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

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies - 20 points (1st places - 2)




You say: nintenDUCK: You were probably expecting this one to come out on top of my list, given that's it's such a flawless game that is superbly wonderful in every way. The gameplay is standard of what one may expect from an RPG (team of four, go explore, etcetera). The monsters have epic punny names, too (cruelcumber, crabid). The huge number of side quests and items to collect make this game last a very long time (200+ hours on my version). The soundtrack is superb too and the dialogue is always interesting and entertaining to read and adds great depth to the story. In short, Squeenix made a masterpiece that is, without a doubt, the best game in the series and the best game on DS.

ZeroJones: Judging by its non-placement in the RPG week vote, it may well end up a wasted vote/testament to the strength of the DS's software line-up. Nonetheless, it was such a massive game for me that it's got to take my top spot. The scale, the humour, the memorable NPC's, the overwhelmingly deep mechanics, the unprecedented amount of customisation... DQIX would not shame the 3DS; on the DS, it was sublime. The only criticism to make is that the story is told slightly unevenly but the range of things to do more than makes up for that. At 90 hours in I've barely scratched the surface.

I say:  DQIX is one I haven't played, although I mean to dabble in DQ soon. I head a lot of chatter about DQIX on the 1up RPG podcast and it seems to be a good entry point for a newbie to the series.

Pokemon Platinum - 22 points



You say: NintenDUCK: There is no shortage of pokemon on the DS.Seemingly though, there is a shortage of properly good ones, in fact there are only two in my opinion and this is the first. And gosh is it good, perhaps it's because-don't stone me for this- I really enjoyed the fourth gen installments after I skipped gen 3. The region is brilliant, the new pokemon had some sparks of brilliance, and the poketch is just a joy to behold. Platinum took all the good things from D/P and added them to the new and improved Sinnoh with a better story and a whole new world to get lost in! A truly great pokemon game that highlights all the best bits from the fourth generation. Death to the haters! (Well, not literally, you'll understand. Lower those pitchforks.

Stu_the_Great: The game that made Gen. IV good! One of the best-value gaming purchases ever, only topped by the raft of new Pokémon bunged into Gen. V. Nicely tidied up the game world, improved the visuals, and whacked a load of other thoughtful content in there to make your friends phone you every six months or so to make sure you're still alive.

I say: And Pokemon begins! Will it be the last Pokemon game of our top 10? This to you guys was the Pokemon game that saved Generation IV for a lot of you. I wonder if that trend will continue or if you'll have ignored consequent Pokemon games.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - 22 points



You say: nintenDUCK: This was my first foray into the Mario RPG series, and I was impressed (most especially by Bowser). The story was strong (like Bowser) and compelling, the combat with Mario and Luigi as enjoyable as ever but what made this game brilliant was playing as Bowser. Something I'm sure we've all wanted to do, and I wasn't disappointed. The dialogue was also witty at times and did I mention how much fun it was being Bowser? A highly enjoyable game.

Stu_the_Great: Alphadream makes us mostly forget about Partners in Time by kicking the Mario & Luigi series up a gear. Worth playing through to the end just to see what insanity lurks around the next corner. One of the prettiest games on DS, if not the prettiest, this outing gave Bowser and his goons almost as much personality as Luigi.

I say: Pipped Platinum to the eight place finish on the account of having a greater number of votes and higher placed votes as well. I really do enjoy how the Mario RPG series give a lot of character to characters who don't get the chance to get screentime in the main Mario platforming series. The fleshing out of Bowser and his minions seems to be a high point in this for you lot. One that I'll play in the very near future!

Also, I'd fully intended to do funny comments here like Balladeer did for his Wii votes, then I remembered I'm not funny.  If any of you chuckleheads would like to scribe up a witty comment section for a game you reckon will place (eg. the top placed games from previous weeks, forum favourites) I'll use them!

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - 23 points (1st places - 1)



You say: Vidofnir: Easily my favourite DS game, extremely well written with an array of amusing and well constructed characters. The whole series of games are interwoven with some memorable cases and plots. This is a game filled with pure, thought provoking wit.

Phillips: Narrative-led exploration games aren’t typically my cup of tea, but I found the script in this to be thoroughly engaging very quickly. Great characters and the light-hearted presentation also helped to make this one to remember.

ZeroJones: Another title that changed my idea of what a game could be, Phoenix Wright took his place in my heart at the end of the first case and has not let go since. Plus, the childish delight in shouting "OBJECTION!" at your console has never diminished.

Stu_the_Great: You won't catch me objecting to seeing this game in a top ten. Only in a 'Best Of' DS games list could this game possibly rank [as my] eighth place.

I say: See what I mean by how close this vote was? I wonder if other games so far in this list were robbed, I mean Platinum is great and the Mario & Luigi games were bri- *DOOR SLAMS OPEN*

A deserving placing and I'm definitely going to sample the Ace Attorney series soon!