The BIG DS Voting Thread, Coming to You Weekly: Thanks For Voting!

Mario Slam Basketball - 8 points (1st places - 1)



You say: "Simple game of coin-collecting basketball."

"I had to research the title of this as I had forgotten it, such is it’s standing in my collection. It’s OK. The presentation carries it a long way."

"I loved this, and it was a stunning-looking DS game for the time. The gameplay was fun, it had a satisfyingly tactile dribbling mechanic, and netting the ball on the top-tier difficulties felt like a genuine gaming achievement. Underrated."

I say: I've always been a fan of Mario sports games, even Mario Golf, which is surprising as I despise golf. But when the Americanised Mario sports games came along, Basketball and Baseball, I was turned off by my total lack of interest in the sport. Seems I missed out on a hidden gem here though!

WarioWare: Do It Yourself! - 10 points (1st places - 2)



You say: "The very first and only 100% rated game in NGamer magazine! The games were more restricted due to it being touch screen only but still good fun and making your own is even better, easy to do and you feel a sense of pride when you see your masterpieces in action."

"I know the programming was simplistic, but I refer you all to NGamer magazine's two features for why this is awesome. I also got to recreate the time when my sister nearly took out a passing car with a champagne bottle cork from her balcony."

I say: The only exposure I've had to this is the videos put up on NGamer's YouTube channel, which I recommend you seek out if you've a spare fifteen minutes. Seems like a proper giggle, although the lack of any creative skills means I'd probably not get as much out of this as others would.

Project Rub - 11 points (1st places - 1)



You say: "The game that started my horrible DS addiction. It's probably a steaming bag of shit in retrospect, but as an import DS gamer who got his mitts on a Japanese DS about four months before Europe, this game felt like forbidden magic in 2004."

"Quite a decent little minigame collection, for a launch game. Just a shame that the games were too long and too hard for me. The whole premise was a bit creepy too: kids, in real life, stalking your crush in outlandish ways will earn you a slap at best and a court order at worst."

I say: Just to get this out the way, I didn't vote this week as there was nowt I'd played. So I've played none of these games. I've not much to say about this one, beyond the fact it always caught my teenaged eyes everytime I went into GAME because of its provocative cover

Pro Evolution Soccer 6 - 12 points (1st places - 2)



You say: "At least I think that's the one I had on DS, wasn't the ultimate PES experience but as good as you'd get on DS."

"The level of customisation was neat and it played an alright game of football, too. I enjoyed it while it lasted."

"This is basically exactly like the old ISS Pro Evo 2 on Playstation 1 which was just brilliant."

I say: This ranked surprisingly high, and ended up being a little surprise to me. I've never played a DS football game, but I owned Pro Evo 4 on PS2 and it's a damn good game, so I'd imagine it'd port well. Also, this would have came during the time when PES was still king, right? A hidden gem, clearly!

WarioWare Touched! - 35 points (1st places - 3)



You say: "This is what sold me on DS after trying a demo in HMV."

"Poke! Spin! Blow! Start singing Ashley's song against your will! Great stuff."

"Not quite as good as the original, but super funny, and also introduced Ashley, the best character in ages."

"It's Warioware, there's loads to do and the microgames were brilliant as ever."

"Good old Wario Ware fun, exactly how it should be and made great use of the DS system as you'd expect with the series."

"Another Japanese launch game. Sadly not up to the (then) usual WarioWare standard, though I couldn't deny the appeal of using the stylus to trigger on-screen crazy. A mobile phone game long before 'proper' mobile phone gaming was a thing; if they'd have mixed the minigames up more thoroughly rather than categorising them by input, this had the potential to be a true early DS gem."

"Still remarkably ingenious eight years on. It’s uncommon for a DS game to be this well-realised, but, well, this isn’t your common DS game."

I say: One I always intended to pick up, and judging by how it flattened the competition this week, one I really ought to pick up! Seems to be as mad as ever judging by screenshots (remarkably difficult to find, by the by) and a worthy winner going by your comments!

Mario Slam Basketball: "The most forgettable Mario game until Mario Tennis Open."

"Yes it was fun, but it also created disturbing levels of anger. Simply thinking about the latter tournaments brings this gamer's blood to a boil. 'Old man yells at cloud.'"

Doki Doki Majo Shinpan: "Get past the reams of impenetrable Japanese text and... oh... er... (deletes emulator off laptop) (washes hands) (burns laptop) (washes hands again) (stamps on remains) (takes remains out into field in a bin bag and buries them) (gouges out eyes) (amputates hands just to make sure)"

Metacritic: "For including minigames compilations in "puzzle". Are you trying to encourage Phillips?"

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games: "Or 'How to totally bugger your lovely new DS' touchscreen'. I believe fire was first discovered by a time traveller playing this game whilst foolishly sitting in dense undergrowth, such is the amount of stylus friction required to win at the bloody thing. Who thought this was fun? Somebody at SEGA HQ had a sick sense of humour."