The best Nintendo 3DS games

Pokémon X and Y brought 3D textures to the series, instantly making it one of the best Pokémon games. The gameplay was streamlined, the online component was robust, and it felt like the kick in the pants that the Pokémon franchise needed in order to stay on top. With Pokémon Sun and Moon, developer Game Freak wasn’t content with simply copying and pasting their previous work onto a new area. The new Alola region ushers in new forms of classic Pokémon that sport different strengths, weaknesses, and appearances, and the game even tackles issues like the consumption of Pokémon by humans. It isn’t all doom and gloom, however. Pokémon Sun and Moon also bring back Mega Evolutions and introduce new Z-moves, which are powerful attacks that are capable of changing the course of a battle in just a few seconds. If your Pokémon Go-obsessed sibling is looking to get another fix, Sun and Moon are the perfect companion gifts. Given that there are Pokémon exclusive to each version, as well as different day-night cycles, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to pick up both versions, either.

Animal Crossing games aren’t like other video games, especially since you’re not engaging in tense combat or undertaking epic quests. You won’t be scratching your head trying to complete complex puzzles either, nor sweating against stiff racing competition. Instead, Animal Crossing: New Leaf functions as a relaxing town-management sim, one where you slowly build your tiny town and engage in various upkeep activities. With New Leaf, you might find yourself furnishing homes and visiting with neighbors or spending some quality alone time gardening, fishing, or partaking in numerous other activities. This doesn’t mean the game is boring, however, because it’s that same leisurely pace that makes the title so deceptively addictive. From the moment you assume mayorship of your town, you’ll be busy maintaining the quaint village, keeping your villagers happy, preparing for holidays, and unlocking new activities to enjoy. The franchise recently struck gold again with Animal Crossing: New Horizons for the Nintendo Switch.

Majora’s Mask is somewhat of a misfit within The Legend of Zelda series. It’s both incredibly dark for a Nintendo game and also features one of the riskiest mechanics in the series. Taking place in Termina, a parallel to Hyrule, Majora’s Mask sees Link search for his fairy Navi following the conclusion of Ocarina of Time. He quickly finds himself in a weird predicament: He has three days to save the world before the moon crashes down and destroys everything. The three-day cycle mechanic, representing about one hour in real time, turns the exploration and progression on its head. If the moon hits, you lose all the progress you made since the last collision. You can avoid this by playing songs on the ocarina to manipulate time. But minor progression will always be lost, as well as characters’ knowledge of Link. The mask system is inventive, expanding on the feature in Ocarina of Time in surprising and fun ways. What makes Majora’s Mask stand out, besides the constant stress of beating the clock, is the world itself. Out of all of the alternate worlds in the Zelda series, Termina still feels the most real. The N64 port plays brilliantly on the 3DS. Keep in mind, though, it plays best on New Nintendo 3DS hardware due to the C stick and increased processing power. If you missed the lesser-known N64 Zelda the first time around, do yourself a favor and play it on 3DS.

Xenoblade Chronicles deserves a mention on this list. It is the biggest game on the 3DS, featuring a massive open world, giant monsters, hundreds of quests, and hours upon hours of gameplay to keep you busy. It’s a port of the Wii version, which was called one of the best modern JRPGs when it was released in 2010, and the 3DS version is one of the highest-rated games on the system. So, why is it so far down the list? Well, technically, it’s not available on all 3DS systems. Nintendo released a new iteration of its handheld in 2015, confusingly called the New Nintendo 3DS, which included a slew of upgrades like a stronger processor, better 3D screens, better cameras, and a much-needed second thumbstick and set of shoulder buttons. These upgrades — specifically the more robust processor and second thumbstick — are what enabled a massive game like Xenoblade Chronicles to be ported to the handheld. So, while we highly recommend the game, it comes with the aforementioned caveat of only being available on the New 3DS iteration of the software. Before you pick it up, be sure the game is compatible with your system. The game also doesn’t look great on the 3DS. The Switch port is the best looking version.