On Mar. 31, 2010, the Nintendo DS placed as the top-selling handheld, selling 27.11 million units worldwide. While the 3DS has outsold it, at the time the success of the Nintendo DS was a big deal. This article will discuss the Nintendo DS Lite and focus on the handheld’s strengths and whether you should buy a Nintendo DS lite today.
How did the Nintendo DS lite do against the PSP?
The original Nintendo DS was extremely bulky and chunky. The DS Lite ended up being lighter and smaller than the original. This allowed for a greater portability experience than the original Nintendo DS. I personally find the DS Lite easy to slide into my pocket and take with me.
What do I think about the games on the Nintendo DS Lite?
The Nintendo DS line has had a very strong library of games. The DS itself had a lifespan was about six years. A great reason why the DS was out for so long was because of the great library of quality games.
Some of my favorites, and games I enjoyed, were:
- Animal Crossing Wild World
- Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon
- Pokemon Platinum, Diamond, and Pearl
- Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver
- Pokemon Black, White, Black 2, White 2
- Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky
- Sonic Rush
- Megaman Zero Collection
- Megaman 3 Star Force Black Ace
- The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass
- Metroid Prime Hunters
- Star Fox Command
- Ace Attorney Miles Edgeworth Investigation and all the Ace Attorney games I have played on the DS Lite.
The list can go on and on. I also still have a large backlog of video games on my DS Lite that I plan on playing through (mainly Golden Sun Dark Dawn). However, the 3DS and Nintendo Switch have an amazing library as well (I have never owned a Vita, so I do not know much about the Vita library). The strong 3DS library and backward compatibility makes it hard to justify buying a Nintendo DS lite.
In conclusion: should you buy a Nintendo DS Lite?
It depends; however, I would not buy a Nintendo DS Lite.
A Nintendo DS Lite is about $25~$30. For double that price, you can get a Nintendo 2DS. You can go from a 2DS to a newer Nintendo 3DS model for a little more cash. These systems are vastly superior and, are much more up-to-date. A Vita is not a bad choice as well.
You can also play any DS game on a Nintendo 3DS or 2DS. The only drawback of buying a 3DS is, not having access to Gameboy advanced games. However, the Nintendo eShop has plenty of older regular Gameboy games on the store. Additionally, the Eshop offers plenty of games that cannot be accessed on a Nintendo DS lite.
The price difference between the modern handhelds and a Nintendo DS lite makes buying a Nintendo DS lite seem a little weird. Nonetheless, if you are looking to save a buck and, don’t mind the limitations in comparison to modern handheld consoles, the Nintendo DS lite might not be a bad choice.
