An excellent portable video game system.
Written: Feb 15 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: two screens - one touch sensitive, wifi, mario kart, GBA backwards compatible
Cons: no analog stick, wifi set up can be cumbersome as well as connecting
The Bottom Line: A great portable system with a handful of great games. Wi-fi is very fun and free. A system that focuses on games, and pulls it off nicely.
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| mzowski83's Full Review: Nintendo DS Console |
The Nintendo DS was released during the holiday season of 2004. Nintendo already dominated the handheld video game division with an iron fist. This is their latest product which was on sale for about $150.
The Nintendo DS utilizes two touch screens (hence the DS stands for dual-screen) with the bottom screen being completely touch sensitive. Packaged with the DS is a stylus, a plastic pen-like instrument used to touch the bottom screen. The top screen is only used to display games, but developers have used it for other features. These include (but are not limited to) huge dungeon maps as found in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, on-screen statistics like in Super Mario 64 DS, and the top portion of a pinball table such as the ones in Metroid Pinball.
The bottom screen is surprisingly durable and doesn't need a screen protector. Furthermore, both of the screens don't really need screen protectors because of the DS's unique clamshell design. Simply open it up when you are going to play the games and close it when you're not. This is a feature that the PSP doesn't have which makes the PSP's screen very vulnerable to fingerprints and scratches. The clamshell design has been utilized by Nintendo before in its Game Boy SP system.
Speaking of Game Boy, the DS is backwards compatible with almost every GBA game. Although the games can't be played multiplayer, the system still retrieves all of the same graphics, sounds, and playability of the system's precursor. The Nintendo DS has two cartridge slots, one for the DS and the other for GBA games. The feature to be able to play GBA games on the DS is nice because Nintendo still releases key games on the GBA, such as Final Fantasy IV Advance and the upcoming Final Fantasy V and VI games. All three of these games are RPGs and meant to be played with one person which makes the fact that DS can only play GBA games single-player a non-existent issue. These 3 games have already or most definitely will take advantage of the GBA hardware to showcase the quality of their soundtracks.
Surround sound is produced on the DS with the speakers that are on the top half of the system. It produces a decent level of sound, especially with headphones on. After playing Super Mario 64 DS, the music and sound effects all sound virtually identical to its N64 counterpart. Other games like Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow and Mario Kart DS have other elements that they provide to the table. Castlevania has a rich macabre soundtrack that is very atmospheric and detailed. Mario Kart has great sound effects such as the squirting of ink or the searing noise that a flying blue shell creates before it explodes.
Nintendo DS has a control system that's very similar to the Super NES controller. There is a control pad, L and R button (triggers), Y, X, B, and A. Select and start are located above the face buttons and the power button is above the control pad. Not quite a button, but also notable is the embedded microphone. The DS captures basic video gaming with its array of buttons, a sense of touch with the bottom screen/stylus, and a new feature for video games with its microphone. The DS lacks a form of an analog stick which is so commonplace in today's video gaming. I own a PSP and I am not happy with the analog nub because it is recessed and moves with about as much dexterity as a 20 oz mountain dew cap that's been screwed too far to the right. Fortunately, the control pad on the DS does enough justice to most of its games well - and most of these games are three-dimentional.
The DS produces nice animations.
Your pup in Nintendogs will surprise you with its realistic actions it performs. Ranging from walking slowly around, eating food, chasing a frisbee, or sleeping.
The DS is capable of CG FMV.
In the Metroid Prime Hunters demo, the camera zooms in and out of a fully 3D rendered Samus Aran. Or for a more brilliant display, Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow has a complete opening video with Soma Cruz slashing threw enemies and huge magic bursts displayed on both screens.
The DS has decent textures and supports polygons well.
Super Mario 64 DS is virtually a direct port of the N64 favorite with a stunning 3D world and polygon characters and enemies that provide an interactive environment. Different rooms inside the castle have distinct design patterns on the walls, in terms of brick layout. Running on barren land is easily distinguishable from running on a stone path. The barren land is covered in dirt whereas the path will have stones layed intricrately as mario runs, jumps, swims, hops, or wall-kicks his way through the levels.
The DS has a nice, embedded microphone.
The mic lets players talk to their dogs with voice recognition capabilities in many games, but perhaps most notably - Nintendogs. In this game, players raise dogs using voice recognition as well as other methods (the stylus is used to throw items etc). The microphone captures all kinds of sound ranging from saying "Sit, lie down, roll over, and shake". The dog will react as he/she learns the command.
In addition to all of these features, the DS also has a built-in clock which is correlated with the calendar (obviously). Players can customize their DS with one of 12 colors, which are reminiscent of a general box of colored pencils. They may input their birthday, name, and a message that is shown to other DS players via ad hoc or Wi-Fi. To the best of my knowledge, ad hoc refers to the direct DS to DS connectivity, which thankfully is wireless. Players can talk to each other via the pictochat software (already on every DS) with a dumbed-down mario paint/instant messenging program.
Perhaps the DS's greatest asset, even more so than its originality aspects, is its Wi-Fi program.
Wi-Fi stands for wireless fidelity. The Nintendo DS has Wi-Fi built-in for instant connectivity for all of its users, based on the fact that they have a wifi compatible game, a high-speed wireless internet connection, a hot spot, or a Nintendo Wi-Fi USB 2.0 Connector which is attainable from their online store for about $35.
(Tid bit)After reading blogs on the web, and experiencing setting up my USB 2.0 connector, judging by which route you choose for your Wi-Fi, the setup will either be a walk in a park or a cumbersome effort. I'm not going to go into detail on the setup, but I do wish you the best of luck if you fall into some problems!
There are not very many games that are wi-fi compatible yet (Tony Hawk, Animal Crossing Wild World, Mario Kart DS, and the upcoming Metroid Prime Hunters). I own Mario Kart DS so I shall discuss this game.
Sure Mario Kart is one of the best franchises in the world, afterall, who can resist a go-cart racing game with projectiles? But what makes this version so special is that you can play it online. Records are tracked (wins, losses, and ties) on your Mario Kart DS data. This will make you cringe that much more when losing at the last minute to a blue shell . It takes a few minutes for the DS to locate some opponents for you, but once you're racing there's no turning back. It's annoying when players opt out or when it takes a REALLY long time to locate opponents, but if you like Mario Kart and are good at it, then this isn't that big of a deal.
Some features are dropped for the wi-fi multiplayer such as being able to ready your item before laying it and some tracks are missing. There is a good variety of tracks to choose from and the game. Each player gets to "vote" for the track, and the game will choose the race by majority or if it's a tie, then it will randomize.
All in all the DS is a true piece of work with a lot of unique functions and some great games. It lacks the multimedia aspect of the PSP, but whereas the PSP is a jack of all trades, it's not quite a superstar in any category. I haven't wrote a review on my PSP yet, but everyone seems to be comparing the two systems. If you want my honest opinion, I think the DS is the superior system because it chose games to focus on, and the games we get are fantastic and original. Coupled with all of its unique features, this makes the DS a conceptual piece of hardware for what is now a mere $99-$129.
-Matt
Recommended:
Yes
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mzowski83
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