So, you finally decided to join the big boys and upgrade to the $5 DraStic DS emulator for your Android. If you were like me, it took a lot of convincing to plunk down actual money for an emulator, but I can say for certain that it’s worth every penny. DraStic is the fastest, most robust DS emulator available for Android and even runs flawlessly on mid-to-low-end devices. If you don’t believe me, here are some of the roms you should download to start testing DraStic out:
Animal Crossing: Wild World
This is the best single best casual game you can play on your mobile phone. Wild World still holds up great after 12 years, and it should be your next choice if Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is too limited for you. Anyways, whether you prefer using the virtual gamepad or just sticking to touch controls, DraStic makes it very easy to switch between them on-the-fly. DraStic also syncs your emulated DS’s system time to your phone’s, so you don’t have to manually set the time every time you load up Wild World, as you do on some other emulators.
Backyard Baseball 10
It’s doesn’t have that same fresh-out-of-the-cereal-box charm that the very first Backyard Baseball game had, but this is still a great game to play on your DraStic emulator for nostalgia’s sake, if nothing else. All your favorite backyard players are still here (and Pablo Sanchez is better than ever, don’t worry), but you can also play with all sorts of MLB stars circa 2010 (though Ichiro is the only one I drafted). It’s not the most in-depth baseball simulation out there, but that’s never what Backyard Baseball was for in the first place.
Dragon Quest V – Hand of the Heavenly Bride
One of the best and most influential RPGs of all time (if not the most influential), Dragon Quest V is the perfect RPG to play on your smartphone. Dragon Quest V tracks your journey through life, starting as a little boy traveling with your father all the way through to adulthood, marriage, and children. It also introduced a type of monster-collecting mechanic that soon birthed Pokemon, Digimon, and all sorts of other RPGs. Dragon Quest V, like every Dragon Quest game, is easy enough to be relaxing but deep enough to be engrossing, so go check it out.
Elite Beat Agents
Elite Beat Agents is the craziest and best rhythm game of all time, no DS collection is complete without it, and that’s all I will say about it.
Mario Kart DS
You’ve definitely played Mario Kart. It’s possible that you haven’t played it on the DS, though, which would be a shame because Mario Kart DS is one of the best offerings of the whole series. Go ahead and download Mario Kart DS, then watch how often you play it when you’re not in the mood for too long of a gaming session.
Mario Party DS
Mario Party DS is a great game to play by yourself, because you can just save your state whenever you want a break in the middle of the game. This ability to break up game sessions makes it worth playing by yourself, while other Mario Party titles get tedious when you play solo. There is no multiplayer on DraStic, unfortunately, so you are forced to play by yourself, but Mario Party diehards will be more than happy with this title.
Metroid Prime Pinball
I’ve always loved handheld pinball games. The Game Boy had Pokemon Pinball and the Game Boy Advance has Mario Pinball Land, but the pickings are pretty slim when it comes to pinball games on the DS. In fact, Metroid Prime Pinball is really the only one worth playing. Luckily, it’s an excellent pinball game from the same developers as Mario Pinball Land, so it’s more than worth a shot. If you’re sick of playing Metroid Prime Hunters on your DS, give Metroid Prime Pinball a try.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was something of a proof-of-concept for DS games on smartphones, considering it was ported to smartphones more than 5 years ago. Its dual-screen setup works perfectly on today’s big smartphone screens, and you don’t need to use the virtual gamepad at all if you prefer emulating touchscreen-only DS games on your phone. Anyways, if you’ve never played an Ace Attorney game, you need to download this one, and if you have, what better time to revisit the game’s roots than now?
Top Spin 3
Top Spin 3 is the best tennis game you can play on your smartphone with zero exceptions. You can play as all of your favorite tennis stars (well, as of 2008, at least), so it’s a more realistic tennis simulation than, say, Mario Tennis on the Game Boy. Most importantly, though. Top Spin 3 is a fast-paced tennis simulation that’s as pulse-pounding as watching a major final is. In fact, Top Spin 3 might be the most legitimate sports simulation of any kind that you can play on your phone.
Trauma Center: Under the Knife
Before Amateur Surgeon and Surgeon Simulator, there was Trauma Center: Under the Knife, the excellent surgery simulator for the Nintendo DS. Trauma Center is a fairly graphically realistic surgery simulator, but is also quite unrealistic considering that a magic healing gel is one of your surgeon tools, and that the main character has what’s basically a superpower. Still, Trauma Center has very engrossing surgery action, and the solid story is just the cherry on top.
Well, those are the 10 best DS games you should emulate on DraStic, in my opinion. Go ahead and download every single one to your SD card, and you’ll have a solid game collection right there. Think I’m missing a great DS game you can emulate? Go ahead and drop it in the comments!
