I am sure that this has probably been covered somewhere, but

Brain Age or Big Brain Academy?

If you like Sudoku, Brain Age. If not, then BBA.

BBA is much better multiplayer

So anyone else getting a really long backlog of games to be played on the DS?

So far I have:

Castlevania Potrait of Ruin
Hotal Dusk
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy III

Those are just the major players as I also have Kirby, and Viewtiful Joe that I got on clearance.

Right now I've just been playing Zelda TP in four or five hour spurts once a week.

BBA has better multiplayer, Brain Age has better single player.

the game im waiting to play on my DS is Diddy Kong Racing


its going to be a long time, or I might just sel the thing

The commercials for DKR constantly play on Cartoon Network and have my 8-year old practically foaming at the mouth. I want to have him read the reviews in EGM, but, I think he'll just say that he doesn't care anyway.

DKR isn't a bad game, it has some annoying aspects but it is rather entertaining.

It just isn't an AAA title.

Thanks for the advice on the brain games.

I'm keeping up fairly well with the DS, but I'm months behind on GBA games.
I've only scratched the surface on FFIV and Super Robot Taisen OG and still need to start playing FF V, FFVI and Summon Night: Swordcraft Story.
I still haven't gone back to Contact on the DS, but the gameplay on that one hardly makes the quirky story worth playing through.

Same here. I don't buy a whole lot for the DS, when I do they are typically puzzle games which don't require finishing. Working through Hotel Dusk and Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 right now. The rest are finished.

I have a decent DS backlog now...

Hotel Dusk - just started
Phoenix Wright 2 - at the start of the last case
Age of Empires - started playing this but the pacing is so slow. Anyone else able to get into this?
Tales of the Tempest - just started
NSMB - Probably about half way through

Others not really on the backlog ...
Brain Age - I've pretty much maxed my scores but there's still a few advanced sudoku left (damn hard though).
Trace Memory - never played through the 2nd time, I gather something's different
Ouendan - I'm really bad at this game, but occasionally go back and have another go!
Tetris DS - Can always dip back into this.
Nintendogs - just bought a 3rd puppy but keeping up with all the maintenance and training is a pain in the ass.
Advanced Wars - never got round to trying out the campaign on hard mode.
Mario Kart - just recently configured my router to actually work with the ds. Still I don't find playing online as much fun as playing with friends.

I have Lunar Knights on the way, and thinking of purchasing one of the castlevania games. Never really played one since the snes, which is the best to start with?

What amazes me is that the DS Lite is still sold out at the local Best Buy. The other day I went in, and found some Wiis, so I bought one for a friend. Another guy was looking at the case, so the Best Buy worker asked if he wanted one too. No, he wanted a DS Lite, but apparently it's been sold out since Xmas. Geez.

I think DKR has the best online support so far. It was very easy finding a 6 player match when i hosted.

I finally cheesed my way through the Nest of Evil in Portrait of Ruin (though I'm currently struggling with it as Richter and Maria). Maybe I can move on to the Hotel Dusk or Lunar Knights now. Of course, I've still got Final Fantasy VI waiting and I've got Klonoa Star Heroes and Summon Night 3 coming in the mail this week.. portable gaming bliss.

I pretty much gave up on the Nest of Evil. Died numerous times on the part with the 2 Frankenstein's monsters followed by a room of cave trolls and said fuck it.

I finally got through it, but yes it is a bitch.

Started Lunar Knights and I'm liking it the first hour in. I'm going to try and play it outside when I can with the Boktai 2 cart as the sensor.

My God, Final Fantasy XII DS looks utterly AMAZING .

That place surely was a pain in the ass, but I somehow managed to make it through that dang place.

YES! I beat that annoying area with the two The Creatures with Richter and Maria in Portrait of Ruin.. much like with Jonathon and Charlotte, the key is to getting rid of their gun fire as opposed to trying to dodge it. After that it was fairly easy. I had to save before getting the very last boss in there though.. so yay.

I haven't gone back and played either Sister's mode or as Richter and Maria. Is it really worth it? I think at some point I may try again, just other games on my plate that I have not had time to play.

Normally the extra character modes are pretty boring but they work on the DS games in my opinion since you can't go straight to the last boss and win. Richter and Maria mode is just freaking FAST paced (and I have a soft spot for the Rondo of Blood duo). I haven't played Sister mode much yet.. but it uses pretty good touch screen gameplay.

I enjoyed sisters mode, it's much easier than the main game.

Haven't bothered with Richter and Maria mode, doubt I will anytime soon.

Sounds like I probably do need to add it to my 'get back to it soon' list.

Care to share?