The best DS games by critic score are led by Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on a Metacritic score of 93, the highest any Nintendo DS game reached, followed by the 2008 port of Chrono Trigger on 92 and Mario Kart DS on 91. Nintendo developed or published six of the 10, and three of the top 10 arrived in the console’s first year.
This ranking uses the Metacritic score of the DS version of each game, read in October. Ties are broken by the Metacritic user score, with a remaining tie going to the game with more user ratings. Flipnote Studio, a free animation tool that Metacritic also scores at 93, is left out because it is software rather than a game. The table lists all 10 with both scores.
Best DS Games: Metascore and User Score for All 10
| # | Game | Year | Developer | Metascore | User score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars | 2009 | Rockstar Leeds | 93 | 7.4 |
| 2 | Chrono Trigger | 2008 | Square Enix | 92 | 9.2 |
| 3 | Mario Kart DS | 2005 | Nintendo EAD | 91 | 8.5 |
| 4 | Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story | 2009 | AlphaDream | 90 | 8.9 |
| 5 | Advance Wars: Dual Strike | 2005 | Intelligent Systems | 90 | 8.4 |
| 6 | The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass | 2007 | Nintendo EAD | 90 | 7.9 |
| 7 | Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow | 2005 | Konami | 89 | 8.5 |
| 8 | New Super Mario Bros. | 2006 | Nintendo EAD | 89 | 8.4 |
| 9 | The World Ends with You | 2008 | Square Enix and Jupiter | 88 | 8.9 |
| 10 | Meteos | 2005 | Q Entertainment | 88 | 7.9 |
How the DS Top 10 Was Settled
Metacritic scores games per platform. Chinatown Wars counts here on its DS score of 93, three points above the PSP port, and Chrono Trigger on the 92 its DS edition earned rather than any score for the 1995 Super Nintendo original, which predates the site.
The 90s and 89s needed tie-breaks. Bowser’s Inside Story leads the three 90s on an 8.9 user score, ahead of Advance Wars: Dual Strike on 8.4 and Phantom Hourglass on 7.9. Dawn of Sorrow edges New Super Mario Bros. among the 89s, 8.5 against 8.4, and The World Ends with You takes ninth over Meteos on 8.9 against 7.9.
Four Pokemon games, Dragon Quest IX and Elite Beat Agents all sit on 87, one point below the cut. The DS library is deep enough that a one-point change in any score would reshuffle the bottom of this list.
The 10 Best DS Games, Ranked
Each entry carries its score, the number of critic reviews behind it, its user score and the studio that built it. Release dates are for North America.
1. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars: Rockstar Takes the Touch Screen Seriously
Metascore: 93 from 85 reviews · User score: 7.4 · Developer: Rockstar Leeds and Rockstar North · Released: March 2009
Chinatown Wars rebuilt Grand Theft Auto for a handheld with a top-down camera, a cel-shaded Liberty City and touch-screen minigames for hot-wiring cars, assembling sniper rifles and tattooing. A drug trading economy with prices that shift by district gave it a money loop no other GTA has.
Its 85 critic reviews are the most for any game here, and Rockstar’s Chinatown Wars is the only title in this list that also appears in our ranking of the best PSP games, where the PSP port scored 90.
2. Chrono Trigger: The 1995 Classic With Two Screens
Metascore: 92 from 57 reviews · User score: 9.2 · Developer: Square Enix · Released: November 2008
The DS version of Chrono Trigger kept the time-travelling story of Crono, Marle and Lucca intact and added a retranslated script, a bottom-screen map and menu, and two optional areas, the Lost Sanctum and the Dimensional Vortex, plus a new ending that ties into Chrono Cross.
Its 9.2 user score is the highest on this list and it finished a single point behind Chinatown Wars. Square Enix still sells the game on Steam, iOS and Android in a version based on this DS edition.
3. Mario Kart DS: The First Game Online on a Nintendo Console
Metascore: 91 from 64 reviews · User score: 8.5 · Developer: Nintendo EAD · Released: November 2005
Mario Kart DS was the first title to use the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service when it launched on November 14, 2005, and Nintendo said 45 percent of buyers tried the online mode in its first week. It also introduced the retro cup format, with 16 tracks pulled from earlier games alongside 16 new ones.
The Wi-Fi Connection service closed on May 20, 2014, so online racing is gone, but local wireless and single-cart download play still work between two DS systems.
4. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story: An RPG Set Inside the Villain
Metascore: 90 from 58 reviews · User score: 8.9 · Developer: AlphaDream · Released: September 2009
The third Mario & Luigi game puts the brothers inside Bowser’s body on the bottom screen while Bowser himself fights on the top, with the two layers feeding each other. Timed button presses on every attack and defence remain the series’ signature.
It leads the three 90s on user score at 8.9. A 3DS remake, Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey, released on January 11, 2019 in North America.
5. Advance Wars: Dual Strike: War on Two Fronts
Metascore: 90 from 49 reviews · User score: 8.4 · Developer: Intelligent Systems · Released: August 2005
Dual Strike added battles fought across both screens, with a second front on the top screen whose outcome shapes the main map below, and tag-team commanding officers who can take two turns in a row. It is the turn-based strategy series at its most generous with units and maps.
It was the first Advance Wars built for the DS, and the only strategy game in the top 10. It sits fifth on an 8.4 user score, behind Bowser’s Inside Story and ahead of Phantom Hourglass.
6. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass: All Stylus, No D-Pad
Metascore: 90 from 57 reviews · User score: 7.9 · Developer: Nintendo EAD · Released: October 2007
Phantom Hourglass is a direct sequel to The Wind Waker controlled entirely with the stylus: you point where Link should walk, swipe to attack and draw routes for the boomerang. The Temple of the Ocean King, revisited throughout the game against a draining timer and invincible Phantom guards, is its central dungeon.
