Nostalgia Sunday: Nintendo DS

I'm sure that any one of you who was a kid growing up in the noughties owned a Nintendo DS at some point during that decade. I know I certainly did and was constantly playing on it and was always taking it with me to sleepovers so me and my friends could play games together. I have never been much of a gamer and this was probably the only games console I owned (as well as the Nintendo Wii, which there is a post about coming soon). Did anyone else have that one game card that had about 20 (or more) games on it? I am going to be talking about all of the different games I used to love to play on my Nintendo DS and hopefully bring a bit of nostalgia for those of you reading this...

Pictochat

Let's be honest, you can't have a blog post about Nintendo DS without addressing pictochat. For those of you who have never heard of it, pictochat was a program that was already on every Nintendo DS and you could use it to chat with your friends, either by typing, using symbols, or drawing things (it was essentially the modern-day version of pictionary). You could connect with your friends and there was four different chat rooms available for you to use (anyone else have no need for the four different chat rooms but would just move between them just to get a bit of variety, despite there being no difference between them, or was that just me and my friends?). Also, not really related to pictochat but to Nintendo DS in general, did anyone else's mum tell them they couldn't play on it when it was charging? Genuinely spent years of my life thinking something was going to happen to me if I did, but I'm still alive and thriving (kinda) today so clearly that's not the case. But pictochat was a staple to those of us with a Nintendo DS and if you never used it then what were you doing with your life?

Nintendogs

Let's be honest, we all had this game as kids in the noughties. And we all ended up neglecting them and having to start all over again. I personally always had a Yorkshire Terrier and feel really bad because I can't remember her name (it was always the same name everytime I had to restart the game). The fact I couldn't look after a fake Yorkshire Terrier without killing it because I kept on getting bored of the game and forgot about the dog actually terrifies me for if/when I have kids because I am going to have to keep them alive. But hopefully I am not like my seven year old self and actually have some idea of how to keep something alive. I mean, I've managed to keep myself alive (well, my mum and dad did, but I was responsible for keeping myself alive for around nine months when I lived in uni halls) and I have kept my cats alive since I got them last August (even though I'm not the only one responsible for them and my Mum is the main one who feeds them).

Mario Kart

I know most people probably played this on the Wii (anyone else have those steering wheels to put the controller in?), but the first time I ever played this game was on the DS and it was definitely one of my favourites. My favourite character to play was Princess Peach; although I would always try and use all of the characters at some point. I am a naturally very competitive person so this game was perfect for me. My favourite course was either anything involving the beach or the one where you had to jump across toadstalls. What was your favourite?

Animal Crossing

Now I have something to confess and please don't all come for me, but Animal Crossing wasn't one of my favourite games growing up. In fact, I really struggled getting into it. I mean, I did try with it multiple times, but always ended up starting over for one reason or another. But I felt you couldn't have a blog post looking back on noughties Nintendo DS games without mentioning Animal Crossing, especially not with its recent comeback on Nintendo Switch. I guess I maybe just didn't understand what was going on and maybe if I had spent a bit more time with it, instead of focusing on trying (and failing) not to kill a pretend dog, then maybe I would have enjoyed it more.

New Super Mario Bros

This was another one of my favourite games and I know most people probably preferred playing with it on the Wii, but I preferred it on the DS. But there was nothing more infuriating than constantly having to jump up and down to try and get a coin that was impossible to get to. There was also nothing more infuriating than constantly failing at the exact same spot and having to start all over again. Also, did anyone else ever understand the part where you would pick up one of the toads and then throw them off again? But I think when you think of Nintendo, you think of Mario, and New Super Mario Bros is one of those classic games that many will think about when they think back to playing on their Nintendo DS.

Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day

Who else remembers this? My brain age was always much older than I actually was. I think I started playing this game when I was about eight or nine and it pretty much always said my brain age was seventy. I loved all the different games you could play within this game and always tried to play it at least once a day. Did anyone else think this game would make them smarter? Because I did, and it's safe to say that it definitely did not. I always liked the sudoku games for some reason, which I guess was because my Grandad loved sudoku and I guess I get that off him. To be fair, sudoku is the only game I can actually remember on here, so any helpful reminders in the comments will be greatly appreciated.

Art Academy

I LOVED this game! At the time I really loved art and up until I took Art GCSE in year 9, I wanted to become an artist (Art GCSE ruined this for me as it made me realise I'm not as good at art as I previously thought). I loved this game because I liked the fact that it took you through how to draw/paint an image step-by-step and really loved the finished product. I can remember drawing/painting the apple, but can't remember anything else I did. If anyone else had this game, what other things did you draw/paint with it?

Cooking Mama

THIS GAME!!!! I always thought I was a chef just from playing this game (Gordon Ramsay eat your heart out). It was such a crazy game and I would forever be burning or undercooking stuff. I always thought the food in this game looked SO good and I would always want to eat it. If you didn't play this game as a child then, seriously, what were you doing with your life? This was a beyond top-tier game and if you didn't play this game then we can't friends (I'm only joking... or am I???).

That's all the games from the noughties I can remember playing on my Nintendo DS. Did you play any of these games? Or are there any games you played that I've missed off this list? Let me know in the comments as there's bound to be a fair few I have missed. And if you have any suggestions for a future Nostalgia Sunday post you would like me to do that focuses on the noughties that I haven't already done, please let me know in the comments below. I still have quite a fair few lined up and ready to go, but I'm always open to suggestions. See you next Sunday for another Nostalgia Sunday special.

Love Beth xx