Handheld gaming may be the domain of smartphone apps now, but even ten years ago, Nintendo was still king of that particular market. For the longest time, they had a chain of extremely popular gaming devices from the original Game Boy, to its Color upgrade, to the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS, which is still the best selling handheld game console to date.
People were initially skeptical about the touchscreen controls and having to keep an eye on two screens at the same time, but great titles like Metroid Prime Hunters and Super Mario 64 DS put those worries to rest. The system caught on quickly and a slew of Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon titles kept the fires roaring, and updated versions such as the DS Lite and DSi kept interest going for several years more.
As great as some of these titles were, however, a few of them tend to get more praise than they deserve. Whether they were “games” that were more a casual novelty or simply flawed titles that gained popularity from brand recognition alone, there are several DS games that are just overrated. Not necessarily bad, mind you, just praised a little too much.
The worst part about those games, though, is that they overshadowed some far better titles that never really got much of chance to shine in the spotlight. Maybe it was because they didn’t come directly from Nintendo that they were unfairly lumped in with the “shovelware” in the bargain bin, but they were far greater than most gamers initially judged.
Without further ado, here are the 15 Most Overrated DS Games (And The 15 Most Underrated).
2 Overrated: Nintendogs
Starting off the list, we have the game that started the “virtual pet” craze on the DS: Nintendogs. Not only is this game responsible for inspiring half the shovelware on the DS, but it received immense critical acclaim, including the 2006 Innovation Award from PC World and Best Handheld Game from the Associated Press.
Maybe petting a virtual dog was innovative back in 2006 (maybe), but the fact that this game was actually the second best-selling game on the DS is just something that cannot be overlooked.
