Nintendo 3DS Essential Games

[Games Retrospect]

Long story short, I just got a Nintendo 3DS super cheap (the 3DS XL to be more specific,) but since I have little to no experience with the portable console I need some game suggestions. Here are some of the games on my list and I intend to get one game a month. Also, I attached a few questions for each entry in case there's something better on other platform I should get instead. Does anyone have any experience with the games below willing to give me a hand?

 

Monster Hunter: Generations - I own Monster Hunter: Freedom Unite for the PSP and although I intended to play that game for dozens of hours, the fact that the game's on a UMD draining the battery all the time and the long loading times drove me insane. As far as I know, Generations for the 3DS is a sort of "Greatest Hits" and there's an online mode in case I want to play with other people. I also looked at Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate, but most people said Generations was better in pretty much every aspect.

 

Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS - I love Super Smash Bros. in general and the only thing keeping me from buying this as soon as possible is the fact that I don't know anyone who has a 3DS and a copy of the game to play with. Is the single-player portion of the game fun at all? Is the online community still playing this game?

 

Pokemon: Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon - I have to have at least one Pokemon game. Ultra Sun and Moon are the latest ones and all the reviews I read and watched said those games are amazing. Which version should I get? Should I go with Ultra Sun and Moon or are older Pokemon games any better? Just for reference, the last Pokemon game I played was Heartgold which I loved and played for more than 100 hours. I don't do that very often.

 

Dragon Quest IX - I know this is probably cheating because DQIX is a Nintendo DS game, but I loved Dragon Quest VIII and I've always wanted to play IX. I know the game had an online component that's no longer accessible, but I hear the single-player campaign is awesome and I've been looking for an epic JRPG for quite some time. Has anyone played the game?

 

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D/Majora's Mask 3D - I don't think I've ever finished a Zelda game before and I intend to change that in the near future. I heard both Ocarina and Majora's Mask are fantastic, but since they are older games I was wondering if they hold up at all. Another option should be getting Twilight Princess or Skyward Sword for the Wii instead, but I don't know how those games compare to Ocarina and Majora. Can anyone help me????

 

Thanks in advance and I appreciate the help!

Edited September 3, 2018 by Games Retrospect

[Punisher5.0]

I recently got a New 2DSXL and have been looking for good games too. I look forward to hearing recommendations in this thread.

[Flojomojo]

Seems like you like long, grindy games. 3DS is perfect for that.

 

Zelda: Link Between Worlds is a nice game, a little more modern than the N64 remakes of old games. I'd start with that one if the others didn't hold your interest.

 

Dragon Quest 8 is really neat on 3DS, but if you've already played it, that's a nope.

 

I think Xenoblade Chronicles is pretty neat, a free-roaming single player MMO type game.

 

The Etrian Odyssey games would scratch that itch as well.

 

The Pokemon games are pretty similar; I don't think it matters which one you pick. Similar with Fire Emblem if you wanted to try something a little more strategic.

 

Without knowing more of what you'd like, I'd say just read a bunch of reviews. This site has some good writers. http://www.nintendolife.com/3ds/reviews

[Games Retrospect]

Seems like you like long, grindy games. 3DS is perfect for that.

 

Zelda: Link Between Worlds is a nice game, a little more modern than the N64 remakes of old games. I'd start with that one if the others didn't hold your interest.

 

Dragon Quest 8 is really neat on 3DS, but if you've already played it, that's a nope.

 

I think Xenoblade Chronicles is pretty neat, a free-roaming single player MMO type game.

 

The Etrian Odyssey games would scratch that itch as well.

 

The Pokemon games are pretty similar; I don't think it matters which one you pick. Similar with Fire Emblem if you wanted to try something a little more strategic.

 

Without knowing more of what you'd like, I'd say just read a bunch of reviews. This site has some good writers. http://www.nintendolife.com/3ds/reviews

 

Whenever I get a new system, I tend to go back to that mentality of buying games that are extremely long games to make the most of it.

 

Thanks for all of your recommendations. Just a question: Xenoblade Chronicles is a New 3DS XL exclusive, right? I thought that game made use of that system's C-Stick and improved processor.

 

I tried Etrian Odyssey on the DS and no thank you. I certainly appreciate that games like those exist in this day and age, but they are definitely not for me.

 

I'll definitely check out the site you mention. I'm one of those weird people who loves reading old reviews.

[Tanooki]

I'll address some of your post there first.

That pokemon game is the best one in a very very long time. It redoes but still honors the old style. It's not just some wash rinse and repeat of a path, a gym, a badge and final four. It's now a more standard fun JRPG with a persistent story and a very different way the lands are approached, there are no real exact gyms, it's more working the land, meeting some challenges, some special 'totem' pokemon(look it up) and hopping entire islands in a chain to proceed and it makes the game not boring. It still has the trainers in the grass, seemingly but not random rival/other battles. It work well, I kept it.

