difficult seeing as your character died almost instantly from taking a few hits. Furthermore, your character’s offensive abilities were limited by the fact that he could only use magic to strike back at an enemy, magic that could only be cast by drawing exceptionally complex symbols that make Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow look like kindergarten finger painting. Also, each level had a relatively challenging time limit attached to it. Beyond that, the story is as traditional a story for a fantasy RPG this side of Japan.

So why is this game worth anyone’s time then? Well, first and foremost is the excellent online play. Lost Magic lets you take your team of monsters and magic to duel others in some of the most intensely entertaining gameplay on any system. Spells have to be drawn precisely or they lose power. Mixed with the typical intensity of online play over playing against the computer, Lost Magic becomes an incredibly nerve racking experience. The game also features 2 player wireless-card play and downloadable “demo” play so a friend can try this game out.

With over 400 spells to master and hundreds of creatures to capture and train, Lost Magic is an exceptionally satisfying game if you are willing to put the time and effort into. Not unlike a World of Warcraft or Everquest, it’s quite a frustrating game to enter into at first. Thankfully, the payoff of high level Lost Magic player vs player play is as good as any game I’ve seen in 2006. Lost Magic is essentially the opposite of 90% of the games we’ve seen on the DS. It is not a quick hop in, hop out style game. Lost Magic requires time, effort and above all, sound strategy to master.

Lost Magic is another game destined for clearance in the very near future. Already down to $13.99 on Gamefly, it’s a ton of game for not a lot of cash. While certainly not for everyone, Lost Magic is well worth the money if you’re willing to put some time into the game’s substantial learning curve.

5. Bomberman Land Touch!
- It’s official. Cheap Ass Gamer is filled with people who don’t like video games. Why else would Bomberman Land Touch not be mentioned by a single soul despite being the premier multiplayer experience on the system? The Hudson Soft title takes Bomberman in the mini game direction for the single player experience and tosses Bomberman online for a more traditional, 4-player throw down.

The mini games in Bomberman Land Touch are all stylus controlled and all bomb based. These games range from the simplistic (running bombs back and forth by scratching the stylus up and down) to the substantial (bomb bowling). Overall the collection of over three dozen mini games holds up well. Considering Hudson Soft developed the Mario Party games, this comes as no surprise. While the story is completely forgettable, the mini games more then make up for this little snafu.

Bomberman Land Touch is probably the game that’ll be the most expensive for the longest. While it’s not a particularly popular title at the moment, it’s still only a couple of months old. Furthermore, it bears both the Nintendo Wi-Fi logo and the Atlus logo meaning that we could see this title at the relatively high $34.99 price tag for some time. Thankfully, the game is worth every penny. With both a compelling collection of mini games and an improved variety in the eight player single-card wireless play, Bomberman Land Touch has a huge amount of value to offer gamers.

The Rest

There are a few other overlooked games of 2006 that deserve to be mentioned despite seeing buzzed about on the CAG Forums. Most of these can be found in the recent Toys R Us clearance or in the CAG Trading Forums. Also, feel free to buy these games through Amazon to help support Cheap Ass Gamer.

Age of Empires DS
- Age of Empires offers an excellent turn based strategy conversion of the popular PC title. Just make sure your name is longer then three characters if you play this to avoid the fatal game erasing glitch.

Contact
- Take one part Earthbound and one part Monkey Island, mix in an exceptionally different combat system, add a dash of Wi-Fi and item collection and half bake it for gaming goodness. Contact is one of the most hilarious and bizarre games of 2006 that unfortunately was overlooked by everyone besides the most hardcore of gamers.

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime
- The madcap tank battles are only matched by the game’s rock solid controls. Get into the Dragon Quest IX mood early with this fantastic action-adventure game.

Mega Man ZX
- Mega Man ZX is the best Mega Man game since the first Mega Man Battle Network. While it still has some flaws (most noticeably a very poor map system), ZX is a huge step in the right direction that is worth a look from current and former fans of the Blue Bomber alike.

The Rub Rabbits
- While the sequel to the DS launch title Feel the Magic: XX/XY commits the sin of rehashing a few of the mini games of the original, The Rub Rabbits offers enough zaniness to please fans. Furthermore, the 2-4 player single-card download play is sure to please everyone.

Hopefully you’ll consider picking up a few of these titles as each of them offers something quite different from the bigger releases of 2006. There were a lot of great games that got lost in the shuffle between New Super Mario Brothers, Yoshi’s Island DS, Final Fantasy III, Brain Age, Metroid Prime: Hunters, Clubhouse Games, Tetris DS, Elite Beat Agents, and tons of other titles. Take a second look at what came out this year for the Nintendo DS. You’re bound to find something that you forgot about or never knew about in the first place that in the simplest terms of the word, “rocks”.

[Mikaa]

Hmm, the normal Reply function is down...

Personally, Scurge: Hive is the saddest release in the latter half of the year. Ignored by virtually all just because it's name is unkown, passed over for more common fare (read: Nintendogs and Mario), and just referenced by the media (IGN.com, EGM, and GI touched on it, the latter two only in passing). In truth, Scurge is a pretty fun Metroid-type game, though the isometric perspective is a nasty little perspective that will drive away all but the old school gamer. Heck, I almost passed it over until I tried out a copy that someone loaned me. (BTW, be careful about the price - I know the GBA release is US$19.99, but I think the DS one might still be higher. Just get the one that matches your system - they are near identical).

Dragon Quest Monsters is really a sad story. A really fun game (if overly linear and predictable) passed over for either being too cute or getting the "what is this crap?" reaction. With games like New Super Mario Bros. and the need for high-graphics that most gamers crave, many passed over this hilarious and fun game. In this case, I only tried it when EGM gave it Game of the Month, passing up several notable 360 releases to do so.

Age of Empires was pretty good, but I think the reason that did not do as well was mainly related to the gamers wish for an RTS, not a turn based game.

Bomberman Land Touch is one of those games that hit at the wrong time. Released along side multiple big releases (FFIII, Castelvania PoR, Kirby SS, Tony Hawk DJ), and carried only by game stores (Game Stop, Rhinos, EB, and some electronic stores (Best Buy)), this one never really had a chance.

Megaman ZX was pretty good, but I can see where most gamers would be turned off by a big world to traverse to get from place to place, especially with vague hints. Mabye if the world was more like Metroid or the "Metroidvania" games...

Lost Magic should be buried deep below the sea. I had high hopes for what was easily the first real RTS on the DS, but Elements, what we got was a half-finished game with bad AI and collision detection. What happened here?

Contact was overlook by most, and for a good reason: humor and fun mean nothing when the core gameplay (namely, combat) is limited to pressing a button to tell your character he can attack, with only the odd action of dodging and going back to attack mode to change the pace. Really, so much promise, but dang if that was any fun. What a waste too, it was almost as funny as DQH: Rocket Slime...

Break Em All? Lord, someone else played that besides me? O_O A fun little game, worth the price, but really for classic/old school gamers than modern ones.

I am beginning to wonder if Elite Beat Agents really should make this list or not. From what I can tell, it has not sold near as many copies as most other "high profile" DS games (like, FFIII and New Mario Bros.). It is a very enjoyable game, but unless someone can provide sales, I have only the word of the retailers around her to speak of its sales... And the word is not good.

Mikaa