April 5th 2010 marked the 1st birthday of the DSiWare shop. With over 150+ games available on the service, Nintendo has proven that it’s portable download game service works well with small developers and gamers alike. With the recent release of the Nintendo DSi XL, I thought it would be best to look over some of the service’s best games as well as notable upcoming games for newcomers and curious gamers. This is the best of the best, from what I played as well as from general consensus.

Mighty Flip Champs!

WayForward

800 Nintendo Points

One of the first games that really impressed me on the service was WayForward’s Mighty Flip Champs! The game is a mix of a plataformer and a puzzle game. You play as Alta, who uses her Warp Wand to “flip” through pages and help her friends escape form the Maze of Pages. In order to reach your goal and escape, you have to control Alta on the top screen and you can see the next page you can flip to on the touch screen. Use the touch screen to carefully plan your next Flip, and get the best time for the stage. (Each stage has a ranking, highest being S.) After beating 7 stages in a level you are treated to a “boss” level (Simply called ? levels in the game) where Alta’s Warp Wand goes haywire and flips pages by itself. Not only is this really challenging (especially if you’re going for the best time) the music in these levels just get me pumped! Hell the entire soundtrack is great stuff. Simple controls, unique gameplay, 40+ stages and a great soundtrack makes Mighty Flip Champs! a must own game for the service.

PiCTOBiTS

Skip/Nintendo

500 Nintendo Points

There are many ArtStyle games out on the service, but PiCTOBiTS is definitely still the best in the bunch. PiCTOBiTS is a match the color blocks puzzle game with a retro spin. As colored pixels fall down the screen, you take color matching pieces, and align them correctly so that entire shape disappears. As these pixels disappear to the top screen, they end up forming famous 8 bit Nintendo character sprites! The better you chain these pixels, the more coins you get. In game, you can use these coins to open up locked out pixel containers (Which are extremely helpful near endgame) or if you happen to have some left over after completing a sprite, you can take them and buy DARK versions of some stages or you can head to the store and purchase these simply fantastic music tracks composed by chiptune masters YMCK.  My personal favorite? The credits theme. With about 30 stages of fun pixel puzzlin’, PiCTOBiTS certainly gives you it’s bang for your buck.

Dark Void Zero

Other Ocean/Capcom

500 Nintendo Points

If you’re looking for a DSiWare game with a little bit more action, make sure to take a look at Dark Void Zero from the fine folks at Capcom. What started off as a small joke, bloomed into one of the most polished releases on the service. Different weapons, 3 difficulty modes and collectibles to be found everywhere, Dark Void Zero is a retro gamer’s bliss. Check out my full review here.

Pop Island

Odenis Studio

500 Nintendo Points

Pop Island is probably the best local multiplayer game on the service. A wonderful looking game, Pop Island pits a team of animals against each other in the classic game Capture the Flag. Wielding powerful fireworks, the animals use them to knock the flag out of an opponents hands, or to defend thier current flag carrier. Up to 8 players can play Pop Island using DS Download Play. (Meaning even DS Phat & DS Lite’s can join the party!) With 8 unlockable wonderful looking worlds and the hectic 8 player action, Pop Island proves it’s worth with others.

Birds & Beans

Nintendo

200 Nintendo Points

If you’re just looking for a small, quick game to take up some mundane minutes, Birds & Beans might just be up your alley. In Birds & Beans, you take control of 2 different birds depending on which game you pick. At first, you only choice of game is Birds & Beans. Here you take control of a red bird with a long frog-like tongue. Your goal is to eat up beans that are falling from the sky. If a bean manages to hit a floor, that part of the floor will vanish and it’ll become harder to avoid getting hit by a bean yourself, which equals gameover. Once you get a good enough score, you’ll unlock the second game, Bird & Beans 2. Here, instead of using a long tongue, your now yellow bird can spit out seeds at incredible speeds. Use the seeds to destroy the falling beans at a faster and more difficult rate. Simple, but fun and addicting.

Rayman

Ubisoft

800 Nintendo Points

Have that classic platformer ich nagging at you? This is before all that crazy Rabbid stuff, this is straight up classic Rayman. The full classic game is ported with no error for your DSi to enjoy. Guide the limbless hero across various levels of increasing difficulty, earning new powers as you continue your quest to defeat the evil Mr.Dark. Whether if you are a new player or a returning fan, Rayman’s colorful worlds can always be enjoyed.

