It’s the final countdown — the 3DS eShop closes for new purchases on Monday and taking the DSiWare store with it, so we’re republishing this guide to highlight some gems for you to consider. You have this weekend to make sure you’ve bought everything you want to play…
The demise of the 3DS and Wii U eShops has many of us reminiscing about the not-so-long-ago days when those digital stores were at their peak — as well as launching those stores on their respective consoles to make sure we got all the games we wanted before they were gone forever they disappear March 27.
One part of the 3DS store in particular seems to have gotten a little lost in the crowd: the DSiWare store. The handheld counterpart to WiiWare, this was a walled garden of digital-only games that first appeared on the DSi The hardware revision of the original DS is often overlooked, but it’s still currently available via the 3DS eShop in its own little section, and has a lot more worthwhile games than you expected!
A bunch of in-house and published titles appear below, from studios with great pedigree. DSiWare gave developers the space to experiment with smaller ideas unencumbered by the financial risks of a full physical release — and the results were often fascinating. It’s not just a bunch of watch apps, you know! Although there are some.
Below, we’ve rounded up a great selection of DSi hidden gems and interesting classics that — for the most part — simply aren’t available anywhere else. While you might find them on used consoles in the future, there’s currently no other official way to buy and play these games, which is a shame. We have archived reviews for each game below, so check them out if you want to know more.
Just keep in mind that you can’t use credit cards to pay for 3DS eShop games right now, and you can’t add funds via gift cards unless you have your Nintendo Network ID linked to your Nintendo Account, in which case the pooled funds will still be available in stores until are not closed. So now’s the time to load up on gift cards while you still can — and, if you want, get a great 5% off with our eShop gift card discount code. Details below!
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So let’s take a look – in no particular order – at many of the best DSiWare games money can buy. If you’re not hanging around, that is.
Note: We have included prices below where possible. Some games are only available in certain regions, as indicated by the displayed currencies (US or UK) as well as the release dates for each entry. Also, most—but not all—of the DSi catalog was moved to the 3DS eShop before the service was discontinued on DSi consoles in March 2017. Therefore, we didn’t include any unavailable titles (Picdun and Pop Island: Paperfield, for example), or titles readily available in in physical form or on the Nintendo Switch via port (hello, Shantae).
Publisher: Nintendo / Programmer: SRD Co.
Photo Dojo’s fun fighter is hard to beat: its versatility and use of the DSi’s functions — including a built-in camera that lets you become the world’s greatest fighter — are excellent, and the potential to create fighters based on friends, figures and anything else you can photograph it’s enough to forgive its simplicity and lack of gameplay. For the paltry asking price, it’s almost impossible to go wrong with this one if you have a few friends to play with and don’t mind laughing at yourself.
Price: £1.79 / $1.99
Publisher: Nintendo / Programmer: Q-games
Sequel to the relatively obscure Japan-only Game Boy release xX-Scape (or 3D space rank in PAL regions) stands as one of the most polished games in the DSi store. You play as the ultimate VIXIV supertank pilot, blasting your way through aliens in several Tron-like worlds. X-Scape has a pretty meaty campaign and still holds up extremely well. This one was also developed by Q-Games and Dylan Cuthbert, known as Argonaut and Star Fox.
Fun Fact: The tunnel music from this game appeared in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Price: £7.19 / $7.99
Publisher: Nintendo / Programmer: Nintendo software technology
Minis March Again is a competent, fun and engaging little package — easily one of the best games you can have on DSiWare if you like marching Mario minis. The level designer in this entry is great, but even if crafting crafty contraptions isn’t your cup of tea, you’re sure to have a good time.
Price: £7.19 / $7.99
Publisher: Nintendo / Programmer: Q-games
Another release from the talented developers at Q Games, Starship Defense (as it’s known in North America) is a challenging tower defense game with an interesting visual style. The whole thing looks like it was drawn on math graph paper and everything looks very clean. While it doesn’t stray too far from the standard tower defense formula, the progression and upgrade systems are well-timed and can be surprisingly challenging.
