The Nintendo 3DS is PEAK Handheld Gaming
The Nintendo 3DS is the coolest little electronic doodad on the planet. I’m totally unbiased, I promise. Kidding, of course. Anyways, allow me to explain my disposition to the 3DS, and why I think it’s an awesome handheld.
A Handheld First
The Nintendo Switch is super popular. I understand why; it’s got a really cool hybrid form-factor and lots of great games. However, it falls short as a handheld, juggling an identity crisis on whether it’s a home console or something you can take with you. The Switch 2 is gonna be much larger than the already chunky Switch 1, which, in my view, makes it far more inconvenient to lug around. Comparatively, the 3DS is just a little guy. It’s a handheld experience first, and doesn’t muddle itself by trying to be too many things at once.
I like the 3DS because it is super low commitment. I feel like modern games require you to sit down and dedicate an hour or two to just playing. Online features, longer cutscenes and gameplay segments, update patches, and certain design choices in most games make it hard to play in short bursts. With the 3DS, most games were designed as handheld experiences. You simply pick up and play, and if you need to stop, you can just shut the clamshell, or alternatively, you can put it in sleep mode if you have the flat 2DS. Life is busier than it used to be, and having a handheld I can throw in my pocket gives me more opportunities to play games, instead of doom-scrolling on my cell phone.
What I mean to say is that the 3DS is designed to be ✨simple✨. My smooth lizard brain likes that.
Different Flavors (of 3DS)
I touched on it a bunch already, but the 3DS consoles are all handhelds first. Every model is very portable and leans into the handheld form factor with great success. There are many different models for the 3DS, but you can’t go wrong with any of them. There’s the original 3DS and 3DS XL (which is just a bigger 3DS, basically), the 2DS, which loses the clamshell design, so it’s similar to a beefed up GameBoy, and the “New” models, which got extra RAM, a few new buttons, rounder designs, and a second analog stick, which is a bit strange. If I were to compare it to anything else, I’d say it’s like those keyboard nipple mouse pointer things that you can find on ThinkPad laptops. Actually, it isn’t as bad as people say it is. It doesn’t require a lot of pressure, and you just slide your thumb over it to make inputs. I’d prefer a second circle pad, but it’s not the end of the world. Also, the “New” version of the 2DS model made some big changes from the original 2DS. They brought the clamshell back, and design wise, it’s more lightweight than the other versions of the 3DS, so it’s really comfortable to use.
Personally, the New 2DS is my favorite of the bunch, just because it has a very cute design, and also fits in my larger adult hands, but, like I said before, they’re all good.
Some Cool DS and 3DS Games!
There are some absolutely fantastic games on the console. Everybody’s got different tastes, so I’m not gonna take too much time covering these games, but I wanna list some of them that are special to me.
Fire Emblem: Awakening is my favorite 3DS title. It wasn’t my first game in the franchise (that goes the GameBoy Advance game that didn’t get a subtitle for some reason), but it’s the first one that really got me hooked. I played it when I was a wee hatching at the ripe age of 12, and I really liked it. Fantasy medieval stuff like Monty Python & The Holy Grail, Dungeons & Dragons, The Tolkien books, and The Elder Scrolls definitely shaped my interest in the fantasy genre, but the game that really pushed this over the edge was Fire Emblem Awakening. The difficulty options allow it to be as hard or accessible as the player needs, and it does a really great job presenting the game mechanics in an easy way to grasp. Plus, the art direction and soundtrack are amazing. Without spoiling too much, there’s a chapter where the guys you’re supposed to kill are humanized in a way that you don’t often get to see in fantasy stories, and the music and atmosphere are heavy and tragic. It’s good shit. Apparently, this game saved the franchise from the big Nintendo axe, and if it weren’t for this game being so great, it might’ve been binned like Star Fox or F-Zero. Also, I think that Strategy RPGs are really fun and underrated, and not a lot of folks talk about them. So check it out please, it’s worth it.
New Super Mario Bros is a totally different vibe from the last one, but it’s still fun. The first entry in the series came out before they basically made the same game three other times, so NSMB on the DS is not as stale and uncreative as the others. My favorite power up, the shell, made its debut in this game, and there are a lot of crazy levels. One of my favorites is the one where Mario goes underground and the entire level is made up of pipes. Another level that’s neat is the level with the bouncing mushrooms. It’s so fun to make huge leaps to move around the course to collect coins. NSMB lends itself to quick bursts of handheld gameplay, which is nice, and the levels are sort of easy, which doesn’t bother me since they’re well designed. Objects and hazards are placed in the levels in a way that lets players get a grasp on the concepts presented before ramping up the challenge. There’s a level of skill expression that lets you improve, and running through the levels quickly feels awesome. Plus, it comes with two multiplayer modes that are worth playing with friends. The first one is called “Mario Vs. Luigi” where you chase each other around and beat the crap out of each other for stars. It’s hilarious, and it gets very intense and competitive as well. The other multiplayer mode is a mini game collection where you can compete in games designed specifically around the touch screen on the DS. If you’re looking for a multiplayer game to play on a trip with friends or family, this or Mario Party DS are good choices, especially because you only need one copy of the game to play together.
The last 3DS game I wanna write about is somehow both extremely popular and unpopular. I’m talking about Minecraft: New Nintendo 3DS Edition. It’s popular because it’s still Minecraft, but it’s unpopular because a lot of Minecraft fans say it’s the worst version of the game and is borderline unplayable. In IGN’s review of the 3DS version, they compare Minecraft to pizza.
"All pizza is good, but the 3DS version is like the cheap pizza version of Minecraft." -IGN's Minecraft 3DS review.
I disagree, it’s not so bad. Actually, the reason why I bring this version of the game up is because the 3DS version is my favorite version of Minecraft, apart from Java. It’s honestly so underrated. Games are contextualized by the platform and space that they are played in, and Minecraft specifically is fantastic as a handheld game. It’s easy to start work on a build, shut the 3DS to go do something else, and then come back later like you had just paused the game. Plus, playing Minecraft so casually allows players to just kick back and take things slow. I like that the touch screen does a lot for the general survival mode. There’s a little map with coordinates on the bottom screen, and you can organize your inventory by touching stuff and moving it around. It’s way faster than the console UI controls. The render distance and graphics are ugly, for sure, but it’s never unplayable. The same people that complain about performance in this version of the game should go play the bedrock version of Minecraft on the Switch. That version has terrible performance, and you can randomly die for no reason. Also, certain gameplay features in bedrock Minecraft on the Switch literally don’t work. It’s nuts. I have never enjoyed Minecraft more than I have on the 3DS, and I think that the form factor makes all the difference for me.
TL;DR, the 3DS is PEAK.
The 3DS is a wonderful handheld. The games and experiences I’ve had on the platform are unmatched, and the form factor makes it a perfect device to keep for anyone. I couldn’t recommend it enough. I’ve been using some model of the Nintendo DS since I first started learning how to read. It’s special to me. I don’t know if I’ll ever lose interest in the little handheld, to be honest. I’m 22 years old now, and as life gets more complicated and I find more things that bring me joy, I know that for the time being, the 3DS won’t leave my side.
Thanks for reading my post, folks! Shoot me a message if you want to talk about the 3DS, or if you’ve got any comments!!! :D