New 3DS Owners Buyers Guide

so having just invested in a brand new silver/black 3DS XL along with Kid Icarus and Mario Kart I was wondering if people could give me recommendations for both retail and digital download games that I may have missed out on in the last 18 months?

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SUPER MARIO 3D LAND gets a solid recommendation from me. Before Kid Icarus Uprising was available this was the BEST that the 3DS had to offer, IMO.

If you enjoy fighters then I recommend SSFIV 3D. This was the first game I bought for my 3DS, I sold it a long time ago but I had clocked over 70 hrs of game play. There are plenty of game modes available to enjoy in this game, through singlelayer, online or local multiplayer. You have all of the characters available from the start. Each character also has alternate costumes and different colours to pick from too.

Collecting figurines of the fighters was fun, in order to get figurines you have to play the slots game where you insert some tokens and hit the button to stop it from spinning. Wherever it lands you will receive a figurine of that character. The figurines are used for streetpass fights. But before you can fight you have to assemble a team.

Although this may sound like a cheap extra to the game it isnt, in fact this is one of the reasons why I prefer the 3DS version of SSIV over the console iterations. There are PLENTY of figures to get. There are 35 characters, each character has 7 levels, and there different costumes of each character to collect. So we are looking at a HUGE number of different figures to collect. From this large pool of fighters you must put together a team you think is capable of pulling off a victory. Different characters have different stats and different levels, each has their own strengths and weaknesses.

When assembling a team you must select a total 5 fighters. However you have a maximum limit of 20 levels. This means that the combined level of your fighters cannot exceed 20. So you have to pick a good mix of fighters. Just because a character is lvl7 doesn't mean that they will win, in fact there are some lower lvl fighters that are better than some higher lvl fighters.

The online was fantastic, I never had any lag matches, fights were very competitive and to do well online you had to put in a lot of practice yourself. But I'll admit, I came across a LOT of spammers in my time with the game. Although 9x out of 10 I would beat them. I really enjoyed playing the 3D matches. This model moves the camera to an over the shoulder type angle, the 3D effect comes to life in this mode. The depth is there for everyone to see and I found fights to be a lot more strategic when playing in this mode.

SSFIV 3D is an excellent port, the graphics are great, the 3D effect is superb, the controls are excellent, and being able to customise your control scheme made it better. The characters have also been improved and balanced across the board. The game has a fantastic amount of content to keep you busy for many hours. If you you are a completionist, then you can play for the achievements aswell.

...why oh why did I trade this in for DoA... Worst trade in of my life.

My current collection, so games that I think are keepers :-

Ridge Racer 3D - A great racer which handles well. Supports StreetPass.

The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D - The definitive version of OoT.

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D - Action packed survival. Perfect for high score chasers. Supports online multiplayer.

Super Mario 3D Land - Excellent portable 3D platformer. Supports StreetPass.

Mario Kart 7 - Great collection of tracks and the air and underwater sections keep things fresh. Supports StreetPass and online multiplayer.

Resident Evil Revelations - Classic RE gameplay with RAID mode offering trigger happy fun. Supports StreetPass and online multiplayer.

Bit Trip Saga - Six great games in one package. Fun and addictive.

Kid Icarus Uprising - Lengthy and humorous single player campaign and packed full of content. Supports StreetPass and online multiplayer.

Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure - Good variety of fun rhythm games and a somewhat enjoyable Layton style adventure. Supports StreetPass.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy - Fun rhythm gameplay and loads of content with plenty to unlock. Supports StreetPass.

Games I haven't got anymore due to selling or renting them, but worth checking out at a cheap price :-

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Shadow Wars - Accessible and lengthy tactical adventure.

The Adventures of Tintin - Suprisingly decent 2D puzzle platformer. Supports StreetPass.

Need for Speed: The Run - Above average driving game with linear GTA/Driver style missions instead of racing around tracks. Supports StreetPass and online multiplayer.

Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy - Enjoyable arcade flight shooter.

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games - Suprisingly decent minigame collection with a variety of control methods. Supports online leaderboards.

LEGO Pirates of the Carribean/Batman 2/ The Clone Wars- Fun and traditional LEGO gameplay. Support StreetPass.

eShop :-

Zen Pinball 3D / Marvel Pinball 3D - Addictive pinball games. Supports online leaderboards.

Mighty Switch Force - Excellent mix of platforming and puzzling.

Mutant Mudds - Retro platformer which can be quite challenging.

Virtual Console :-

Wario Land 2 - Lengthy classic platformer.

Mario's Picross - Large collection of puzzles for £3.60. Addictive.

