DS imports

[Nico87]

To be honest, the only non-RPG's I know of is the Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan games, Iwy the Kiwi (which is being localized anyway), Ketsui: Death Label, and the Jump Stars games.

Figured I'd get back into the DS scene, so I'll be needing some DS import recs. No RPG's please! :roll:

[Atari 5200]

Ganbare Goemon: Toukai Douchuu Ooedo Tengurigaeshi no Maki

[thetoxicone]

Band Brothers and the gba expansion pack are both worth picking up.

[Nico87]

Ganbare Goemon: Toukai Douchuu Ooedo Tengurigaeshi no Maki doesn't look that import-friendly. Come to think of it, no Goemon games have since the Famicom games. Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 and Daigasso! Band Brothers are under serious consideration, but I've never really enjoyed music/rhythm games.

[3rdman]

chou soujuu mecha mg

is the most wonder surprise in the entire DS catalogue. Giant robot fighting-sandbox game. 3D polygon. 100+ transforming robots to unlock. 95% playable with no foreign language skills. shows up on ebay all the time for about 10-15 bucks. google the trailer

you will love this.

also recommend:

DS Air (1st class flight sim/rpg) 90-95% playable

Gundam 00 (most dynamic 3D graphics i've seen on the DS, but not as fun as chou soujuu mecha) 80% playable

retro game challenge 2 (5 of it's 7 games are simple arcade style, and quite fun too)

and coming soon ....

GG series collection+ (a collection of import DSi games! on a DS cart! 30+?)

hope this helps.:cheers:

[Nico87]

Wow, thanks, will definitely check out Chou Soujuu Mecha MG and Gundam 00. I've been considering picking up the first Retro Game Challenge game, but it's still on my "Maybe"-list.

[3rdman]

my pleasure. I was really into researching playable GBA and DS imports some time ago, so i'm happy to share.

[Kyle15]

Bleach DS and Bleach DS 2nd. Both are fighting games by Treasure; you can't really go wrong there!
The gameplay is very similar to Guardian Heroes and YuuYuu Hakusho: Makyo Toitsusen(sp?), both of which were also made by Treasure.

[pepharytheworm]

I want the Europe version of Bomberman Story. I love bomberman and rpgs and living in the states we never got this game. Any Pal or JP gamers play this and how does it hold up?

Here's some I am interested in which include EU and jp releases as I am in the US.

Densetsu no Starfy 4
Puzzle Series Vol. 5 - Slitherlink
Freshly Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland (EU/JP)
Bomberman Story (EU/JP)
Taiko no Tatsujin DS
Slide Adventure: Mag Kid
Bleach DS 4th: Flame Bringer
Doraemon: Nobita to Midori no Kyojinden DS
Crayon Shin-Chan DS: Arashi o Yobu (EU/JP)
Crayon Shin-Chan: Arashi o Yobu - Nendororo~n Daihenshin (EU/JP)
Crayon Shin-Chan: Arashi o Yobu Cinema Land (EU/JP)
Crayon Shin-Chan: Obaka Daininden - Susume! Kasukabe Ninja Tai!
Game de Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z
Giana Sisters DS (EU)
Asterix & Obelix XXL 2: Mission: Wifix (EU)
Go! Go! Cosmo Cops! (EU/JP)

Being in Norway are you looking for US only releases also? Are you not wanting rpgs because of the language barrier because there are some released in the US and JP but not EU?

[Nico87]

I love you for the recs, honestly.

Well, I have 16 gaming systems, none of them are PAL. All my systems are NTSC-J mostly, and some NTSC, like my Wii and PS3 and some older systems. That should give you a hint! Not that this applies for handhelds, though.

I never buy games here. Even with shipping costs included, videogamesplus.ca or eBay are cheaper. I might use the the English online store Play.com now and then, but that's it.

With that said, there are a few games that only got released in Japan and Europe. Terranigma for the SNES, Inazuma Eleven for the DS, and Tales of Graces comes to mind. Inazuma Eleven and ToG haven't been released anywhere outside Japan yet, though, but they have been confirmed for Europe. No news on North American releases for those two as of yet. Tales of Eternia for the PSP was only released in Japan, Europe, and Australia.

Slide Adventure: Mag Kid looks awesome, but I've heard that it doesn't work on a DSi, unfortunately.

