Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Features

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Grab these Nintendo 3DS games before the eShop closes

Tomas Franzese
By

While the Nintendo 3DS had a rocky launch, the handheld system recovered gracefully and ended up having one of the best game lineups of any Nintendo system. Many of these 3DS games, like Super Mario 3D Land and Fire Emblem Awakening, were very popular and well-known. Still, the 3DS had a lot of fantastic games that not as many people know about and threaten to be lost to time when the eShop closes down.

The 3DS eShop will shut down soon, preventing people from purchasing new games. As such, we’ve been reflecting on the system’s vast library and all of the fantastic games that 3DS owners will no longer be able to buy digitally. From games that we think will skyrocket even further in price after the store shuts down to some enjoyable hidden gems that didn’t get the attention they deserve, you might want to snag these 3DS games before you can’t anymore after March 27. 

Recommended Videos

Ever Oasis

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Grezzo is one of Nintendo’s most underrated developers. It’s delivered top-notch The Legend of Zelda remakes like Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, and Link’s Awakening. So what if I told you that it used that experience to make an original IP for 3DS that’s one of the best-looking and expansive games on the system? Ever Oasis, a 2017 3DS game, follows a young kid as they help a water spirit named Esna build an oasis and try to save their brother from Chaos.

Related

The result is a mix of 3D The Legend of Zelda and city management games. Players can venture out into surprisingly large open worlds and dungeons to restock and grow the number of “bloom booths.” This mix of open-world exploration, dungeon crawling, and oasis-building will keep players engaged for dozens of hours, and it also stands as one of the deepest and best-looking action-adventure games on the platform. 

Ever Oasis didn’t get much attention when it launched because the Nintendo Switch had been released a couple of months earlier. Still, it stands as one of the 3DS’ best games, so it’s a shame that more people don’t know about it. It risks being forgotten forever now the 3DS eShop is closing down, so check it out before the closure; it will surpass your expectations. 

Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Image used with permission by copyright holder

On the 3DS, Level 5’s puzzle game series Professor Layton and Capcom’s visual novel courtroom series Ace Attorney crossed over. It follows the titular characters of both franchises as they are transported to a mysterious city called Labyrinthia and must protect a woman accused of being a witch. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney combines the gameplay of both series, with players solving puzzles to find clues like a Professor Layton game before presenting and arguing with this evidence in court like an Ace Attorney game.

We’d recommend it to fans of both series, but physical copies of the North American version of the game have become increasingly expensive. Like Devil’s Third on the Wii U, This game is already a major investment for those who want to buy it physically, so make sure to knab this crossover digitally before it becomes even more pricey to acquire. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a unique kind of crossover that we don’t often see in gaming, and it’s unlikely to happen ever again. 

Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology

Image used with permission by copyright holder

This JRPG from Shin Megami Tensei and Persona developer Atlus harkens back to the classics of the genre with a story that will have players hoping between alternate timelines to save the world of Vainqueur.  Radiant Historia was initially released for Nintendo DS in 2010 but got a full-fledged remake for the 3DS seven years later with the subtitle Perfect Chronology. It’s the same great game, but the 3DS version features fantastic new character art, voiceovers, and more. Make sure you choose “Perfect Mode” from the start to access all of the new content before beating the game. 

Recently, Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology has gotten quite expensive. Unless Atlus decides to port this game yet again, it will likely become stuck on Nintendo’s defunct dual-screen handhelds. Thankfully, it’s still available digitally on the Nintendo 3DS eShop until March 27, and there’s even a free demo for those who want to test it out before buying.

Ultimate NES Remix

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Although you play lots of NES games on Nintendo Switch Online, you can’t engage with them as you do in the NES Remix series. This short-lived series bundled together lots of bite-sized challenges spread across games from the 3DS library. Most challenges are a bit meatier than the microgames in WarioWare, but short enough to where you can boot your 3DS up and play a couple of them when you are only free for a couple of minutes.

While you can also get two NES Remix games on the Wii U, the quick micro-game concept works better on a handheld like the 3DS, and this version’s game and challenge lineup also works as a greatest hits version of those games. If you’re tired of playing the same NES games over and over again, Ultimate NES Remix will have you recontextualizing how you play and experience those games. This entire series will be lost when the 3DS and Wii U eShops shut down on March 27, though, so download it before then. 

WarioWare Gold

Image used with permission by copyright holder

One of the last 3DS games released by Nintendo itself was a WarioWare game that basically served as the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate of this series. WarioWare Gold brings most of the series’ best microgames back and makes them work on 3DS. As such, it’s a greatest-hits collection for WarioWare that any fan of the series will get a kick out of. The game also lets players redub all of its cutscenes themselves, which can have hilarious results. 

