I’ve found myself playing my Nintendo DS pretty much exclusively lately. PC and console games don’t have the appeal they used to, and the DS is great for playing on the go. Today I picked up the revised DS Lite and although I had a play with one back at GDC in March, nothing compares to playing with your own to form a fair impression.

Here’s my take on the revised design:

Pros

• Smaller, more compact. Less toy-like design.
• Thicker and more comfortable stylus.
• White is better than grey
• New LCD screens are fantastic - bright and clear.
• Better battery performance despite better screens.
• Better D-pad (less mushy, more play)

Cons

• GBA game sticks out of the DS’s bum
• New start/select buttons are too small and unresponsive
• X/Y and A/B buttons are too mushy. The old DS ones were better.

I’m glad I’ve upgraded, but it’s not 100% positive. Most of the DS Lite reviews I’ve read have been quite gushing affairs. The DS Lite is definitely better than the old DS, but the old DS still has it’s positives, particularly, the right hand side controls (X/Y/A/B, Start/Select) and that the GBA game slot contains the entire GBA cart. That said, the new LCD screens alone are so much easier on the eyes that it’s worth getting a DS Lite.

While we’re on the subject here’s my recommended games list for the DS. I have a very low tolerance for mediocre games, so these are the ones that are absolute must-haves.

• Mario Kart DS
• Sonic Rush (best Sonic game ever!)
• Zoo Keeper (I’m not even a puzzle game fan, but this game is so addictive it’s not funny)
• Metroid Prime Hunters
• Castlevania - Dawn of Sorrow
• New Super Mario Bros
• Tony Hawk’s American Sk8land
• Brain Age

I live in hope that one day a good street or track racing game (other than Mario Kart) will turn up on the DS. A port of Virtua Tennis wouldn’t go astray either