Pop Plus: Solo

Nnooo

500  Nintendo Points

The concept of Pop+ Solo is simple. You see bubbles. You must pop them. Why is such a simplistic concept so damn addicting and fun? As you pop bubbles in any of the plentiful modes, you chain bubbles, use items, and even battle bosses! If you are an avid fan of getting highscores, this is a game I absolutely recommend to you. Even if you are not, this game is still a solid buy, There is a mode for everybody.  For regular game players, check out the Adventure or Normal modes, where you advance with a good learning curve. For those a bit more hardcore, get into the Advanced or Timed modes for some challenge in your bubble popping mayhem. (Hardcore Players can also attempt to collect all the achievements/medals in the game) Casual players who just want to relax can check out the Chill and Bonus modes, where you don’t have to worry about scores, or just focus on one goal. There’s something for everybody here!

Glow Artisan

Powerhead Games

500 Nintendo Points

Another extremely well polished game, the award winning Glow Artisan is a must-own for anyone who even calls themselves a puzzle fan. A very unique concept, where you try to mimic a blueprint given to you on the top screen. It sounds simple at first, but things get challenging when you have to mix colors to come up with a certain block. Over 100+ puzzles are included in the game, and if that’s not enough for you, the game includes a randomize mode. Even then if it’s not enough for you, you can create your own puzzles using the DSi Camera and share them with friends. This is one DSiWare title that will definitely hold you for a good while.

There are tons more that are fantastic, but I would never finish this feature up if I did a mini overview for every good DSiWare game.

Here are some honorable mentions: Starship Defense, Art Style Series, Dr. Mario Express, Mr. Driller: Drill Til You Drop (Expect a review later this week), Flipper (Review), Flight Control, bomberman Blitz, Fieldrunners, Mario VS Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!, Paper Plane, The Oregon Trail, Dragon Quest Wars, Chronos Twins, Asphalt 4 and Bejeweled Twist.

Notable Upcoming DSiWare Games

Shantae: Risky’s Revenge

It seems that the DSiWare shop almost has every a game covering each game genre there is..well except one. The great and usually tough as nails Shoot ‘em up genre enters the DSiWare service with Metal Torrent from Nintendo. Players control the ship and blast away through legions of enemies while converting their bullets into cubes, which one can collect and use to unleash devastating special weapons. The game will also support online leaderboards as well as video recording so you can prove that you are the best of the best. Metal Torrent is slated to hit the service later this spring.

Photo Dojo

An incredibly silly looking game, Photo Dojo looks like a riot. In this crazy side scrolling fighter, YOU are the main character as you take various pictures of yourself and record voice clips. Once you are completely finished, you play through levels of baddies, also created by you and you friends. You can even fight each other on the same system. (Obvious advantage point: DSi XL) By premise alone,  the game sounds like it would bring some insane laughs. Like Metal Torrent, this will also hit later this spring.

Reflection

Click for full size!

The winner of the IGF Mobile “Next Great Mobile Game” Award, Konami’s Reflection is shaping up to be a wonderful looking game to keep an eye on. The world splits into 2 when a powerful mirror breaks, which leads you to control Kirra and her reflection in the shattered world to restore the world to it’s natural form.

Right next to Shantae: Risky’s Revenge, Reflection is very high on the list of DSiWare games I want. The game has gone through various builds and revamps, each one better than the last. It obviously has the love and effort of it’s developers, and that is something I could definitely get behind of. I could not access some information about Reflection’s release at the time of writing, but it’s very possible we might see the game this year.

Some other notable upcoming DSiWare titles are X-Space, which have you piloting a tank in 20 planets, a port of the original Earthworm Jim, Tetris Party Live, the SRPG game Mecho Wars and the pocket music station, Rytmik.

Some people have said that the DSiWare service had nothing worthwhile. No blockbusters, no ringers. Well, here I am with my big list, proving them wrong! Just like with the WiiWare service, Nintendo has taken it’s portable downloadable service and made it bloom. I can’t await for the titles I already listed (Especially Shantae & Reflection) as well as the unannounced titles for later this year. If anything, I’m only worried if the upcoming Nintendo 3DS will support backwards compatibility with these games!

How about you? Do you have any favorite DSiWare games you want to share with everybody? Post ‘em in the comments!