4.25/5 (8.5/10)

There's no question that when it comes to handhelds, Nintendo is dominate. They've come out with the GameBoy, the GameBoy Color, the GameBoy Advance, and now the DS (and DS Lite). The DS brings many new innovations, but is not perfect by far.

The Good
Of course, the main innovations of the DS are the dual screens and the touch control. The touch control has been used to give a new spin to games that we know so well. For example, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass uses complete touch control, making the game unique from the other ones in the series. The dual screens were also a brilliant idea by Nintendo- there are many different ways that they can be used. Hell, in some games the DS is even held sideways! There's no doubt that the DS can provide a gaming experience that you can't find anywhere else.

The DS Lite definitely improved on the original DS, design-wise. The DS Lite is much thinner and easier to use, and is much brighter than the original DS. I give props to Nintendo for stepping up and fixing what needed to be fixed.

Besides the touch control and dual screens, Nintendo also added a microphone, features such as Pictochat, DS Download Play, complete backwards compatibility for all GBA games, online multiplayer, sleep mode (in which you never have to turn off your DS while it saves power), and even kept the traditional d-pad and buttons (very wise on Nintendo's part). All of those features are welcome additions, and only add to the DS experience.

The Bad
As I mentioned before, the DS is not perfect. The graphics are not very updated since the GBA, falling far behind the PSP. For people who prefer tip-top visuals, the DS might not be for you.
Maybe it's just me, but even with the sleek design of the DS Lite, it's still not very portable. Unlike previous Nintendo handhelds, the DS don't fit very well in my pockets. I've noticed this especially with jeans. I just can't seem to fit the DS into those tight pockets. Then again, other people may not have the same problem as me.

The In-Between
Unlike the PSP, the DS does not allow you to surf the internet, watch videos or listen to music. However, it is a matter of opinion whether that makes the DS inferior to the PSP. Usually when I buy a gaming handheld, though, I buy it to play video games, not watch videos.

The Bottom Line
All in all, the DS Lite is another great handheld from the people at Nintendo. If you just want to play great games in a new and unique way, I highly suggest the DS Lite.

I have had 5 other guys from work bought DS's and we play multi player games all the time. This is the best handheld of all time. I remember when everyone was saying how the PSP was going to take over the handheld market. I dont care for the PSP but the DS gets my vote for dominate system.

This is one game that was especially made for the Wii. It is a first person adventure, not a shooter with some puzzles. I am ashamed that the score from Gamepro wasn't higher, because this was a great game. The motion sensing was great, and quite responsive. The only real flaw were the extra characters. Retro didn't need them, and it strayed it off course a little. But that's it. The shooting controls and turning was great for a shooting game on the Wii. Even though it is great, some will mutter darkly about the multiplayer. The Metroid series is usually single-player, and except for MPH, hasn't done that well anyways. This game is one of the greatest, and rightfully stands next to Halo, Halo 2, Bioshock, and Resistance: Fall of Man.

this is a good handheld and have some pretty good games but for some reason i got bored of it but i do play is sometimes its a good hanheld sure it has crappy graphics but graphics arent everything games are and this has alot of good games

this is the remake like the gba sp//// this is by far much nicer and compact this is a great product and i highly acknoledge it as a great system with great games

i agree that the new ds is better but i think it should have came with new features like an mp3 player maybe because i don't know the point of the hedphone jack on the lite or extend the range of the picto chat so we could talk to other people from anywhere any time but in terms of looks it is really good

A great system that is pure fun on the go. Although most of the games that I enjoy seem to be the Franchise games like Mario Kart and Super Mario Bro there seem to be more and more third party games turning up. Castlevania and Final Fantasy are great. Battery Life is outstanding on the DS Lite. The ability to change brightness is also a great feature. My only gripe is the screen size which can be hard to see when playing some games. Granted there is 2 screens but most games only really use 1 screen for gameplay 90 percent of the time with the second screen reserved more for mini games and maps. Overall a great system with a great price.