All Mario DS games

Super Mario 64 DS (2005)

The European DS launch title, and a bigger game than the N64 original: 150 stars instead of 120, and four playable characters — Yoshi, Mario, Luigi and Wario, each with their own moves. Steering with a d-pad or the touch screen instead of an analogue stick takes an hour to get used to; the extra content is worth it.

Yoshi Touch & Go (2005)

Built entirely around drawing clouds with the stylus to carry Baby Mario down. Short, score-driven, and the purest demonstration of what the second screen was for. Cheap, and common enough to find complete.

Mario Kart DS (2005)

The first Mario Kart you could play online, and still one of the tightest in the series — thirty-two tracks, half of them retro courses from every previous Mario Kart. The online service closed in 2014; local play for up to eight people still works, and with Download Play only one person needs the card.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (2006)

The second Mario & Luigi, with the baby versions of both brothers fighting alongside them — four characters, four buttons. Scarcer than Bowser’s Inside Story and priced accordingly; a complete boxed copy is the one collectors chase.

Super Princess Peach (2006)

Peach rescues Mario for once, with a moody umbrella and emotion-powered abilities. Often overlooked, and one of the easier Mario platformers — a good first DS game for a younger player.

New Super Mario Bros. (2006)

The one that brought side-scrolling Mario back after fourteen years of 3D, and the best-selling game on the system. If you are buying one Mario for a DS, buy this: it is instantly readable, hard to put down, and there are enough copies about that it stays affordable.

Yoshi's Island DS (2006)

The direct sequel to Super Mario World 2, using both screens as one tall level. Five different babies ride on Yoshi’s back, each changing how you play. Harder than it looks, and the DS-era Yoshi worth owning.

Mario Slam Basketball (2007)

Sold as Mario Hoops 3-on-3 outside Europe — same game, different box, and the European title is the one printed on the cards we sell. Dribbling is done by rubbing the touch screen, which is either the charm or the problem depending on who you ask.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis (2007)

Wind-up Mini Marios walk on their own; you change the level, not the character. Entirely stylus-driven, with a level editor. The branch that turned Mario vs. Donkey Kong from a platformer into a puzzle series.

Mario Party DS (2007)

Five boards and around seventy minigames, most of them built for the touch screen. Four players on one card through Download Play, which makes it the DS game to keep in a bag for a long journey.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (2008)

The DS version is not a port of the Wii game: different events, built for buttons and the touch screen. The first time Mario and Sonic appeared in the same game, a year after the Wii original.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (2009)

Vancouver 2010, again with its own DS event list rather than the Wii one. Common and cheap — a good filler card if you are already ordering something else.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (2009)

The best-regarded game in the series: you play the brothers inside Bowser and Bowser outside, switching between the two. If you want one Mario RPG on the DS, this is it — and it is the more findable of the two.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! (2011)

The last Mario game released on a DS card in Europe, arriving four months after the 3DS was announced. More than two hundred puzzles and a construction mode; the polished end of the Minis line.