OF ALL THE GAMES THAT LAUNCHED WITH THE NINTENDO DS, NONE WERE AS INVENTIVE, CHARMING, OR OVERLOOKED AS PROJECT RUB. TWENTY YEARS LATER, SONIC TEAM’S DS DEBUT REMAINS ONE OF THE SYSTEM’S MOST ENJOYABLE AND ENDEARING GAMES

WORDS BY JA MES TOCCHIO

“TWO SCREENS? WHERE ARE WE SUPPOSED TO LOOK? A WEIRD, LITTLE STYLUS? WHAT IS THIS, A PALM PILOT?”

» [Nintendo DS] Chase sees the hero chasing the villain’s helicopter – hey, isn’t that a sonic spring?

» [Nintendo DS] When the hero is poisoned, nightmare missions present twisted imaginings of previous boss fights.”

Living as we do in a time when virtually everyone has a touchsensitive electronic device in their pocket, it’s easy to forget just how unusual and bold the Nintendo DS was when it debuted. Given Nintendo’s incredible recent success, it’s also easy to forget just how important its quirky dual-screened, touch-sensitive handheld console was to the brand’s survival. If we think about it, the DS could arguably be considered as one of the most important devices in the history of Mario’s makers.

It arrived at a time when Nintendo’s then-current home console, the GameCube, was performing worse than any previous console in the company’s history. To most game-industry observers, it looked like Nintendo was in big trouble. And then the DS showed up, proceeded to sell 154 million units in its lifecycle, and became the second-most successful videogame system of all time. This, along with the Wii, reversed the trend of sluggish Nintendo sales, and re-cemented the brand as a leader of innovative concepts in gaming.

But when the DS launched in 2004, none of this was a foregone conclusion. Two screens? Where are we supposed to look? A weird, little stylus? What is this, a Palm Pilot? Indeed, pundits of the time called the DS Nintendo’s “worst idea ever”, with others dramatically heralding it as the company’s “death knell”. But then came the games.

Overnight, the Nintendo DS became a machine of unique concepts, hosting wildly imaginative games, games which reminded everyone of what has always made videogames special and different from other forms of entertainment: that is, interaction. Good games affect us through our ability to affect them. They let us experience stories through novel technology, and the novel technology of the Nintendo DS allowed us for the first time to literally touch these experiences.