The BIG DS Voting Thread, Coming to You Weekly: Thanks For Voting!

Kirby Power Paintbrush - 14 points (1st places - 1)



You say: "Doing something new with the pink puffball paid off.  Great controls and music in a slightly soulless world."

"The most original platformer I've ever played, great fun and a great use of the DS touch screen."

"Admittedly not the most amazing game, but a very DS platforming game."

I say: A big "BOO" to the one person who sent their vote in for this as Canvas Curse and nearly confused the entire vote. One I must say I haven't played, but Kirby really is Nintendo's "gimmicky platformer". Too risky a move for Mario? Something fresh for Mario? Nope - send that Kirby's way. One I must play soon, seemingly!

Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure - 16 points (1st places - 1)



You say: "What's that, old bean?  Explore interesting locations with a machete, blunderbuss and giant golden tea-powered robot?  All the while playing a decent puzzle game?  And it's rock hard as well?  Steampunk Queen Victoria would be absolutely delighted, wot!"

"This is what a good superhero should be like; and a genuinely clever puzzle/platformer crossover. TEA TIME."

"Another gimmick platformer, but a stunning one. Though cheap at times - locking Henry in with loads of enemies every so often can't be described any other way! - it was a blast."

"The second most infuriating game on DS (the top spot goes to the suicide-inducing Trauma Center: Under the Knife). Fortunately for Hatsworth, his handling was near flawlessly tight, and the desire to press on in spite of constant failure only made you more determined. The haven of the Puzzle Realm was an oasis, but frantically trying to maximise your time before being heartlessly thrown back into the throng of encroaching goons meant that tensions were kept consistently high. One of those rare brutally difficult games where I felt compelled to press on, and the simple feeling of success is still a DS highlight for me."

I say: Its destiny is finally realised! One I'd only heard of through it cropping up week after week as part of this vote, but it's definitely one that has intrigued me to no end, such is the high-concept nature of its chief mechanic.

Sonic Rush - 22 points (1st places - 2)



You say: "Best platformer on the DS by far, and in my own opinion straight out the best Sonic game. Good Sonic action, decent stages, decent music, a new side character who actually doesn't suck (no, really) and generally just pretty damn good. Love it."

"Took Sonic back to it's routes and in a brilliant way, felt they got the balance between speed and platforming just right."

"The best sonic game of recent years. No slow bits, just the great running sections."

"The Sonic game that gave me new hope for the 'hog. This streaked onto the release schedule during a dire time for the fledgling DS, and whaddaya know? It was great, and it's still great now. The dual screen mechanic gave Sonic's world new scope and greater visual flair, the levels were a treat to traverse, a run on-form was a spectacle to behold, and the soundtrack still stands as one of the finest on DS."

I say: I avoided playing this one because I've never gotten on with Sonic, but judging by your comments, this is one for even Sonic's staunchest naysayers. The clunkiness of the older Sonics turned me away from them - maybe this will kindle some interest in me for the Blue Blur.

Super Mario 64 DS - 23 points (1st places - 1)



You say: "A nice attempt to make analogue movement work on a console without an analogue stick that... doesn't work.  Despite this, and the somewhat pointless character-switching, this is still the finest game ever underneath."

"Gets a hard time, but I never had an issue with the controls as this was my first real taste of Mario 64 and getting home with my DS to play this was something else."

"Despite the dodgy controls I remember being amazed at the time that this was running on a handheld."

"As someone who has never played the original this was a completely new experience and I loved being able to play as the other characters. Unfortunately the save wiped a couple of stars before 100%, the minigames were brilliant too."

I say: The plumber just pips out the hedgehog, take that 90s schoolground rivalries! I did vote for this, but it was fairly low down on my list. The controls were just too shonky for me to enjoy the game properly, and Mario 64 isn't one of my favourites as it was. Still - it's Mario, and he is platforming gold.

New Super Mario Bros. - 40 points (1st places - 5)



You say: "Nintendo on autopilot. Unexciting but solid platforming with the plumber."

"hav you herd of dis gam its about a man calls MARIO and his wife is kidnaped she is a priness and mario has to go through 8 WORLDS to recsue her from dennis hopper (but seriously, this was a revelation in its non-revelation when it came out - a back to basics that was warmly received. So much better than its 3DS sequel it's sad)"

"Looking back, it was the game I had the most fun with. It doesn't hit the standards set by previous 2D Mario titles, as we know, but it was enjoyable nonetheless."

"The start of what has become a bit of a cash cow recently but still a great return for 2D Mario."

"Somewhat tainted by the fact that Nintendo have pumped out a very similar game for each console since, it's easy to forget how fresh and great this felt on release. I played it to absolute death.

"Not as great as SMW but still better than most platformers."

"It was new it was fun and it was a wonderful return to the 2D style of Mario platforming. Probably the best version still."

"This gets some unfair scorn, in my opinion. Looking back, this is a very pretty game indeed, there isn't a coin out of place anywhere in the platforming, Mario has never handled better, and this was a time before silly Wii Remote shake mechanics. The soundtrack wasn't the best, but I can still hum many tunes from the game, and looking for the Star coins added a bit of longevity to what's otherwise a pretty short game."

I say: This was my first place, and a deserved winner I must say. This is probably the finest 2D platformer I've played. Anything I could say has probably been said above, but to me it's the pinnacle of 2D platforming, and it got people playing Mario again... which led to the churning out of repeated sequels, but if this was standalone people would be heaping more praise on it, I guarantee it.

Also, to the author of that Dennis Hopper comment... you win the GNamer Comment of the Week award for having me in stitches. Might do this in consequent weeks, thoughts?

Yoshi's Touch & Go: "A high-score-focussed auto-scrolling platformer, featuring several gimmicky uses of the touch screen and microphone? Power Paintbrush shows this waste of plastic how touch-screen platforming should be done. Still, it's not the worst Yoshi platformer on the DS..."

Yoshi's Islands DS: "I could have designed a better Yoshi's Island game than this. Bosses from the bottom of the ideas barrel, and an amateurish multiple-babies idea that should have been shot in the head at birth, help this feel more like a Flash-based tribute than a professionally developed product. 81%, Metacritic? Go egg yourself!"

"Pile of shit that insults the original game in every way, but at least they've learnt their lesson... Oh."

"...*sigh*."

The Legendary Starfy: "Not a bad game by any stretch, but this felt like too much more of the same, only worse. The constant cuts to dialogue were both tedious and pointless, and it had a bloody space rabbit in it. Would've been better if they'd released it in incomprehensible-to-me Japanese."

Giana Sisters DS: "what and why? But most importantly, why? Not even worth it as a curiosity."

Rhythm Paradise
Electroplankton
Jam With The Band
Ouendan
Ouedan 2
Elite Beat Agents
Maestro! Jump in Music
Rytmik
Guitar Hero series
Rock Band series
Zubo