The Nintendo DS is still the best portable gaming console for travel

Even with The specter of rising prices looms on the horizonThere’s never been a better time for mobile gaming. The Steam Deck has ushered in a new era of portable PCs, the Analogue Pocket and other Game Boy-style remakes make old games more accessible than ever, Playdate has ushered in an alternate universe of weird portable titles, and Nintendo continues to tune in with the latest version of the Switch. If you want to play games on the go, you’re spoiled for choice. But if you’re planning to do some traveling and want to bring games with you, I don’t recommend any of these devices. There is a much better and older option: The humble Nintendo DS.

Before you scoff, bear with me for a moment. From a hardware standpoint, the DS line is ideal for travel. It’s small enough to fit in a pocket, the clamshell design keeps the screens protected if you put them in a bag, the battery life is good enough for a long flight, and you can basically play every game without needing Wi-Fi, which is never an option when traveling. If you need to suddenly stop playing for any reason, just close it like a book and the system will go into sleep mode instantly. In comparison, the Switch 2 is large and heavy, and the battery usually only lasts a few hours, depending on how demanding the game is. This is good for relaxing on the sofa at home. It’s less than ideal if you’re traveling from Toronto to Tokyo. DS and its successors do not face the same problems.

When it comes to games, there are few platforms that have a larger and more diverse selection than the DS (released in 2004) and 3DS (released in 2011 and backwards compatible with the original). So, even if you’ve owned one for years, there are likely a ton of great games you’ve missed out on. This includes much more than the expected Nintendo franchises. I’ve been carrying my gray 3DS XL with me when I travel and blasting my way through three games at once, depending on how much time I have to play at any given moment. When I’ve settled in for too long, I jump into the enchanted dungeon Fantasy life From level 5; When I want to dig deeper into a story, I’m in the midst of replaying the original story Ace lawyer triple; When I only have a few minutes I solve A Picros 3D A puzzle or two.

Obviously there’s nothing new coming for the DS or 3DS anymore, which is the only major drawback. If you want to buy some new (to you) games, that means going digging, which can be a fun and useful experience, but it’s not as quick and easy as picking up a copy of Breath of the wild. There is also a problem with digital games. Now that the online store is closedYou can’t purchase anything digitally, although you can still re-download previously purchased games. This is great if you have the foresight to load your device with a library of smaller digital games, but it also means that if you don’t have the foresight, there’s no way to access titles like BoxBoy A series of puzzles or Dr. Mario: The miracle curewhich is now lost to the digital ether.

But with some new games, the DS is a device that requires little work or forethought to take along for the ride. And since Nintendo has been iterating on hardware for years, there are a few different options to choose from. The original DS version and the smaller Lite version have the added bonus of having a Game Boy Advance cartridge slot, which opens up a greater amount of games for you to play. Going this route means you can’t play games designed for the 3DS, so which version you choose really depends on the games you have or plan to play. For me, the 3DS XL was the perfect choice; I can play my giant library of DS and 3DS titles, and still have access to all the digital games I purchased just before the eShop closed. (Super Metroid Re, here I am.)

This may be an unexpected choice, but as someone who is fully immersed in mobile gaming — Sometimes I take out the feta -I’m always amazed at how often I go back to the 3DS. It’s so convenient and accessible as a piece of hardware, with an amazing array of games to choose from, that I’ve yet to exhaust what it has to offer. And it seems I’m not the only one. Somehow, in 2026, I am Still Get StreetPass notifications from other like-minded nerds who can’t get rid of their notifications Castlevania machine.