This overlooked gem from Sonic creator Yuji Naka tells the touching story of a baby kiwi searching for her mother. Unlike many platformers, you don't directly control Ivy – instead, you draw vines with the stylus to guide her through dangers, create paths, and slingshot her across gaps. This simple mechanism leads to surprisingly deep gameplay that feels perfectly matched to the DS hardware.

Visually, the game employs a distinctive storybook aesthetic with a sepia-toned palette that gives every level a warm, nostalgic quality. The simple but expressive animations convey Ivy's personality without any dialogue. The soundtrack complements this approach with gentle, emotional melodies that underscore the game's themes of longing and discovery. Sound effects are minimal but effective, emphasizing Ivy's vulnerability in this big world.

What makes Ivy the Kiwi? deserve a place in any DS collection is its perfect marriage of innovative controls and emotional storytelling. The vine-drawing mechanic starts simple but gradually requires increasingly precise stylus work, creating a satisfying skill curve that never feels unfair. The difficulty ramps up organically as you progress, introducing new hazards that force you to use your vines in creative ways. The story, though simple, delivers surprising emotional resonance through purely visual storytelling. With 100 stages plus additional challenge modes, there's plenty of content for completionists. For players seeking a unique platforming experience that could only exist on DS, Ivy the Kiwi? represents the kind of thoughtful design and emotional depth that defines the handheld's best exclusive titles.

This genre-blending masterpiece combines match-three puzzle gameplay with deep strategic RPG elements to create something truly unique. Set in the Might & Magic universe, you command armies through a compelling story campaign, carefully arranging troops on a grid to create powerful attacks and defensive formations. The simple concept belies incredible strategic depth.

The vibrant, detailed sprite work gives each unit and character distinctive personality, with flashy battle animations that make victories supremely satisfying. The world map and cutscenes employ a charming storybook aesthetic that ties everything together beautifully. The soundtrack deserves special praise – epic fantasy themes that perfectly complement both the tactical battles and the overarching narrative.

What earns Clash of Heroes a place among the DS's finest is its perfect balance of accessibility and depth. The core matching mechanics are easily grasped, but the game layers on complexity at the perfect pace, introducing new unit types, faction abilities, and tactical considerations that keep the experience fresh for dozens of hours. The campaign is substantial, with each of the five playable factions featuring unique units and strategies. The robust multiplayer mode extends the game's life even further, with balanced competitive matches that feel like a fantasy-themed chess match with explosions. Few games blend genres so seamlessly or offer such a perfect difficulty curve. For puzzle fans, RPG enthusiasts, or strategy gamers, Clash of Heroes offers a brilliantly designed experience that transcends genre boundaries while making perfect use of the DS's capabilities.

This criminally underrated puzzle game casts you as a spirit herder guiding lost souls to safety by encasing them in protective bubbles that you control with the stylus. The concept is elegantly simple, but the execution is anything but, with physics-based puzzles that require increasingly creative bubble manipulation – split them, merge them, inflate them, or even fill them with different elements.

Visually, Soul Bubbles employs a gorgeously stylized aesthetic inspired by various world mythologies. Each themed realm introduces new visual elements and environmental hazards, from jungle canopies to fiery underworlds. The ethereal soundtrack perfectly complements the spiritual theme, with ambient melodies and traditional instruments creating a meditative atmosphere that makes lengthy play sessions deeply relaxing.

What makes Soul Bubbles worthy of any top DS list is its perfect use of the system's unique capabilities. The stylus controls for bubble manipulation feel so natural and precise that they spoil you for other games. The difficulty curve is masterfully designed, introducing new mechanics just as you've mastered previous concepts. There's a wonderful "flow state" quality to the gameplay once you're familiar with the controls – guiding your bubbles through intricate passages becomes almost zen-like. The level design consistently impresses, with clever puzzles that have multiple solution approaches rather than a single "correct" path. For players seeking something genuinely unique in the puzzle genre that showcases what the DS hardware could do in the hands of creative developers, Soul Bubbles stands as one of the system's most innovative and polished exclusives.

This spiritual successor to the Boktai series by Kojima Productions brings vampire-hunting action to the DS with a clever day/night system and dual protagonists. As either the solar-powered gunslinger Lucian or the lunar-powered swordsman Aaron, you battle through a post-apocalyptic world where vampires have blocked out the sun. The twist? You can switch between characters on the fly to take advantage of their different abilities and elemental affinities.

Graphically, the game impresses with detailed sprite work and smooth animations that bring the stylish character designs to life. The environments blend gothic horror with sci-fi elements to create a distinctive visual identity. Sound design is equally strong, with punchy combat effects and a driving soundtrack that shifts subtly between day and night phases, reinforcing the game's central duality theme.

What earns Lunar Knights a place among the DS's finest action games is its perfect balance of accessible combat and deep systems. The core hack-and-slash gameplay is immediately satisfying, but the weather system, weapon crafting, and character switching mechanics add layers of strategy that reward thoughtful play. The spaceship shooter segments between major areas provide welcome variety while tying into the narrative. The story itself deserves praise for its surprising emotional depth, exploring themes of partnership and opposing forces finding harmony. With multiple weapons to master, secrets to discover, and a substantial campaign length, Lunar Knights offers one of the most complete action experiences on the DS. For fans of character-driven action games with Japanese flair, it represents a perfect blend of accessibility and depth that too few players experienced during the DS's heyday.

Japanese importgame you will love

This chaotic fighting game brings together an absolutely massive roster of manga characters from Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine in a platform fighter that predates Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's "everyone is here" approach. With over 300 characters from 41 different manga series including Dragon Ball, Naruto, One Piece and more obscure titles, it's a manga fan's dream come true.

Visually, the game is a feast for the eyes, with faithful sprite representations of beloved characters that maintain their distinctive art styles while fitting into a cohesive aesthetic. The stages likewise draw from famous manga locations, packed with references fans will appreciate. The audio is equally impressive, with energetic battle themes and satisfying combat effects that make each special move feel impactful.

What makes Jump! Ultimate Stars worthy of any DS collection is its innovative "koma" (panel) system for building your fighter. Rather than simply selecting characters, you construct your fighter using manga panels of different sizes, creating unique combinations of abilities and support moves. This customization system offers incredible depth, allowing for thousands of possible team builds to suit your playstyle. The touch screen controls are smartly implemented, making special moves accessible without feeling gimmicky. With a substantial single-player mode and local multiplayer that supports up to four players, there's endless content to explore. Though it never received an official Western release, making it something of a hidden gem outside Japan, it remains one of the most content-rich and innovative fighting games on the system, well worth seeking out for fans of the genre or manga enthusiasts.