I grew up playing the very first hand held by Nintendo, Gameboy. Over the years the hand held has advanced both in capability and graphics. I am a proud owner of the New Nintendo 3DS, but still have my favorite DS games that I play on my 3DS. These 5 games I can never part with and stand the test of time for me personally. I think you may be surprised with my list due to the lack of a certain series being left out.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

This Zelda game utilized the stylus for most of the game play and it worked! It has all the fun things in a Zelda game like side quests, unique tools, and weapons. One of my favorite side quest was the capturing of rabbits. You drove around in a upgradable train in an open world sounding your horn to scare rabbits out of hiding. Once you found one then you would use your stylus to catch it while being timed. Heck, even the horn was upgradable! Another fun thing about the game was its link (no pun intended) to Wind Waker. The game is also the first in the series to have princess Zelda as a playable character. You would use her and Link in the dungeons. Which was a very unique take on puzzle solving and battles. Not to mention the train battles too.

4. Theme Park

Now i know what you are thinking, a sim game? really? The answer is yes, i think Theme Park is a diamond in the rough. There are difficulty levels that make it more interesting. I found myself playing the hardest difficulty which gave me complete control of the parks. I was tasked with union negotiations! hahaha This was done with the screen showing two large arms out stretched. I had to use my stylus to reach out and the longer i reached the more i gave up. I had to get the union to reach further or i ended up giving up too much money. Needless to say i dreaded the union meetings! Also, I was tasked with the hiring and firing of my staff. I could even train them to help upgrade my parks attractions. The more training the better the attraction and more cash flow to the park. It really takes some strategic planning to keep the park from going bankrupt. Trust me I know from experience!

3. Feel the Magic Xx Xy

This game was a bunch of mini games that told a hilarious love story. You are a guy trying to woo a girl with the help of a group called Rub Rabbits! I know it sounds crazy, oh it is even crazier than that! This game is actually a sequel to the game Rub Rabbits, but you don’t really need to play it to understand the story. This group is a bunch of humanoid rabbits is the best i can do to describe. I was yelling over a band in a park, unzippering the girls dress, placing leaves on her to make her a clothes, and launching Rub Rabbits with a giant sling shot in a car chase. If you are a person who has no shame this is the game for you! Just don’t play this out in public!

2. The New Super Mario Bros.

I have beaten this game over and over again. It is fun and addicting, probably my all time favorite Mario game ever! Well, for a hand held game. Still can’t give up Super Mario World. This simple side scrolling adventure is a complete homage to the original games. The controls are on point and the graphics are bright, colorful, and fun! There is not a point in the game I don’t enjoy replaying as i tend to do! I love spending time replaying levels just to collect the coins. Each level has three large coins to collect along with tons of little coins. These three particular coins are not always hidden in plain sight, some are hidden really well. With the game being a simple side scrolling adventure i couldn’t just turn the camera angle. I had to run back through areas to find hidden areas that revealed those elusive coins. Although, not all levels allowed you to run back because they moved too. I had to be a quick thinker and keep moving while finding the coins. Keeping stride with the screen and hitting all the right areas to find them. Then you had the levels themselves in typical Mario fashion outside, underwater, and caves. This is the game for Mario fans of all ages, not too difficult yet still provides a challenge.

1. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

I honestly love all of the Castlevania series for the handhelds, but PoR takes the cake for me. The level designs are beautiful and fun to explore. I love the idea of hopping through paintings to unlock worlds. After you complete one painting other ones open up to explore. This was new for Castlevania, usually you just roam the castle and beat bosses to progress. The game also gave a you a partner who aided you through the quests. Her being there even made sense to the how the story played out. She fought along side and never became a hinderance to the game play. The one thing that truly made the game was the bringing back the whip! The weapon wielded by the Belmont Clan. The story even explained why this new character was able to wield the fabled whip. It just worked and if you are a huge fan of the series you will love the way it works too!

So what did you think of my list? Are you shocked that there isn’t a single Pokemon title on there? Let me know your thoughts.