After doing an article on our five favorite single-player PSP games, we decided to tackle our five favorite multiplayer Nintendo DS games.

We love LANing it up as much as the next nerd, but sometimes that just isn’t practical, either because of weather (I wouldn’t transport my computer in the rain or snow…would you?) or because of laziness (times like that, I wish I had a gaming-capable laptop.)  Luckily, the Nintendo DS is ready and waiting! Our DS’ get plenty of solo play in our household; however, there is also a fair amount of multiplayer gaming done with the system.  Long battery life combined with easy-to-use wireless ad-hoc make it a great choice for playing together, and there is certainly a wide variety of games to choose from.  Here are five of our multiplayer favorites (in no particular order), along with one honorable mention.

1.  Civilization Revolution

Hands down, nothing gets multiplayer time on our DS’ nearly as much as Civilization Revolution.  We are all huge fans of the Civilization franchise, and Civ Rev is a perfectly simplified and scaled down version of its big brother.  It’s very conducive to playing while watching a movie, which is a frequent occurrence in our house.  This, combined with the mobility of the DS, makes for a perfect fit.  It is unfortunately a little too simplified to use it as practice for Civilization 4, but it’s still a ton of fun. Unlike Civ 4, where larger games can sometimes take us the better part of a couple of weeks to finish, a four player game of Civ Rev on the DS usually lasts us about 4-6 hours…perfect for those lazy Saturday afternoons spent parked on a couch or floor.

2.  Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes

Three-in-a-row games like Bejeweled and Puzzle Quest are hugely popular in our house.  So, when we heard a Might and Magic game was being released with a battle system that utilized the three-in-a-row mechanic, we were very excited.  We have had some unbelievably intense duels with this game…no fights have started from it, but swear words have been tossed around with reckless abandon, and on more than one occasion feelings were left quite bruised.  No matter how good you are, there is the element of randomness that is entirely beyond your control.  This game can be immensely fun when both players have a somewhat equal starting position, but usually one person has a perfect starting screen and the other person is completely screwed.  Oh well, such is the nature of these kinds of games, right?  You can read our full review on Clash of Heroes right here.

3.  Advance Wars: Dual Strike

Even though it is more cartoony and lighthearted than its successor Days of Ruin, we still prefer the mechanics and overall style of Dual Strike.  Strategy games are serious business around here…at least for people other than myself.  The guys I normally play this game with are intensely competitive with one another, which is a drive that I rarely experience.  I’ll usually turtle up and amass my forces throughout the battle, let the other folks pound each other into dust, then swoop in and finish up the remains.  Some (correctly) consider this to be a cowardly way out…but I still win :-)  Thinking about this game while writing this paragraph, I have just realized that we haven’t actually played this one in a while…I think I may bring it up next time our gaming circle gets together.

4.  Ninjatown

The beauty of Ninjatown is its randomness.  You never quite know where the enemy is going to be coming from, and with very limited resources, you have to be able to anticipate everything.  This is a very fun tower defense game, with a charming sense of humor and a simple interface.  Individual battles are quite short, allowing this one to be an excellent choice when there isn’t time for an extended gaming session.  One other thing worth noting: it isn’t a good idea to play Ninjatown in public…some of the special powers require you to blow into the microphone pretty hard.  Of course, if you don’t mind looking like a fool in front of total strangers, then have at you!  I would suggest the subway…or an opera house.

5.  N+

Myself, Brittnie, and all of our friends were NES gamers when we were younger, which means we all had experience with platforming games from an early age.  These skills came very much in handy, as N+ pushed our platforming abilities to their absolute limits.  Figuring out how to traverse the hostile landscape of N+’s numerous levels provided hours of entertainment for us (along with some hours of great frustration.)  N+ is a fun game to play by yourself, but things really get interesting when you put a friend into the mix.  Every level you conquer feels like a great accomplishment, and by the time you reach the end of the offered levels, you will feel like a God each time you clear one.

Honorable Mention: Skip-Bo

Brittnie and I are huge, huge fans of the card game Skip-Bo.  So, shortly after we both got a DS, we came across a collection of games that included Skip-Bo!  True, nothing quite replicates the joys of a card game when played with actual cards, but playing it on something like the DS is way easier (especially for lazy nerds such as ourselves.)  There are a ton of options to tweak the rules any way you choose, and games can be adjusted to be very quick (around 5 minutes) or quite long (we once had a two hour marathon game).  Be sure to check this one out if you enjoy multiplayer gaming with your DS.