Nintendo DS: Picking Games

As a avid player of video games I want to get the best bang for my buck when I buy a video game. But with hundreds of games out there for the Nintendo DS how do you know which one is the right one for you? Well I am going to share some of my tips and tricks for finding the right game.

When I look at a game the gameplay is very important to me. Story lines can be a major factor but the way the game plays out is very important. For example Final Fantasy Chocobo Tales has a great story behind it, but the execution through the game play was somewhat quirky and didn't work in the places it should have. Some of the games were way to hard or difficult to maneuver with a stylus. While the other games were too simple, making the game very unbalanced for experienced game players. A game like Advance Wars: DS has a limited storyline but excellent gameplay. Basic story goes like this: save the world from the bad guy and his missiles. Nothing new or spectacular there, but the execution for this game is perfect. So look at the game and the synopsis and understand if you might like the game or might pass on it.

I just want to get this out of the way, I'm not a big fan of graphics. I don't care of they are cartoon like or full scale 3-D. As long as the game works and plays for hours I can get over sound and graphics.

My next part of a game is multi leveled. I looks for mulitplayer, online play, and hours needed to beat the game. A great example of this is Lunar Knights. this game had great RPG elements and gameplay. It was one of the best games I had played in a long time, but I beat it under 12 hours with backtracking to find all the weapons. The multiplayer was ok, nothing great and there was no online function. So I traded the game back in 4 days for $10 from Gamestop because I couldn't get a refund. Now on the other hand I have had Advance Wars:DS since the day it came out and am still playing it. It has everything but online play which I hope the next version has. The multiplayer and hours I have logged in are amazing. So look for something that makes you want to continue playing after you have beat the main storyline.

I want to say that not all games are for everyone. These are just some of the ways I pick what I want to play. Good websites to reference are Gamespot.com and IGN.com. Sometimes word of mouth information can be good, ask you local game shop cashier what they have heard about a game. Most of the time they can giver personal experience or something someone said about any given game. They are usually very helpful because the more games you buy the better they do. And because they interact with way more players during the day than you do. So use that to your advantage, just ask.