I bought a DS about ten years ago during the peak Pokemon GO craze just to play HeartGold, and since I completely missed out on the handheld when it was actually current, I figured I would dive into the rest of the library over time. Most of it was an awesome history lesson, but a handful of games made me so genuinely angry I almost launched the console across the room. I have played a lot of video games in my life, but nothing compares to THIS specific, burning rage of having a hardware gimmick forced into core gameplay.
Take Wario Master of Disguise, which I just beat today (and hence needing to vent). I am beyond frustrated with it even after finishing it. Trying to scribble specific geometric shapes on the touch screen in the middle of an intense platforming section, only for the game to misinterpret my quick stroke and completely ruin my flow, is a special kind of agony.
And it is a whole pattern. The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass decided that traditional Dpad controls were illegal and forced you to pilot Link and swing his sword entirely with the stylus. Star Fox Command took an arcade shooter and turned it into an unplayable chore by making you draw flight paths and barrel rolls on the screen instead of just playing. And as much as DK Jungle Climber doesn’t rely on DS gimmicks, I put it hear because it still fits into the timeline when Nintendo felt that we needed all our favorite IPs to be “fresh and different”. And apparently peg swinging nonsense was the answer. That game made me rage as much as Wario.
It drives me crazy because when developers actually used the second screen as a sensible, auxiliary tool, the DS was an absolute joy. Look at Super Mario 64 DS and New Super Mario Bros keeping classic button controls intact while using the bottom screen as a clean, realtime map. Look at Pokemon HeartGold and Golden Sun Dark Dawn using it for menus and inventory so you didnt have to pause every five seconds.
The second screen paved the way for how great dual screens and touch controls could be when used well. But man, forcing mic blowing, stylus controls, and shape drawing into an action platformer was complete idiocy. I swear Nintendo should never go down that road again.
If you got this far, thanks for reading this rant.
Yeah, I completely avoided a large portion of the DS library because of the gimmicks. And unless you are directly referring to somebody’s favorite game, most people agree the DS was flush with gimmicks.
I distinctly remember purchasing Star Fox Command, and really enjoying it… until I found out they removed the ability to fly through rings. You could only fly through a ring if you took your hands off the controls and scratched up your touchpad really fast. Mmm… nah, that ain’t for me. Probably why I adopted PSP so fast after loving the GB/GBC/GBA.