Nintendo DS Christmas games review

So Christmas is almost upon us and you may be out doing some last minute shopping for relatives. If you haven’t a clue what to get them but you know they’ve got a DS, here’s a few suggestions of something that’ll make them go ooooh.

The biggest game of the year so far for me was Professor Layton and the Curious Village. The game features about 150 puzzles ranging from mathematical problems to sliding puzzles and riddles. It’s so addictive, any relative you give it to won’t be able to put it down, whatever their age. Also, you could do worse than buy someone a copy of Pokemon Diamond or Pokemon Pearl. I know people think it’s for kids but once again, it genuinely works for older gamers too. The collecting mechanic and the strategy of knowing which Pokémon to send out in battle to fight others is truly more-ish and you’ll get hours and hours of gameplay out of it that’s for sure.

Another big hit was The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass. This game uses the touch screen almost entirely and features fantastic Zelda-style role-playing as you sail the high seas and search those dungeons for treasure. This isn’t one for your Nan though as it does require a bit of true gaming skill.

If you do want to buy for the oldies you could still go for one of the popular Brain Training games. Dr Kawashima from Nintendo is the original and the best, although there are other games out there from Ubisoft that do a similar thing. They keep the grey matter active which will hopefully stop them losing their marbles (if they haven’t already). This type of game goes along the self-help route. You’ll find others in the form of Nintendo Cooking Guide – an interactive cookbook which gives you step-by-step instructions on how to chop an onion or boil a pan of water. Recently Jamie Oliver’s got a What’s Cooking? With Jamie Oliver which does the same thing. I just hope the recipes are better.

And if you’ve got really young kids, Ubisoft have released a whole range of Virtual pet games (Catz and Dogz) to rival Nintendo’s Nintendogs and Disney have a fair few Disney Princess games.So, there you have it – just some ideas for what to get DS lovers for Christmas.

Get the games now
New: Buy Professor Layton and the Curious Village from Amazon.com
New: Buy Pokemon Diamond from Amazon.com
New: Buy Pokemon Pearl from Amazon.com
New: Buy The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass from Amazon.com
New: Buy Brain Age 2 from Amazon.com
New: Buy Nintendo Cooking Guide from Amazon.com
New: Buy What’s Cooking? With Jamie Oliver from Amazon.com
New: Buy Petz Dogz Pack from Amazon.com
New: Buy Petz Catz 2 from Amazon.com
New: Buy Nintendogs Labrador Retriever & Friends from Amazon.com
New: Buy Disney Princess: Magical Jewels from Amazon.com

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