Price: £4.49 / $4.99
Publisher: Nintendo / Programmer: Nintendo software technology
Don’t be fooled by its adorable exterior — Nintendo Software Technology’s Aura-Aura Climber offers an addictive arcade-style experience. This surprisingly complex game has intuitive controls and fluid gameplay that will have you hooked as soon as you finish the tutorial. With two different game modes available, ten levels to unlock, and thirty different medals to collect — not to mention the incentive to beat your own scores — Aura-Aura Climber offers considerable replay value and is a great addition to the DSiWare library.
Price: £1.79 / $1.99
Publisher: Nintendo / Programmer: Intelligent systems
A gem from Intelligent Systems, Link ‘n’ Launch is one of the more unique puzzles you’ll ever play. It requires a very basic gameplay premise and shapes a unique space puzzle theme around it all. Intuitive touchscreen controls and an extremely basic set of gameplay objectives make the game easy to start but hard to put down. While it can get a bit repetitive after a while, it’s a game you’ll find better suited for short, quick bursts of play rather than long drawn-out gaming sessions — then it’s perfect for a handheld. Link ‘n’ Launch may not go so far as to set the puzzle genre on fire, but it’s definitely unique enough to warrant exploration by puzzle fans.
Price: £4.49 / $4.99
Publisher: Square Enix / Programmer: Intelligent systems
Another one developed by Intelligent Systems, if you can somehow curb your expectations that Dragon Quest Wars is a typical Dragon Quest-esque RPG experience and accept it for the simple yet enjoyable strategy title it is, then you’ll find it a very fulfilling and playable game here. The stylus controls needed some tightening up and the single-player experience can be a bit bland, but the local multiplayer modes (if you can find a friend with a DS Wireless game) more than make up for its shortcomings. It’s another DSiWare offering that further proves the adage that sometimes less is more.
Price: £4.49 / $4.99
Publisher: Genterprise / Programmer: Genterprise
Genterprise has released a large series of smaller releases on DSiWare in North America — the GG series — and The Hidden Ninja Kagemaru manages to stand out as one of the most unique, thanks to its clear art direction and engaging stealth platforming that combine to create a fantastic, unmissable arcade experience. We highly recommend picking this one up while you still can, it ranks right up there with the best of the DSiWare series.
Price: $1.99
Publisher: Capcom / Programmer: Other Ocean Emeryville
This was released by Capcom as an addon for the unlucky A dark void and received more critical acclaim than its big-budget PS3 counterpart.
Dark Void Zero is a 2D action platformer (now also available on Steam) in which you run and shoot through three long levels, with the ultimate goal of saving Earth from an alien threat. Its runtime may be a little short, but the collectibles go a long way toward expanding the replayability and it’s challenging to a satisfying level. Also, that sequence where you have to “blow into the cartridge” is a neat thing.
Price: £4.49 / $4.99
Publisher: Nintendo / Programmer: Fuse games
When it comes to pinball games on the DS, one generally thinks of the rather odd Metroid Prime Pinball. As it happens, Fuse Games – the developer of Metroid Prime Pinball – also released an original pinball game on the old DSi Shoppe in 2009 – Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon.
With a pinball table inspired by Greek mythology, this game is quite well designed and offers a lot of value for money. The matrix display is a nice touch, it has a good combination of objectives, and the physics are surprisingly realistic.
Price: £4.49 / $4.99
Publisher: Nintendo / Programmer: skip
Creating a killer puzzle game is a tall order, but developer Skip has managed to cook up a completely fresh take on the ‘falling block puzzle’ for the DSi. The formula for PiCTOBiTS (or Pictopict outside of North America) isn’t as simple as some other games of its kind, but it works well enough. The bottom screen of the DS is essentially like a grid, and when you start, there are several BiTS along the bottom that correspond to a square on said grid. Tapping the BiTS essentially sucks them into the pen, and tapping an empty spot on the screen sends them back. Soon blocks of different shapes will start falling, and your task is to make them into a symmetrical piece of at least four blocks.
It’s a nicely presented puzzle well worth checking out.
Price: £4.49 / $4.99