Donkey Kong - Another excellent mix of platforming and puzzling.

Can't really add anything more but Pilotwings is a fantastic IMO. Offers plenty of challenge and should maybe be cheaper now?

welsh covered a lot of the titles that most would recommend. let me add a few more:

3DS

-Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D. One of the best games I've played in my life, and IMO it's also the best version of the game when played with the CPP.

3DS-DS

-Pullblox:

Along with Marvel Pinball, it's my favourite 3DS Download software. It's a bright and colourful puzzler that involves moving separate pieces of a large image. e.g. A Duck. You must work your way up the puzzle until you are able to reach the child and rescue them. The 3D effect is fantastic and becomes more helpful with the larger, more difficult puzzles as you will be handling many pieces at once, this 3D effect easily distinguishes where each piece stands compared to the rest. With 200+ puzzles and a creation mode you can see yourself coming back to it again and again.

Virtual Console

-Gargoyles Quest:

Side-scrolling adventure game, with fantastically tight & responsive controls. You can jump, climb and glide your way across stages and fight enemies with your fireballs. This game also has some RPG elements such as visiting towns, taking on quests and upgrading his abilities.

Sam's review:

http://www.n-europe.com/features/retro-vc-weekly-175

Kid Icarus Uprising and Resident Evil Revelations are my personal favourite and most recommended 3DS games. Rhythm Thief is good too if you're a fan of rhythm and/or Professor Layton-esque adventure games. Don't forget to check out the free apps on the eShop, you should be able to filter games & apps by price and list all the free ones.

Some excellent posts up there, guys ^. I hope the OP doesn't mind if I ask here which Nintendo 1st-party titles are considered essentials?

I'm trying to give my own 3DS collection some Nintendo love, but since I've never owned a Nintendo home console I'm not too familiar with all the different franchises people sometimes talk about. I just ordered a few Nintendo games based on what I think I'll enjoy (Pilot Wings, OOT 3D, Mario Tennis) and then I bought MK7 again since my collection feels sad without it heheh. Which Nintendo 3DS games would be considered essentials in your opinion?

which Nintendo 1st-party titles are considered essentials?

-Kid Icarus: Uprising

-Super Mario 3D Land

-The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

-New Super Mario Bros. 2 (17.8.12)

-Mario Kart 7

-Starfox 64 3D

Here's my current collection (My friend borrowed SM3DL)

It's got to the point where I've sold most of my 3rd-party games and am going Nintendo-only for the moment. It's not that the 3rd-party games are low-quality, it's just that I wanted them more as something to play at the time; and they did their job admirally. If you are very keen on fighting games, I thought Street Fighter IV and Dead or Alive Dimensions were both very good.

I can't talk about Kid Icarus or Mario Kart 7 because I don't own them, but other than that, I recommend:

Pilotwings Resort - A game of skill, and yet one that is easy to get into. You'll probably want to make perfect landings and times, making it a long and difficult game. Music is brilliant and it's probably the most impressive technical showcase of what the 3DS can do, as the island system is so free and complex.

Ocarina of Time - If not for the fact it's a remake, this would easily be the best game on 3DS, and it probably still is anyway. Nothing else I've played has such scope, with its large overworld and full set of dungeons. Better (yet faithful) graphics make it enjoyably smoother and more fluid than the N64 original (even if I do miss rumble ).

Star Fox 64 - OK, I haven't played this one much, but it is a brilliant thrill ride. Be aware though that it is fairly difficult to find the alternative routes, meaning it could be a very short game depending on how you play it. For the record, you can easily "complete" it and beat the end boss in one sitting... but as I say, there is more to it than that if you're good enough.

Super Mario 3D Land - This was released around the same time as Skyward Sword... and this was the much better game, in my opinion. It's a blast. To be honest, I sold my copy but regret it. Admittedly, I didn't have the patience for the post-game, but the main game itself is a joy.

And on eShop...

Mighty Switch Force - Not Nintendo, but it's my favourite. Gameplay revolves around platforming and phasing-in and -out three different types of block. Be aware though that it gets very difficult later on and you need a head for puzzling as well as quick reactions and platform skills.

Mighty Switch Force - Not Nintendo, but it's my favourite. Gameplay revolves around platforming and phasing-in and -out three different types of block. Be aware though that it gets very difficult later on and you need a head for puzzling as well as quick reactions and platform skills.

Pfft gameplay is simple and easy to understand, I think you have forgotten the most important part...THE MUSIC!!! Seriosuly one of the best tracks from any game and it's an eshop game! I bought the game for the music alone...that music, damn I can't get enough.