Because it came out on the 3DS almost a year and a half after the Nintendo Switch’s launch, it didn’t get much attention. That’s a shame because it’s the best game in the WarioWare series and one of the best titles on 3DS. While WarioWare: Get it Together is good fun, those yearning for a more traditional WarioWare experience should check out WarioWare if they had previously abandoned their 3DS by 2018.

HarmoKnight

Image used with permission by copyright holder

While Game Freak is mainly focused on releasing new Pokémon games or DLC each year, it is occasionally able to branch out and make something unique. One of those titles was 2013’s HarmoKnight, a rhythm-based platformer where players have to jump and attack to the beat of the game’s fantastic soundtrack. It’s a pretty approachable rhythm game, and it even has some bonus stages from Pokémon for fans of that series. 

The 3DS has plenty of other great rhythm games, including Sega’s Rhythm Thief & the Emporer’s Treasure and Rhythm Heaven Megamix, but HarmoKnight is a 3DS eShop exclusive that will be unobtainable after it closes on March 27. While Game Freak’s Pocket Card Jockey has the benefit of now being available through Apple Arcade, HarmoKnight is one piece of Game Freak history that will likely stay locked to the 3DS. As such, fans of this developer should pick the game, or at least try its free demo, before the 3DS eShop shuts down. 

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Tomas Franzese
Tomas Franzese
Gaming Staff Writer
Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
Is Manor Lords multiplayer or co-op?
A medieval market in Manor Lords.

You can easily lose hours designing your village and appeasing your citizens in Manor Lords all by yourself. There are so many different avenues to achieve victory, but the only competition or help you can normally find is in the form of NPCs. Other factions around the map can be helpful or harmful depending on how you play, but what if you wanted to team up with a friend to combine resources, or perhaps compete to see who can crush the other first? Many strategy and city builders thrive on multiplayer components, but does Manor Lords offer those same modes? Make sure you know the answer before making your purchase if that's your intention.
Is there multiplayer or co-op in Manor Lords?
To cut to the chase, the answer is no. Manor Lords is a purely single-player experience through and through. There are no cooperative or competitive modes in the game at all, so there's no way to interact with anyone else either on PC or console. This game was just released out of early access, and there is plenty of content on the way, however, we regret to inform you that multiplayer is not in the plans for the time being.

One developer took to the Steam forums to release an FAQ on the game. One question specifically asked if there is any multiplayer or cooperative gameplay in the game. The response said that "he focus is on a refined single-player experience, with no multiplayer or cooperative modes planned at the moment."

Read more
All console commands and cheats for Fallout: New Vegas
The courier holding a gun with a welcome sign in the background in Fallout: New Vegas key art.

From the moment you begin your adventure in Fallout: New Vegas, you've already cheated death. Your first playthrough of the game should be done as the developers intended, though maybe with a couple of mods to make the experience a little smoother, but nothing that breaks the game. That said, it's been over a decade since the game came out, so odds are you've already played through the intended way at least once. This is when you can have some fun tinkering with the game and play using console commands and cheats if you're on the PC version of the game. There are a ton of commands you can input to manipulate your character, the world, objects, and more. Here's a full rundown of all the cheats there are and how to activate them.
How to enter console commands
Opening up the command console to type in your cheats is just a single keystroke away. While in the game (not paused), hit the ~ key located below your escape key. This will remove your HUD and bring up the prompt to type in any of the below cheats.
All Fallout: New Vegas console commands and cheats

Because there are so many console commands, we're going to break them down into general categories to make it easier for you to find what you're looking for based on what you want to do.
Faction and reputation cheats
addreputation <form id> <variable> <amount> -- Increases your reputation with a faction.

Read more
How to get a gun in Another Crab’s Treasure
Kril has a gun

Another Crab's Treasure no doubt looks like a kid-friendly game, but hiding beneath its charming and cute exterior is a challenging soulslike experience that can test the mettle of genre veterans. Those who either can't or don't want to engage with such intense difficulty throughout this underwater adventure can make great use of a variety of assists. Among these is a rather shocking, but hilarious option that can completely negate nearly all of the game's challenge while providing some laughs along the way. Here's how to get a gun in Another Crab's Treasure.
How to get a gun
To give yourself a gun in Another Crab's Treasure, head over to the Settings menu. Navigate to Assist Mode at the bottom of the menu, then scroll to the bottom once more to a setting called Give Kril a Gun. Toggle this on, then back out and resume your game to find that Kril now has a massive pistol on his back in place of a shell.

This new gun on your back provides you with more than just a funny visual, though -- it actually allows you to shoot and kill any enemy in a single hit, nearly eliminating all of the challenge from the game. Additionally, if you're after trophies or achievements, the first time you shoot a crab with the gun will also unlock "This Kills the Crab."

Read more