Software like Brain Training and Nintendogs sat alongside core RPGs and classic games on a system that could be as wacky or as straight-laced as a developer desired.

With its approachable touchscreen input and huge breadth of software to appeal to audiences old and young, gamer and non-gamer alike, the DS helped bring handheld gaming to the masses which had felt 'excluded' from the Game Boy phenomenon for whatever reason. The gamble paid off, though, and the Nintendo DS became the first movement in a blue ocean strategy that Nintendo President Satoru Iwata would soon employ on the company's home console line with the Wii.

How was an ugly dual-screen Game and Watch-alike going to win a console war?! Nintendo seemed to be grabbing at straws, and inexplicably jumping off the good ship Game Boy, scuppering its flagship handheld for no good reason. There was a nervousness from fans that Sony's arrival on the handheld market was the death knell to Nintendo's dominance in the same way it had been with the home console market nearly a decade earlier. The early reveal model Reggie pulled from his pocket looked undeniably clunky, especially up against the sleek elegance of Sony's PSP. The original prototype and even the initial 'Phat' version of the hardware certainly didn't look like much of a threat. That was until it promptly slayed the Boy king and took his throne.

It's strange to think back to a time when the Nintendo DS - that odd-looking folding system - was positioned as a 'third pillar' alongside GameCube and Game Boy Advance. Younger generations, though, are more likely to name the unlikely upstart that stole Game Boy's portable crown and permanently ousted that mighty brand name from Nintendo's lineup: Nintendo DS. Ask anybody over the age of 30 to name a handheld system and 'Game Boy' will likely still be the first answer the name became synonymous with portable gaming just as home consoles were routinely referred to as 'Nintendos' back in the day. One of the joys of Nintendo's Switch is how it marries the company's home console heritage with its equally prestigious handheld line. Feel free to rate your favourites and, perhaps, rejig the ranking below. This ranked reader-voted list of the 50 best Nintendo DS games is governed by Nintendo Life User Ratings and can change depending on those scores.

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