The End of an Era: Nintendo 3DS (2011) Review and Retrospective

 Earlier this year (oddly enough, around the time I was writing my review of the original DS, Nintendo announced that the 3DS would be discontinued - meaning no more production of any 3DS model. This didn’t exactly come as a huge surprise - after the Switch released many were wondering how long it would be before the 3DS got the axe.

But… in a way, it’s kind of sad to me. I grew up with Nintendo’s handhelds - starting with my brother’s hand me down Game Boy Advance and later getting a DS Lite - and the 3DS wasn’t an exception - I got the system for Christmas in 2014 and it pretty much served as my main handheld and non-PC platform during my teenage years. In a way, it still feels kind of new to me - despite being 9 years old, I still remember seeing advertisements and stuff when the 3DS released.

I think it’s safe to say too that it’s very likely the 3DS will be Nintendo’s last traditional handheld. With the Switch and it’s concept of a hybrid console doing extremely well it’s safe to expect Nintendo to do more of that in the future. There is the Switch Lite, a handheld-only variant, but at the same time that really is just a different model of the already existing Switch. The 3DS is more or less the last “dedicated” handheld system - built from the ground up to be a handheld system.

And considering my history with Nintendo’s handheld consoles, I wanted to look back at the 3DS. In a lot of ways, the 3DS was the end of an era - not just for traditional home consoles, but also for my life in general. And well, I think it’s time I look back at the 3DS as a whole.


Nintendo had a history of experimenting with 3D - their first attempt being the Famicom 3D System in 1987 and later the Virtual Boy in 1995. Both of these failed in the market, but the concept was still something Nintendo experimented with.

In 2009, rumors of a successor for the DS arose and in March 2010, Nintendo announced the 3DS and fully revealed the system at E3 of the same year. One of the main new features of the 3DS was glasses-free 3D - this was around the time 3DTVs were gaining traction (however ultimately didn’t take off in the long run) and the 3DS had the feature to enable stereoscopic 3D in it’s own library of games. The system was launched in February of 2011 in Japan, and a month later in the rest of the world. The system struggled to gain any traction at first - it didn’t come out with any real killer apps and for most people was too expensive, but eventually, it would get a price drop and more great games for it would come out.

While the system was technically Nintendo’s worst selling traditional handheld, it was still considered a success with almost 76 million units sold, and is often thought of as what kept Nintendo’s ship from sinking while the Wii U was ultimately underperforming.

As for my personal history with the 3DS - I remember seeing posters for it when it came out at places like GameStop, although I didn’t even have a regular DS at that point - which I would get for my birthday the year the 3DS released. I remember at first not being really into the 3DS anyway - there weren't really any games I was interested in for the system and for a while I kind of just looked at it as just a DS with a 3D feature that kind of hurt my eyes when playing it on those store kiosks. But… Super Mario 3D Land came out for the system, and that alone really got me interested in getting one. But of course, since I had still just gotten my regular DS, there really wasn’t any chance of me getting a 3DS at that time. I remember thinking of asking for one for Christmas in 2012, but my parents repeatedly shut my requests down.

So I was stuck with my DS Lite for a little while. I did hold interest in the 3DS, but again, didn’t really have any chance to pick one up. Although I do remember at one point considering getting a PlayStation Vita instead, but ultimately I just found that the system was too expensive and didn’t have any games I was really interested in playing.

I decided to ask for the 3DS again for Christmas in 2014 - by then, my original DS was starting to have issues (in particular problems with the sound) and I figured then was a good shot at convincing my parents to upgrade. But I didn’t get the 3DS… I got the 2DS - this model had just come the year before and was significantly cheaper than the regular 3DS models, just at the cost of not having the 3D feature which I didn’t really plan on using anyway. I specifically remember asking for the 2DS too, I figured that I might as well save my parents some money, so ultimately combined with my DS having issues and there being a cheaper model of the 3DS I could get, it ultimately became perfect. And of course, I got the 2DS in 2014 - the blue and black model bundled with Mario Kart 7. I actually still have the box for it sitting on my shelf.

