The 10 Biggest Selling Nintendo DS Games Of All Time

Touching is good.

Released globally between Winter 2004 and Spring 2005, the Nintendo DS was originally meant to compliment the previously released Game Boy Advance but it's backward compatibility with that system and strong sales (of eventually 154.02 million units, with both the Nintendo DS Lite and Nintendo DSi sales included) ultimately established the DS as its successor.

With a lifespan of close to a decade, the Nintendo DS saw 1986 official games released for the system with 139 of them selling over a million copies. We've rounded up the top 10 biggest selling Nintendo DS games for you below. How many of these did you play?...

1. New Super Mario Bros.
Whereas Pokémon had reigned supreme on the Game Boy Advance, the Mario franchise reclaimed the crown on the Nintendo DS. Arriving in May 2006, 30.80 million copies of New Super Mario Bros. were purchased worldwide, meaning it's not only the biggest selling title for the handheld system but also, as of October 2020, the 15th biggest selling video game of all time regardless of platform.

2. Nintendogs
The pet simulation game Nintendogs became a global phenomenon after it was first released in three different versions in April 2005: Dachshund & Friends, Lab & Friends (Shiba & Friends in Japan), and Chihuahua & Friends. It has been re-released twice, first as a bundled release with a special edition Nintendo DS with a new version called Nintendogs: Best Friends (above), and later as Nintendogs: Dalmatian & Friends. They're all essentially the same game, just using that Pokémon tactic of releasing different versions using the same engine with graphical/character exclusives between them. Combined 23.96 million pooch loving DS owners had themselves a copy of Nintendogs.

3. Mario Kart DS
Arriving in November 2005, Mario Kart DS was the fifth installment in the Mario Kart series of video games, and the first to be playable via the now-defunct Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection online service. 23.60 million NDS owners knew exactly what they were purchasing by now, but they surely weren't disappointed by the handheld title's awesome playability.

4. Brain Age
Like Nintendogs, the brain training games became a staple of the Nintendo DS with the biggest selling title being 2005s Brain Age (aka Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!), also known as Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? in PAL regions, and Daily DS Brain Training in South Korea. 19.01 million Nintendo DS owners got their daily dose of Stroop tests, mathematical questions, and Sudoku puzzles, all designed to help keep certain parts of the brain active.

5. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl
Ah, you knew Pokémon would be along sooner or later didn't you? The first instalments in the fourth generation of the Pokémon video game series were released in Japan on September 28th 2006 and later released in North America, Australia, and Europe over the course of 2007. 17.67 million NDS owners were out to catch 'am all in their original format, no doubt many will be reinvesting in the new 2021 Switch versions.

6. Pokémon Black and White
Once again, you know what you're getting by and 15.64 million Pokémon trainers spanned up at least one of the first installments in the fifth generation of the Pokémon video game series when released across 2010-11.

7. Brain Age 2
Nintendo knew they were on to a good thing here and rushed the sequel out just six months after the first Brain Age game arrived. Also known as Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day!, and More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima: How Old Is Your Brain? Despite the snappiness of the titles, 14.88 million took a brief break from catching Pokémon for another daily dose of brain training fun.

8. Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
This pair of 2009 releases were enhanced remakes of the 1999 Game Boy Advance titles Pokémon Gold and Silver, including features from their original enhanced version Pokémon Crystal. Despite seeing it all before, 12.72 million copies of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver were sold globally.

9. Animal Crossing: Wild World
The third installment in the Animal Crossing series, and if you ask me the best up to that point, Animal Crossing: Wild World was released in Japan and North America in late 2005 and Europe in March 2006. 11.75 million Nintendo DS owners played all year round to take advantage of the various seasons and different occurrences of in-game events that happened throughout them.