2013: The Best Year EVER for Nintendo Handhelds?

[Salnax]

DanneSandin said:

Salnax said:

DanneSandin said:
This is the year I'm getting a 3DS - my FIRST handheld ever! It has such a great library now! SM3DL, Zelda: ALBW and OoT, Star Fox 64 3D, DKCR, KI: UR, Luigi's Mansion, RE. Re and many more. AND it can also play DS games, so that's a plus ;)

Be sure to pick up at least a couple of DS games if you get the chance. Sure, some of Nintendo's games may be overpriced for 8 year old titles, but there are still unmatched gems on the DS for $20 and under!

A few of the cheaper quality titles, that are currently unmatched on the 3DS:

• Advance Wars DS
• Aliens: Infestation
• Chrono Trigger
• Elite Beat Agents
• Final Fantasy 3/4
• Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
• Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure
• The Legendary Stary
• Nostalgia
• Rhythm Heaven
• Sonic Rush/Rush Adventure/Colors

There are other great DS games, but they're often a bit expensive for a casual purchase (Although I strongly suggest The World Ends With You if you can find the REAL version, not the iOS crap) or have 3DS counterparts (Is Mario Kart DS really worth $35 when MK7 is $40?).

I was actually considering Aliens: Infestation and Chrono Trigger! And Mario 64 and NSMB as well... So Sonic Colors is worth it then?

Chrono Trigger is my favorite game ever, and the DS version is essentially the original game with the second screen used as a map and menus. If you haven't played Chrono Trigger on another system, I'd honestly recommend buying a used DS for cheap and a copy of the game just so you get to play it. The game is also available on the Wii Virtual Console for only $8 or so, a better deal, but I can't recommend this game enough. It epitomizes everything I love in video games.

Mario 64 is a bit hard to recommend because of the controls. Basically, even with the 3DS analog stick, the game only registers 8-way movement, therefore robbing 64 of what was its greatest strength in 1996. Sure, there is lots of great content still to be had, but if you want a 3D platformer on the 3DS, it might be worth coughing up the extra $10 for 3D Land, even if it is very different.

NSMB is a great game, but it looks a bit ugly on the 3DS, especially compared to NSMB2. A lot of people didn't like NSMB2, but that was largely because it was essentially an expansion pack of NSMB. I'd recommend getting NSMB2 over the original, despite the lower reviews it got. The years have not been as kind to the original as some would think.

The Sonic platformers for the GBA and DS are, in my eyes, the real successors of the Sonic series on the Genesis. The Advance Trilogy, Rush, Rush Adventure, and Colors for the DS are a worthwhile group of 2D platformers, and are probably all better than any of the console Sonic games from 2002 to 2009 or so. If you are at all interested in Sonic, get Rush and Colors are safe bets for the DS, especially since they're under $20 usually nowadays.

Also, there's a collection of the Genesis Sonic games for the DS. I don't know much about it, but it might be worth a look.