And I can definitely say that I enjoyed my time with it. There were just a lot of games I really enjoyed for the system as I collected for it - like I said it was basically my main handheld and non-PC platform throughout my teenage years. Even as the Switch released, there were still some really good games coming out for the system such as Metroid: Samus Returns and the remaster of Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga. But… in 2019 I got a Switch for my graduation and that sort of took over the 3DS as both my main handheld and non-PC platform. But I still do fondly look back on my time with the 3DS and I’ve maintained a pretty sizable collection of both physical and digital games for the system.

Like the original DS, there was a sleuth of different models for the 3DS. Of course, there was the original one, but in only a year Nintendo released the 3DS XL - which used the same specifications but was just bigger. I don’t really have much to say about either of these, but of course, in 2013 they released the 2DS - which is what I had. I remember a lot of people thought the announcement was, well, kind of dumb - a lot of people didn’t like the look of it’s form factor and thought of it as pointless. In fact, I was actually one of those people.

But… to be honest, I ended up actually really liking the 2DS after getting it. It’s form factor is a bit divisive - some people don’t like how big the system is, but to be honest, while I can’t compare it to the regular 3DS, I can say that I actually found it more comfortable than my DS Lite. Sure, it couldn’t fold up and be put in a pocket, but this could easily be solved with one of the carrying cases for the system. The fact that the 2DS was all one screen on a slanted surface made it feel more “solid” to me, kind of feeling similar to, say, the original Game Boy or Game Boy Color. It’s not for everyone, but if you like having a bigger, more solid feeling handheld, I definitely feel like the 2DS was better at that than previous DS and 3DS models. Not to mention, the original DS and 3DS did have a lot of issues with their “fold up” design - again, I had sound problems with my DS Lite that I largely blame on the fold up design and the system not having a good connection with the speakers. And I can definitely say, at no point, I never had that issue with the 2DS.

Not to mention, the 2DS was also really good value for what it was - Nintendo’s latest handheld system for about $30-$50 less than the regular 3DS from what I can remember, and as time went on I remember seeing it for as low as $80 - less than $100 for, again, Nintendo’s latest handheld. I know a lot of people said “well, you can just turn off the 3D if you don’t like it, so the 2DS is pointless,” but I feel like those people blatantly forget that the 2DS wasn’t made for people who already owned the 3DS, rather it was made for those looking to get into 3DS for a cheaper price tag. Some people don’t really care that much for the 3D gimmick, especially parents who have kids that the 3D could screw with their eyesight. And yes, you could just turn off the 3D in the regular 3DS, but by doing that, you essentially paid $30 more for a feature that you never even used.

And I think overall the 2DS did what it wanted to accomplish - a cheaper model of the 3DS just without a feature that wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea anyway. The one complaint I really have is how it only has one speaker, meaning sound only comes in mono, but even that wasn’t really that big of a deal for me.

But anyway, at the end of 2014 in Japan and Australia and 2015 throughout the rest of the world, Nintendo released the “New” Nintendo 3DS (I know, a very clever name). This was essentially the 3DS’ equivalent to the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X albeit earlier than both of those and offered improved hardware, ZR and ZL triggers, built-in amiibo functionality, improved 3D technology and a second analog stick. The smallest analog stick I’ve ever seen, but an analog stick nonetheless. This came out in two variants - the standard New 3DS and the New 3DS XL. And after the Switch came out, the New 2DS XL was released - pretty much serving the same functionality improvements that the New 3DS systems had but without the 3D feature like the 2DS. In addition, it also came in a clamshell design. Although I gotta be honest, I don’t know why they called it the New 2DS “XL” when there was no standard New 2DS model that served as a comparison but… whatever.

The New 3DS more or less just served as an improved model of the original 3DS, with all the games compatible, however a few games came out only for the New 3DS - only 6 of them throughout the world, but that included stuff like Xenoblade Chronicles 3D and the 3DS’ port of Minecraft. The New 3DS also had the ability to play SNES games on it’s Virtual Console, although I’m not entirely sure why they couldn’t just do that on a regular 3DS but… whatever.

