the NDS / NDSi are both absolutely fantastic gaming systems. But when you put the NDS together with the R4 DS and mix it up, a whole slew of homebrew games come to life and are yours for the taking, often times better than or equal to commercial games in stores.
1) Lemmings DS – THE Classic strategy and mind game is back. Strategy, comedy and awesome gameplay!
Lemmings was one of the best games on the Amiga personal computer – later ported to the C64 and then the IMB PC’s of the day. It went on to spawn version for the Commodore 64 at the time, as well the PC computers.I really do believe that it was this game that set the stage for today’s strategy and brain training games. All 120 of the original Amiga levels have been carefully redone for the Nintendo DS.So you get every single, identical stage/level originally created for the Amiga computer, and later the C64 computer as well. A must have for any serious comical strategy game lover.
2) Quake DS – Not the first, but the original First Person Shooter Game To Set The Standard!
It is the first and standard setting Quake that was released over 10 years ago for the PC. Can’t realy say anything more.Possibly the game that put first person shooters on the map. And now, it is available for the Nintendo DS – so long as you also have an R4 DS card to play it on. Carefully and masterfully re-done for the Nintendo DS console.
3) xRick is the remake / conversion of one of the best classic platform games on the Amiga computer and now you can enjoy it on your NDS / DSi console
One of those classic games that you can’t seem to shake and have to play ove and over. Just put xRick on yoru R4 DS Card and plug it into your Nintendo DS and start playing one of the best platform side scrolling games of all time. Rick Dangerous was probably one of the most popular side scrolling games of it’s time, right niext to Giana Sisters. Anyone that didn’t own a Nintendo DS, had either one, or both, of these games as an alternative.Side Scroller adventure game taken to it’s full potential. Challenging, great graphics, and loads of fun!
4) DS Linux Turns Your Nintendo DS into a Portable Computer in your Pocket
Ah yes, the ever populat and sought after DS Linux. Before cards like the R4 DS Card, it was unimaginable for us to be able to load linux onto a system that fit in the palm of our hands.While there are a good number of ports for different OS and game systems the truth it you can’t really enjoy them on anything other than the NDS because of the touch interface.Because you can use the NS Stylus as a mouse, just as you would use it on your PC you truly do get the sam benefit of loading all of your favorite games and apps, etc… Rigth on your Nintendo DS lite system.With the R4 DS you can really take Linux to a whole new platform. If you have a Nintendo DSi, then you’ll need the R4i SDHC version of the R4 DS Card.
5) ScummVM – Your point and click game emulator for classic P&C games!
If you absolutely love point and click games, like Monkey Island, Beneath a Steel Sky or others, then you have to try ScummVM. ScummVM DS is a part of the ScummVM project. The ScummVM project is an attempt to re-engineer many classic point and click adventure games of the 80s and 90s to run on modern computer hardware. Technology has changed a lot since these games were written, and so ScummVM attempts to replicate the gameplay of the original games in exacting details, without any of the original code that the game ran on. What you will find with the ScummVM emulator is that you do actually need a copy of the original game so that ScummVM can utlitze the graphics, sounds, and scrips that made the game work. ScummVM was written and coded in a manner that quickly and easily allows it to be ported from one operation system / machine to the next.
And that is the list of homebrew games you must have for this week.In the coming weeks I will review and talk about some of the best emulators of classic computers and game systems – that you can actually play and use with your Nintendo DS