[neist]

You know I came into this thread thinking that people would have generic recommendations, but I'm quite surprised with how varied the suggestions are. Everything everyone has stated so far is solid, but allow me to add a few of my own eccentric suggestions. ;)

Kururin Doughnuts: Okashi Recipe (JPN) : Okay, this one is just included for weird factor. You play as a donut. Your power-ups turn you into different types of donuts. In between levels you get told recipes for desserts. I don't think it could get any better. Heres the website, just for quirkiness: http://www.gae.co.jp/game/kururin/index.html

Pic-Pic (EU/JPN) : One of the best games on the DS. No one has heard of it and it's a bit difficult to locate, but it's worth it. It took me 2 years to track this game down and an amount of money more than I'd like to admit. It's probably easier to locate in Norway, as you're on the same continent as its release. This thing never popped up on US eBay. Never.

Bomberman 2 (EU/JPN) : It's Bomberman with gear choices. Gives it a slight RPG edge that's really nice. Both this and the aforementioned Bomberman Story are great if you're a fan of the series.

Fuuun! Daisoujou (JPN) : A "okay" tower defense game, but I love tower defense, and it's probably worth it if you can find it cheap.

I'd also suggest tracking down Maestro! Jump in Music (EU) and Nervous Brickdown (EU/US/JPN). The former is a charming rhythm game that's inevitably going to be difficult to locate. The latter is by a small French developer called Arkedo. It's sort of a modern take on the Brickdown/Arkanoid formula.

They may not be "import" games, but considering you don't buy a lot of PAL games, I thought I'd mention them. I doubt you would have heard of Nervous Brickdown, because even in the US, it's amazingly obscure.

If I think of anything more, I'll be sure to pop in. Most of the rest I can think of are more of collector's items, not so much fun plays.

[3rdman]

Fuuun! Daisoujou (JPN) : A "okay" tower defense game, but I love tower defense, and it's probably worth it if you can find it cheap.


That looks really nice. How text heavy is it? Could I enjoy it without the necessary language skills?

[neist]

That looks really nice. How text heavy is it? Could I enjoy it without the necessary language skills?

The gameplay itself is pretty easily playable if you've ever played a tower defense game.

There used to be a flash version of it so you could try out the game.. I can't seem to find it. Here's the website, in case you can dig it up, but I can't seem to find it again. :(

http://nnsystem.jp/dairojo/ds/

Edit: Ah ha! I found it. http://dol.dengeki.com/pr/dairoujyo/demo/demo.html

[Amnion-Chorion]

Kururin Doughnuts: Okashi Recipe (JPN) : Okay, this one is just included for weird factor. You play as a donut. Your power-ups turn you into different types of donuts. In between levels you get told recipes for desserts. I don't think it could get any better. Heres the website, just for quirkiness: http://www.gae.co.jp/game/kururin/index.html


How expensive/hard to find is this game? I found a video and it looks right up my alley, as far as crazy japanese platformers go.

[neist]

How expensive/hard to find is this game? I found a video and it looks right up my alley, as far as crazy japanese platformers go.

Play Asia can still get a hold of them for $40, it looks like, and there's one on eBay for less than that.

I'm not sure how rare it is anymore, because I bought it quite a while ago, but games like this (i.e., games that probably didn't even sell well in Japan) only become increasingly difficult to locate.

There's games released in Japan that only sell in the hundreds, not thousands. I can't imagine this game did all that well. Most of these games that aren't tied to a well-known license, game developer, or game series tend to flop.

[Amnion-Chorion]

Play Asia can still get a hold of them for $40, it looks like, and there's one on eBay for less than that.

I'm not sure how rare it is anymore, because I bought it quite a while ago, but games like this (i.e., games that probably didn't even sell well in Japan) only become increasingly difficult to locate.

There's games released in Japan that only sell in the hundreds, not thousands. I can't imagine this game did all that well. Most of these games that aren't tied to a well-known license, game developer, or game series tend to flop.

Thanks for the info! I don't doubt it sold poorly; I'd never even heard of the game until your post. I'll keep an eye out for a discounted copy of it, as $40 seems a little pricey, at least for my cheap tastes. Of course, with my luck, it'll disappear in a flash and start fetching as much as stuff like Psychic Killer Taomaru. :/

[pepharytheworm]

I forgot to add Umihara Kawase DS
which is the best version of this game,, it contains the SFC and PS version on one cart. Better than the PSP version.