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

Animal Crossing: Wild World - 10 points  (1st places - 1)



You say: "because it's like the first animal crossing but betterer. 100+ hours' playtime. Only New Leaf has consigned it to history."

"This week's winner, surely?  And three months of fun before the repetition gets dull is more than most games can promise!"

"Loved this to bits when it came out, but looking back on it now it seems archaic. The series really found its true home on 3DS, especially if you download it."

"New Leaf may have blown it out of the water, but Wild World did the portable thing first. Two screens made your town feel much roomier, the soundtrack was the perfect compliment to the laid-back gameplay, and pottering around your village on a daily basis was made all the easier when you could simply shove your DS into your pocket on sleep mode until your next session. Wunnerful stuff."

I say: Surprisingly low placing for Animal Crossing! I expected this to be pushing for first place this week. I never got on with Animal Crossing - the daily activities style of play seems too much like a Facebook game for me to enjoy it properly, and the engaging and addictive gameplay everyone loves never clicked with me. General consensus from you lot seems to be "buy New Leaf" anyway!

Trauma Center: Under the Knife - 12 points (1st places - 1)



You say: "I love me a good medical drama and this bought it to me with all the fun of surgery, tough game and brilliant fun."

I say: This nearly caused the demise of my DS. Frustrating and ridiculous, but somewhat compelling. Play the far superior Wii version.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations - 13 points (1st places - 2)



You say: "Another slice of Ace Attorney brilliance. Thank goodness I remained unspoiled; it would not have had the same impact!"

"My favourite of the bunch. Less of the mystical stuff that weighed down the second game and more of the character, with slightly more refined gameplay and the one thing that pushed it into first place: Godot. The man who made me force myself to enjoy coffee."

"My favourite of the series, the game had me gripped even after just recently playing the other 2. Amazing stuff!"

I say: A series I've regrettably not delved into. It's one I really ought to, as it seems to be something I'd really enjoy. I've seen many a GIF of Godot though, so I understand the appeal there.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - 17 points (1st places - 1)



You say: "The first Ace Attorney game remains my favourite. The end of the first case is such an explosive moment that it propelled me through the series."

"The first masterpiece in the greatest TV series never made. The logical teasing out the truth, the characters, the jokes and more than anything- the music. Plus, nothing beats shouting "OBJECTION" into the microphone."

"One of the only games I've played which insisted that I tap every inch of every screen just to wring every last bit of dialogue out of the game, such is its quality. Nick, Maya, Mia, Edgeworth, the Judge and Gumshoe are some of the most well-rounded characters in videogaming, and every witness/suspect was a pleasure to question/interrogate. The music was memorable, the courtroom battles were the tense antidote to the relaxed investigations, and you simply couldn't set the thing down until you'd reached the end of the current story arc. One of the most worthwhile ports ever, and even its two sequels seldom missed a beat."

I say: Not much to add here, but that last comment is GNamer Comment of the Week for being so enthusiastic about Phoenix Wright and basically selling me a copy of the game in the process with the glowing praise heaped upon the game.

Another Code: Two Memories - 17 points (1st places - 1)



You say: "My first point & click ever, I think.  Some truly devious puzzles (the one involving a glass window and the DS' microphone was a killer), and a genuinely likeable main character in Ashley."

"I bet you never heard about it, but there's a bit in this game where you reflect the DS' bottom screen in the top screen and it tells you where to go. I know, right?"

"The second game on my list that emblazoned a distinct atmosphere into my mind. Exploring the beautiful island (mostly) alone gave the game an almost Metroid-like feel, the puzzles made inventive use of the DS, and the story was incentive enough to press on. R.I.P. CING."

I say: One I've not played, but doesn't sound like how I'd expected! The Metroid comparison was surprising - perhaps I'll pick this up!

Hotel Dusk: Room 215 - 19 points (1st places - 2)



You say: "Join Kyle Hyde, America's least obnoxious main character, on a quest to discover who killed his partner.  Had better characters than the sequel, and a particularly impressive sequence in a locked room.  Plus (yes) I liked the sequence with Mila.  It was cute.   Shame about the bowling minigame."

"Miss you Cing. The most inventive ways of getting a dickhead to ask annoying questions."

"An unputdownable book in video game form. I can't believe I still haven't entered Kyle Hyde's world for a second time, but I'm not sure I can bring myself to play Cing's last game and let it all end."

"A great Cing game that had me gripped from start to finish in a way the sequel unfortunately didn't."

I say: Genuinely chuffed this came out on top. A stylistic book/game which I couldn't put down. Good music (muzak?) and nice noir-inspired graphics. Highly recommended.

Animal Crossing: Wild World: "For me, there wasn't enough "game" for a "game" designed to be played for a year or more.  About two, maybe three, months' catching fish and digging up fossils, before the villagers' repeated lines begin to grate."

Hotel Dusk: Room 215: "THAT BLOODY BOWLING MINIGAME AAAAAARGHAGHRAGHGRAAARGH."

"Too much talking for me and not many likeable characters, either."

All the rubbish Nintendogs imitations released in torrents by developers with raw sewage where their imaginations should be: "For targetting people who didn't know any better (e.g. my young sister) and making their families pay out for crap in a cartridge.  Actually, scratch that: actual pigeon droppings, stuffed into a DS cart so that they leak into the console during playing, would probably be less cynically attractive to the younger market, cheaper, and there isn't an infinitely better version already available for the console."

Doki Doki Majo Shinpan

Spoiler:

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney: Only came into its full potential during the final case. The idea of scanning for tells must have looked great on paper but slowed the already arguably somewhat lethargic pace down so much that snails were speeding past and flicking the V's."

Flower Sun and Rain: "This game was bum. Suda 51's bonkers, backwards nonsense is hilarious in a cutscene, les so when following that logic is the only way to play the game. Also, the graphics. It looks like someone created a cardboard box costumes mod for GTA 3, then tried to run it through a pocket calculator from the 70s. Then they put the calculator in a dog's mouth and tried to play the game by pressing one eye up to the dogs arse." (This almost won comment of the week, fantastic work)

Trauma Center: Under the Knife: "Not a bad game, necessarily, but SO HARD. No wonder doctors have such a high suicide rate.
Also, it was disappointing that it quickly moved from realistic surgeries to weird, sci fi nonsense."

"No game has ever made me as angry as Trauma Center. NO GAME. Utterly infuriating, DS-throwing stuff. Trauma inducing, even."