Its 7.9 user score is the lowest of the three 90s, which places it sixth. Players rate it below every other Nintendo-made game on the list, with the stylus-only control scheme the usual complaint.
7. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow: Souls and Seals
Metascore: 89 from 52 reviews · User score: 8.5 · Developer: Konami · Released: October 2005
Dawn of Sorrow continues Soma Cruz’s story from the Game Boy Advance game Aria of Sorrow, with the Tactical Soul system that lets him absorb an ability from every enemy type. Bosses end with a Magic Seal pattern drawn on the touch screen, and two cartridges could trade souls wirelessly.
It is the only Konami game in the DS top 10 and the highest-placed of the three Castlevania titles released on the system. It takes seventh over New Super Mario Bros. by a tenth of a point on user score.
8. New Super Mario Bros.: The First New 2D Mario in 14 Years
Metascore: 89 from 65 reviews · User score: 8.4 · Developer: Nintendo EAD · Released: May 2006
New Super Mario Bros. was the first original side-scrolling Mario since Super Mario Land 2 in 1992. It brought the wall jump, triple jump and ground pound from Super Mario 64 into a 2D game for the first time, and added the Mega Mushroom that lets Mario flatten a whole level.
It started the New Super Mario Bros. sub-series that ran through the Wii, 3DS and Wii U. On this list it finishes eighth on an 8.4 user score, just behind Dawn of Sorrow.
9. The World Ends with You: Shibuya on Both Screens
Metascore: 88 from 59 reviews · User score: 8.9 · Developer: Square Enix and Jupiter · Released: April 2008
The World Ends with You runs a battle on each screen at once, with Neku controlled by the stylus on the bottom and his partner by the D-pad on the top, in a Shibuya drawn from the real district. Its pin-based combat, fashion-trend system and soundtrack have no equivalent elsewhere on the DS.
Players rate it 8.9, level with Bowser’s Inside Story and behind only Chrono Trigger here. It takes ninth ahead of Meteos on that score.
10. Meteos: The Puzzle Game From the Smash Bros. Director
Metascore: 88 from 49 reviews · User score: 7.9 · Developer: Q Entertainment · Released: June 2005
Meteos was designed by Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of Kirby and Super Smash Bros., and produced by Tetsuya Mizuguchi of Lumines. Blocks fall from the top of the screen and you launch matched rows back up with the stylus, with each planet changing the gravity and the music.
It is the only pure puzzle game in the top 10 and the one with the smallest user sample, at 54 ratings. Its 7.9 user score puts it tenth behind The World Ends with You.
What the DS Top 10 Says About the Console
Three of the 10 shipped in 2005, the Nintendo DS‘s first full year, and all three use the second screen or the stylus as a core mechanic rather than a map. Advance Wars fights on two fronts, Meteos is played with the pen, and Mario Kart DS put Nintendo online for the first time.
The list also shows how well the DS handled role-playing games. Chrono Trigger, Bowser’s Inside Story and The World Ends with You are three of the four highest user scores here, and Dragon Quest IX sits one point outside the cut. The console sold 154 million units, which gave Japanese RPG publishers an audience no handheld had offered before.
Nintendo accounts for six of the 10 as developer or publisher, Square Enix two, and Rockstar and Konami one each. No sports or racing game other than Mario Kart made it, which separates this list from the best PS2 games, where racing and sports titles take three of the 10 places.
Critics Versus Players on DS
The largest gap is Chinatown Wars, which critics put first at 93 and players rate 7.4, the lowest user score on the list. The smallest is Chrono Trigger, at 92 and 9.2, the only game here where players and critics agree it belongs at the top.
New Super Mario Bros. has the largest sample at 1,253 ratings, with Chrono Trigger at 1,229 and Mario Kart DS at 1,219. Meteos and Advance Wars have the smallest, at 54 and 152, a sign of how niche puzzle and strategy games remain outside their release window.
How to Play the Best DS Games Today
Nintendo DS games are not on Nintendo Switch Online, and the Wii U Virtual Console that carried some of them closed to new purchases on March 27, 2023. The practical route for most of this list is an original DS, DS Lite, DSi, or any 3DS or 2DS, all of which play DS cartridges.
Three games have current versions. Chrono Trigger is on Steam, iOS and Android. The World Ends with You was remade as Final Remix for Switch. Bowser’s Inside Story has the 2019 3DS remake. Chinatown Wars is also on iOS and Android through Rockstar.
- Available on current platforms: Chrono Trigger, The World Ends with You, Chinatown Wars
- 3DS remake: Bowser’s Inside Story
- DS cartridge only: Mario Kart DS, Advance Wars: Dual Strike, Phantom Hourglass, Dawn of Sorrow, New Super Mario Bros., Meteos
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the highest-rated Nintendo DS game?
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, with a Metacritic score of 93 from 85 critic reviews. Flipnote Studio also carries a 93, but it is an animation tool rather than a game, so this list leaves it out.
Why is Chrono Trigger on a DS list at all?
Metacritic scores each platform release separately, and the 2008 DS edition earned a 92 from 57 reviews. The 1995 Super Nintendo original predates the site, so the DS version is the only one with a score.
Are Pokemon games in the DS top 10?
No. Pokemon Black, White, HeartGold and SoulSilver all score 87 on Metacritic, one point below the tenth-placed games. They are the best-selling titles on the system but not the best-reviewed.
Can I play DS games on a Nintendo Switch?
Not through Nintendo Switch Online, which covers NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Game Boy and Game Boy Advance libraries but has no DS section. A 3DS or 2DS is the newest Nintendo hardware that accepts DS cartridges.
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