Professor Layton:
This is essentially a ton of logic puzzles put together into a gorgeous package, with a story, characters, and the whole shebang. An extremely charming and fun little game. I'd advise looking into it a tad bit before purchase though; it might not be your thing.

Ace Attorney Series:
My favorite games on the system are the Phoenix Wright/Ace Attorney games. I absolutely advise getting them to anyone who will listen, hahah. The basic idea is that you're a defense lawyer trying to solve crimes and then defend your client in extremely over-the-top court cases. They've got two basic gameplay modes: adventure mode, which is basically a super-linear point and click adventure mode, and court mode, which is where the meat of the drama takes place. The magic happens via a simple mechanic: you listen to people's testimonies, and, when something they say seems to contradict the facts (stored in your inventory in the form of evidence) you basically call them out on it. Games tend to be fun for a lot of different reasons; they're about projecting power, physical combat, territory, and a hundred other things. But the Ace Attorney games are the only ones I have ever played that successfully create compelling gameplay out of the dialogue, which is usually separate from the actual game mechanics. To top it off, they've got an awesome cast of very, very well-written (and translated) character, some of the best music in the game industry, and generally a good aesthetic. The only real downside - and it's a biggie - is that they are probably the most linear games ever made. That doesn't bother me, but it does bother some people.

As for which ones to get... The first one - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - is definitely one of the weaker ones. But the best one - number 3 - is not nearly as good without prior knowledge of the story. My advice: either buy the very first one, or buy the latest one, "Ace Attorney: Investigations." Investigations, unlike the others, doesn't rely on prior knowledge of the characters, and has all the polish that comes with it's newness. But you'd still miss out on a lot of the references. It's your call.


Puzzle Quest 1 or 2:
Puzzle Quest is basically a simplistic RPG that uses Bejeweled as it's battle system. It has a lot of flaws - terrible, terrible writing, generic story, bad difficulty pacing. But it was still an awesome, addictive, and very fun game. And don't worry if you don't are for bejeweled; I don't either.

I hear that Puzzle Quest 2 fixes a lot of these flaws, but I haven't played it yet.

Here's some more:

Kirby's Canvas Curse:
Still one of the best games on the system to actually make good use of the stylus. It's basically a platformer, but... well, watch a trailer. I wouldn't pay more than 15 or 20 for it, considering it's age. But it's well worth playing.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2
It's classic Final Fantasy Tactics gameplay. If you liked it before (and you'r not burnt out!) you'll like it again.

Zelda: Spirit Tracks or Phantom Hourglass
I personally couldn't bring myself to finish these games. I found them to be fairly soulless and insubstantial, lacking any of the good design, sense of place, or gravitas of a decent Zelda game, but I know a ton of people who absolutely loved the crap out of them.

Elite Beat Agents
An awesome rhythm game. And a pure one- it's just rhythm, there's no pretending to be playing an instrument or whatever. I loved it.

Scribblenauts
This game had a ton of flaws, especially the bad controls, but it also had one of the best and most wonderful core mechanics I've ever seen: you can write a noun, any noun, and that object will appear on the playing field. And it works very well; it was very rare for me to tr a noun and not have it work. Unfortunately, once the sheer novelty of it wears off, the game rapidly loses it's appeal. But while that novelty lasts it's pure magic, the sort that you usually only felt from a game as a kid.

Advance Wars
There are two Advance Wars games on the DS: Dual Strike, and Days of Ruin. Dual Strike is classic AW; if you played previous entries, you know what to expect. Days of Ruin kinda took the series into a new direction, and I haven't played it myself yet, despite meaning to since it came out a few years back.

Castlevana: Order of Ecclesia
Classic Castlevania, similar in style to Symphony of the Night or any of the ones that have come out since then. Think Metroid with whips and skeletons.


There are plenty more, but I need to get back to work!