Topic: Best of the 3DS eShop: 2013 Releases (Part 2)

[Khushrenada]

The Usual Preamble

With the 3DS pretty much winding down and a lack of upcoming releases we have now arrived at the life cycle of a system where users start looking back in the catalogue of available games that were released and that they missed or forgot about when games were coming out regularly. For myself, I know that I didn't always pay as close attention to the eShop and its releases as I did physical releases. And while I have accumulated a few titles from it, I feel there are probably more I should take advantage of especially since Nintendo hasn't created any other source to purchase many of these titles.

While I could I slowly go through each title and try to track down reviews, I'd rather get the opinions of the NWR Forum users whose gaming tastes I trust a bit more. Plus, I figured this would be a chance to engage in our favorite practice of reminiscing about games we loved playing (and arguing about the worth / rank of a game. )

The main goal is simple. If you have personally played any of these titles, post which ones you have and which ones you highly recommend others should have on their 3DS, which ones might be recommended for Kairon (or a deeper cut for a certain type of fan) and what you think should be skipped. (And sure, even if you haven't played them and have an opinion, I'm not going to argue against you from posting it). I've also included a poll for people to vote on the games being discusses that they think a person should acquire for their 3DS.



What Is Being Discussed?

I am trying to go through the eShop exclusives in chronological order at this point. To do that, I'm just going by the release dates on Nintendo's website for eShop games.

There are about 119 games or so that came out for the eShop in 2013 if you are not including VC releases and certain applications. I've divided up those 2013 releases in 4 parts. Incredibly, according to Nintendo's site, by the time of Kokuga's release, we've passed into July. The rest of the entries in Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 all came out in the second half of 2013. The 3DS eShop was just exploding in releases at this time. That said, quantity doesn't exactly equate to quality. In some ways, the eShop is beginning to remind me of the Wii-era complaints of shovelware titles. Sure, there is still good stuff to be found but it can be lost and hard to find among all the other titles of varying quality.


The list of titles up for discussion for Part 2 are:

Gummy Bears Mini Golf
Picross e
Shining Force: Sword of Hayja
Big Bass Arcade: No Limit
Mighty Switch Force 2
BUGS vs TANKS!
Urban Trial Freestyle
Spelunker
Crystal Warriors
Gabrielle's Ghostle Groove Mini
Kokuga
Crash City Mayhem
G-LOC Air Bttle
Vampire Master of Darkness
Fishdom H20: Hidden Odyssey
Deer Hunting King
Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale
Undead Bowling
Robot Rescue 3D
Chain Blaster
Angler's Club: Ultimate Bass Fishing 3D
Picross E2
Bike Rider DX
My Farm 3D
Family Kart 3D
SteamWorld Dig
Tangram Style
Smash Bowling 3D
Heavy Fire: Black Arms 3D


Which games do you think are worthy of being added to one's collection and played? Are there any overlooked gems you might be aware of?

[Order.RSS]

Some choice names here again. Fishdom H20 is my favourite I think. Haven't played it of course, c'mon now.

SteamWorld Dig is good, but I didn't love it as much as most people seem to. Early on the grind is rather repetitive, and you can fairly easily dig yourself into inescapable holes. I suppose that's indicative of a good risk-reward balance, but yeah.
It does environmental storytelling very well, and ends on a real high note, so I would still recommend it.

The Picross games are an obvious recommendation, but suggesting them is also kinda like pushing black tar heroin on a friend. Very addictive puzzle franchise, approach with caution.

Lastly, while I've not played it myself, I'd like to highlight Shining Force: The Sword of Hayja. This is a 1993/1994 Sega Game Gear title, also known as Shining Force Gaiden II (not to be confused with Shining Force II on Genesis).
It's a 10-15 hour long strategy RPG. Picture what Fire Emblem could look like on Game Boy Color and you're not far off. Soundtrack doesn't sound far off from what Pokémon Gold/Silver would do 6 years later either.

This game is still only available on Game Gear and 3DS; and Europe/Australia/NZ never even got the original Game Gear version, making it somewhat rare. Shining Force Gaiden I is available on the Japanese 3DS virtual console, but untranslated unfortunately.
Both of these games were remade on Sega CD, and released as Shining Force CD. That version compiles Shining Force Gaiden I & II into one package with added scenarios... However, that game is rarer still.
Shining Force CD remains exclusive to the at this point highly unreliable Sega CD platform, requires a RAM cart (hard to find) because the Sega CD can't store all the savefiles, oh... and copies of it start around 200$ used on eBay.

[ejamer]

Some brief notes and thoughts.

Own these, and think there are all pretty good:
* Mighty Switch Force 2 - good, probably an improvement over the original but for some reason (probably just because I was exposed to it first) the original left a better impression? Not bad if you like clever platforming and time trials.
* Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale - The actual gameplay isn't great, and significant portions boil down to digital paper-rock-scissors... and yet the storytelling and charming setting made this very appealing to me; totally enjoyed my play through but haven't gone back afterwards.
* SteamWorld Dig - I really like this game and have played through it several times. Available on many different systems, and I'm not sure there is anything specific to 3DS that makes it better here than elsewhere... but has often been on sale lately and is totally worth trying (on whatever platform you choose).

Some other specific comments:
* Undead Bowling - This had a demo, and it was kind of hilarious. Not sure it was good... but if you can still get the demo I definitely recommend checking it out. Wonderfully cheesy.
* Kokuga - I was really interested in this game, but it never got released in Canada so I couldn't try playing. Reviews were underwhelming, so maybe that's for the best?

I'd gladly play these if given the chance, but probably aren't going to go out of my way to download more digital software that is locked to old 3DS hardware:
* Picross E/E2 - Picross is always fun!
* Shining Force: Sword of Hayja - Shining Force games are usually fun!
* BUGS vs TANKS! - This particular game didn't appeal to me, but the Guild01/Guild02 series were mostly interesting releases... so I wouldn't have minded trying the game.

[M.K.Ultra]

SteamWorld Dig - I have only played this on Wii U but would strongly recommend it. A very addictive game play loop and nice brief run-time. Can anyone comment on the 3-D effect?

Mighty Switch Force 2 - This is still on my queue but I enjoyed the first one so much and trust Way Forward enough to recommend this one as well. The 3-D effects are a big part of the environment so I would suggest playing this on the 3DS over the switch version.