I've been so disappointed with the Nintendo DS lineup so far. I just bought Yoshi Touch & Go and Retro Atari Classics hoping they'd give me a better reason for picking up my DS besides playing my GBA games with better resolution. All of the games out for the DS so far have been games that I can pick up and play for a few hours, beat, and then only rarely pick up and play again. Sure, innovation is great, but the replay value has just been awful.

Take Wario Ware Touched. I loved the original GBA version mostly because of its unlockable Dr. Mario update. Sure, the game itself was fun, but once you've played through and beaten the micro games, it doesn't have the same addicting gameplay anymore. The same is true for the DS version. It was fun while it lasted, but with no good unlockables to keep me coming back, I can't bring myself to play the game more.

The two racing games that are out for the DS (Ridge Racer and Asphalt) are fun for a while, but the controls are awkwards without an analog stick and the tiny screen makes it impossible to see what's coming up ahead of you. Probably why I'm so eagerly looking forward to Midway Arcade Treasures 3 with the San Francisco Rush games. Those were great driving games.

Even great puzzle games like Zoo Keeper are disappointing. Sure it's a great game; simple, easy to understand and pick up and play for a few minutes. But would it have been so difficult to include a non-timed mode, where the object was to clear the screen instead of frantically trying to find matches. It would have added so much more strategy to the game.

Super Mario 64 was an ambitious remake of a classic, and the new content was entertaining. But without the analog stick, the touch screen doesn't do a very good job of emulating the original controls. If I want to play Mario 64, I'd rather do it on the N64 than the DS.

Retro Atari Classics is decent enough. The problem is that the new "twist" on the classic games isn't a twist. it's just some new artwork and horrible touch screen controls. True, it works well with games like Breakout. But Asteroids is impossible to play with the stylus. And why do you need more than one cartridge for multiplayer Pong??

Yoshi Touch & Go was a great, innovative idea and the game plays very well. It's challenging enough without being impossible, and it's fun to play. But it hasn't evolved enough from the original tech demo displayed at E3 2004. It works well as a puzzle game, but it could've been expanded so well into a platformer with different levels.

Anyway, that's enough rambling for tonight. Hopefully online games like Animal Crossing will have me as addicted to the DS as their GC counterparts.