The Nintendo DS had two screens and an extremely specific taste in subtitles.
Advance Wars: Dual Strike. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. Resident Evil: Deadly Silence. Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. Different publishers, wildly different games, the same two initials reporting for duty.
Some of them had an excellent excuse. Nintendo describes Dual Strike battles running across both screens. Dawn of Sorrow used the touchscreen for its Magic Seal system. Dragon Sword had you hold the DS sideways and control Ryu almost entirely with the stylus. The hardware was getting involved in the game and then taking a little credit in the title.
But the naming pattern itself is the charming part. A vampire sequel, a zombie port, a strategy game and a ninja adventure all somehow emerge from the subtitle department with matching monograms.
The original observation is right: this was a very particular kind of console-era nonsense. Bring back titles that look like somebody had a deadline and exactly two letters left in the stationery cupboard.
Image credit: Advance Wars: Dual Strike artwork © Nintendo / INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, from Nintendo’s official game page.
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