 

Smash is smash, they did nothing new, so if you're fed up with it or don't want to play online it's going to be between boring and awful, but if you're some smash addict you'll be fine.

 

Dragon Quest 9 is DS as you said, but it's not a bad game, but honestly I don't think it handles as well as DQ7 and 8 they refreshed from the mobile releases on 3DS. Theyre more fun to play, better flow, and all around better done. Unless you've already done those and need 9 to be something new, I'd pass on 9, at least until you have a lot of free time on your hands.

 

If you have to have a Zelda rehash, get Ocarina it's better all around, even if I didn't think majora sucks, I think they did a better job with it. Though if you just want Zelda, get that sort of SNES sequel Link Between Worlds as it's fresher.

 

 

If you want other game suggestions I can give you some and they'll be a mix of some ports from other systems, to franchise releases, and other stuff too. 3DS if anything is NOT lacking for great games and lots of them and that's not even throwing the 1000s of DS titles at it.

[Flojomojo]

Yes Xenoblade is New 3DS only

[Skippy B. Coyote]

There are so many games and genres to choose from on the 3DS that what constitutes "essential" really comes down to personal taste. For instance, if you like first-person shooters then downloading Moon Chronicles and Dementium Remastered from the eShop would be essential, since they're the only first-person shooters on the system and they never got physical releases.

 

If you like horror games then Resident Evil: Revelations, Corpse Party, and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon would be essential pickups. If you like platformers then you're gonna need Super Mario 3D Land and/or Sonic Generations. Broadly speaking though you can't go wrong adding Mario Kart 7, Metroid: Samus Returns, and Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World to your list. They're all excellent games with wide appeal.

 

Also, since you're on a retro gaming forum and clearly enjoy classic games, I recommend checking out Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions, Centipede: Infestation, Sega 3D Classics Collection, Ultimate NES Remix, and Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon is excellent as well if you don't mind digital only releases.

Edited September 4, 2018 by Jin

[RetroLucky]

Ocarina and Majora on 3DS are both fine refreshers, Link Between is great if you have a like for the SNES style gameplay, triforce heroes is completely skippable

 

Monster Hunter is a safe bet

Animal Crossing New Leaf, decent, the decorator one is probably not worth it

Mario Kart 7 is fun

Pokemon X/Y decent gen 1 appeal, ruby/sapphire remakes obviously appealing to gen 3 fans, Sun/Moon/Ultra well if you love pokemon

 

That's just from my personal experience with it

[Skippy B. Coyote]

I can't believe I forgot to mention it earlier, because this game was probably the biggest reason I got a 3DS, but don't forget about...

 

[Flojomojo]

Star Fox on the XL is like a long lost coin-op arcade game. So much fun.

 

Speaking of coin-ops, the SEGA Classics from M2 are divine. There's a cartridge with a bunch of games on it, as well as a whole lot of a la carts downloads. I bought everything (there is some overlap) just to have them all. Outrun, Galaxy Force, Hang-On, Thunder Blade, Power Drift, Space Harrier. Sweet.

[Atariboy]

Too bad we didn't get the last batch.

 

I don't lose any sleep over not having been able to download Alien Syndrome, Columns, and Thunder Force III to my 3DS. But I sure would've loved to have been able to grab Turbo Outrun and add it to my other Super Scaler games on my 3DS. But hopefully Sega/M2 revisit Turbo Outrun for their Sega Ages line on the Switch one of these days.

 

I'd of also gotten a kick out of some of the bonus games that Sega would include as extras for their physical compilations, which I at one time had hoped Sega would bundle together and release as a download. While we got three SMS games via Sega 3D Classics Collection (Sega 3D Classics Volume II in Japan), we missed out on the two SMS games from Volume 1 and two SG1000 games from Volume 3.

 

Outrun 3D in particular is one I could see firing up from time to time on my 3DS.

Edited September 4, 2018 by Atariboy

[Classic Pac]

I really like Mario Kart 7

[Games Retrospect]

I'll address some of your post there first.

That pokemon game is the best one in a very very long time. It redoes but still honors the old style. It's not just some wash rinse and repeat of a path, a gym, a badge and final four. It's now a more standard fun JRPG with a persistent story and a very different way the lands are approached, there are no real exact gyms, it's more working the land, meeting some challenges, some special 'totem' pokemon(look it up) and hopping entire islands in a chain to proceed and it makes the game not boring. It still has the trainers in the grass, seemingly but not random rival/other battles. It work well, I kept it.

