The Nintendo DS is still a great handheld game

Although it is inflation riskthere’s never been a better time for portable gaming. Steam Deck has ushered in a new era for mobile PCs, Analogue Pocket and other Game Boy updates are making retro gaming more accessible than ever, Playdate has brought another universe of iconic titles, and Nintendo continues to move with the latest Switch update. If you want to play sports on the go, then you’re spoiled for choice. But if you’re planning to travel and want to bring a game with you, I wouldn’t recommend any of those devices. There is a better, and older, way: The humble Nintendo DS.

Before you insult me, allow me a moment. From a hardware standpoint, the DS line is good for travel. It’s small enough to fit in a pocket, the clamshell design protects the screen if you throw it in a bag, the battery life is good enough for long flights, and you can play any game without the need for Wi-Fi, which is never a given when you travel. If you want to suddenly stop playing for any reason, you just close it like a book and the system goes to sleep immediately. In comparison, the Switch 2 is bigger and heavier, and the battery usually lasts a few hours, depending on how demanding the game is. It’s better to relax on the sofa at home. It’s even less if you’re flying from Toronto to Tokyo. The DS and its successors do not have the same problems.

When it comes to games, there are few platforms with a bigger, more diverse lineup than the DS (released in 2004) and the 3DS (released in 2011 and backwards compatible with the original). So even if you’ve been with it for years, there are still plenty of great games you’ve missed. This includes more than the expected Nintendo franchise. I’ve been lugging a gray 3DS XL around with me when I travel and I’ve been going through three games at once, depending on how much time I have to play each time. If I settle for too long, I jump into a beautiful dungeon crawl Fantasy Life from Level-5; when I want to dig into a story, I’m in the middle of an early review Ace Attorney trilogy; and when I have only a few minutes I solve a Picross 3D a puzzle or two.

Apparently nothing new is coming out for DS or 3DS, which is one big problem. If you want to buy a new game (for you), it means going to the cart, which can be fun and profitable, but it’s not as quick and easy as, say, getting a book Breath of the Wild. There is also a problem with digital games. Now that the eShop is closedYou can’t buy anything online, although you can re-download games you’ve already bought. It’s great if you have the knowledge upfront to upgrade your device with a library of digital minigames, but it also means that if you haven’t, there’s no way to get titles like BoxBoy series of puzzlers or Dr. Mario: Miracle Healingwhich are now lost to the digital ether.

But with several new games available, the DS becomes a device that requires little work or thought to take with you on the go. And because Nintendo has iterated on the hardware over the years, there are several options to choose from. The original DS and the smaller Lite version have the added bonus of having a Game Boy Advance cartridge, opening up an even greater number of games to play. Going that route means you won’t be able to play games made for the 3DS, so the version you choose depends on the games you have or want to play. For me, the 3DS XL has been a great option; I can play my huge library of DS and 3DS titles, and I still have access to all the digital games I bought before the eShop closed. (Super Metroid repeat, I’m coming.)

It may be an unlikely approach, but as someone who is rooted in the dynamic game – sometimes I whip out the Vita – I always wonder how I get back to the 3DS. It’s as simple and accessible as a hardware device, with an amazing list of games to choose from, so I never tire of what it has to offer. And it seems I’m not the only one. In other words, in the year 2026, I on get StreetPass insights from other mind-blowing geniuses who can’t leave theirs Castlevania machine.