20 Years Ago, Nintendo Released a 'Must Buy' Game That Fans Still Love
On June 15, 2006, Nintendo released a handheld RPG that still holds up as a worthwhile addition to the handheld DS console.
Digimon World DS (or Digimon Story in Japan) was the beginning of a brand new franchise for Nintendo that became incredibly popular in the early 2000s and spawned countless sequels and spinoffs. The Digimon Story franchise is still going today, with the most recent installments landing on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X just last year.
The Digimon series is widely understood to be Bandai Namco's answer to Pokémon, which quickly became one of Nintendo's most popular franchises throughout the late '90s. The two franchises share countless similarities: they both follow "trainers" who collect small creatures and make them fight, teaching them abilities and watching them evolve throughout the process.
Digimon World DS was the first installment to be released on the Nintendo DS, with previous games only available on home consoles like the PlayStation or GameCube. The transition to handheld gaming was the best thing that could have happened to Digimon, making it so much easier for players to compete with their friends in online and local multiplayer.
Digimon World DS received strong reviews from critics, who were hopeful about the franchise's future on handheld consoles. Famitsu was among the first publications to praise the game, giving it a score of 30/40 and labelling it a "must buy" for gaming fans. The game currently has a score of 71 on MetaCritic, proving that its popularity among critics has stood the test of time.
IGN's review admitted that while Digimon is "derivative" of games like Pokémon, it's still "a lot of fun [...] for players that are dying to get their monster battling RPG fix". While the similarities are clear, there are also obvious differences between Digimon and Pokémon, such as the methods of collecting new creatures and the overall tone of the narratives.
Ultimately, Digimon World DS has proven its own success by the sheer number of Digimon games that it paved the way for. The transition to handheld consoles was a massive boost to the franchise that captured the hearts of an entire generation of young players, who could collect and train their creatures in their own time and simply bring their games to their friends whenever they wanted to battle.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 15, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 7:23 AM.