 

Smash is smash, they did nothing new, so if you're fed up with it or don't want to play online it's going to be between boring and awful, but if you're some smash addict you'll be fine.

 

Dragon Quest 9 is DS as you said, but it's not a bad game, but honestly I don't think it handles as well as DQ7 and 8 they refreshed from the mobile releases on 3DS. Theyre more fun to play, better flow, and all around better done. Unless you've already done those and need 9 to be something new, I'd pass on 9, at least until you have a lot of free time on your hands.

 

If you have to have a Zelda rehash, get Ocarina it's better all around, even if I didn't think majora sucks, I think they did a better job with it. Though if you just want Zelda, get that sort of SNES sequel Link Between Worlds as it's fresher.

 

 

If you want other game suggestions I can give you some and they'll be a mix of some ports from other systems, to franchise releases, and other stuff too. 3DS if anything is NOT lacking for great games and lots of them and that's not even throwing the 1000s of DS titles at it.

Thanks for taking the time to address everything on my post. I'm more than willing to hear more recommendations for the 3DS since I'm new when it comes to the portable. Since it's backwards compatible with the DS, I'd also like to hear about those. Thanks!

[RetroLucky]

Thanks for taking the time to address everything on my post. I'm more than willing to hear more recommendations for the 3DS since I'm new when it comes to the portable. Since it's backwards compatible with the DS, I'd also like to hear about those. Thanks!

Chrono Trigger on DS is pretty much the definitive version as it has the most content to offer

 

Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver are DS remakes of gen 2, and imo offer a better experience than the others

 

Tetris DS is a very solid offering, I played the crap out of it

 

I think there was a reasonably decent harvest moon on ds as well

[Games Retrospect]

Chrono Trigger on DS is pretty much the definitive version as it has the most content to offer

 

Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver are DS remakes of gen 2, and imo offer a better experience than the others

 

Tetris DS is a very solid offering, I played the crap out of it

 

I think there was a reasonably decent harvest moon on ds as well

I'm one of the three people who doesn't really like Chrono Trigger, so a better version of a game I don't like that much isn't appealing to me.

 

I still have my copy of HeartGold and I love that game. I played more than 100 hours of it and enjoyed every moment of it and that's without mentioning the Pokewalker which happens to be one of my favorite peripherals ever.

 

Although I don't have it in my collection, I played Tetris DS and was unimpressed with it. I love Tetris, but I don't really have a reason to go back to it.

 

And finally, I've always wanted to be a Harvest Moon fan and even though everything about those games sound appealing to me, I tried one on the DS (I have no idea which one) and I stopped playing after an hour or two.

 

If something else comes to mind, please mention it. The DS has hundreds of games I'm not even aware of.

[Video]

Like sims? Dim city ds and populous are good old style sims.

[Tanooki]

The problem is I could seriously take the next couple of hours making a list of games with a one or two line description of them as the libraries are insane, which is why I was fishing for genre help or something.

 

I'll get generic here and force you to search just a little. When it comes to the 3DS, it's a fairly safe bet that a franchise game whether it's Nintendo/2nd party of theirs made (so duh like Mario, Kid Icarus, Zeldas, 3D Marios, Pokemon UltraSun/Moon,Metroid 2 remake Samus Returns, Starfox64, and others like Xenoblade Chronicles) are no brainers. But the same can fairly well be made about 3rd parties too and their stand up franchises.

 

Namco put out a really great release of Ace Combat and they did a fantastic PS2 conversion of Tales of the Abyss which is a higher point in the series. Konami came in with a CV3/SOTN/God of War style game with Castlevania LOD Mirror of Fate and also a very well done conversion of Metal Gear 3 Snakeeater. Tecmo with an excellent Dead or Alive Dimensions. Capcom did wonders with both Resident Evil Revelations and Super SF4. All those Bit Trip games were put into one card so if you're into runners it's a no brainer. Fan of pinball? Pinball Hall of Fame WIlliams Collection has 6 recreated tables which feel even more real than the high res Pinball Arcade as the 3D gives it table like depth. Six years ago Code of Princess came out, a great RPG elements with hack/slash Guardian Heroes style game came out (and just re-released updated now on Switch.)

 

Going into rubbing salt into the WiiU's crappy existence, there are conversions/upgrades/ports of games to the 3DS too like Yoshi's Wooly World and Super Mario Maker that would be ideal. Having that New3DS style, it will play correctly without lag problems, so Hyrule Warriors is another.

 

You really just need to dig. My comments as far as franchises, 1st, 2nd and 3rd party. They're equally safe bets on the DS too, some were so solidly made they got mass media released to Android/iOS like all the Final Fantasy 3D remakes and other 2D updates, and also Dragon Quest 1-6 too with 4-6 redone in 3D isometric style mish mosh that works well.