Now, I want to say that with the DSi, Nintendo definitely wanted to go for more of an internet-based environment. The handheld had an internet browser, a storefront which offered games digitally, and many apps that utilized online sharing, most notably the infamous “Flipnote Hatena.” In retrospect, I feel like it was a way to integrate the Nintendo DS with a growing mobile market of iPods, iPhones, iPads and Android devices. But I think in addition it also served as a transition to the 3DS.

Being the successor to the original DS line, the 3DS was obviously a more powerful system that was more capable of running bigger games with better graphics. It still wasn’t quite to the extent that of running console-level games, but the 3DS was a step up in power that aimed for more GameCube-level graphics and was more capable of running higher quality 3D games than the predecessor.

But in addition to that, the 3DS integrated a lot of the online features of the DSi and Nintendo Wii. Apps like Youtube, Netflix and Hulu were available for the system, and I feel the digital storefront was embraced more here than on the DSi - in general you could get pretty much every 3DS game through the digital store. Although to be honest I never really downloaded my 3DS games digitally, I mostly just bought physical copies because… well, I liked having them, but there were a few games I have gotten digitally. Some of them, like Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures, are only available digitally, plus recently I also got the 3DS version of Sonic Generations on sale, plus the bundled Mario Kart 7 was a digital copy. And to be honest I also really enjoyed spending time looking at the catalog of games on the 3DS store, especially when I first got the system and was looking for games to play.

Virtual Console also made a return on the 3DS after being introduced on the Wii. It largely had more of a focus on handheld games this time around - which makes sense, and the main newcomers were the addition of Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Gear games. NES games also appeared on the 3DS’ store, and as mentioned SNES games were brought as a New 3DS exclusive feature… but nothing other than that. I remember Game Boy Advance games being speculated to come to the 3DS - in fact they even had them as part of the ambassador program, but for some reason they never did and I never really got why. I mean, I would think the 3DS is capable of running the Game Boy Advance library and they clearly had a GBA emulator built for the system but I guess they just decided not to use it.

Other features included the Sound and Camera programs and libraries which I believe were also a feature of the DSi. In the Sound program, you could record yourself and edit sounds, but you could also put music on the SD card and listen to it on your 3DS. I didn’t really use the recording feature much but I can tell you I definitely used my 2DS as essentially my mp3 player a few times. I actually still have a few songs on there - including some Undertale themes, Queen songs and, um…

a remix of the Nutshack theme as well as We are Number One.
yeah let’s just say those memes were really prevalent in the time I used my 2DS most.

The camera program, of course, allowed you to take photos and record videos from your 3DS. The camera on the 2DS (and I’m assuming on the other 3DS models as well)… admittedly isn’t great, images come off as very low resolution and blurry, but I still used this quite a bit and I still have some photos largely from 2015 when this was pretty much the most accessible camera to me.

And in addition to these, you could also capture screenshots of gameplay for certain games, which I mostly used in Super Smash Bros for 3DS and especially Animal Crossing: New Leaf. And like the sound programs, you could put photos downloaded online and put them on your 3DS after converting them to a special format. This didn’t really serve any purpose other than to have a folder of pictures on your 2DS, but I apparently used it to save fanart of my favorite MLP, Steven Universe and Undertale characters so there’s definitely that.

And looking through it all kind of feels a time capsule to me to say the least. Between the photos I took with the 2DS, fanart I saved, music I saved and the different screenshots of games, it really does capture an idea of what my life was like back between 2015 and 2017 and it honestly makes me… oddly nostalgic for that time period. Granted I haven’t really changed that much as a person, but considering all the hardships I’ve gone through in the past few years… it really does feel nice to just take a step back and take a look at the photos and whatnot I took in that time period and keep a memory of my life from back then.

Flipnote also made a comeback on the 3DS in the form of Flipnote Studio 3D, but to be honest I was always sort of disappointed by this release. I remember going on Flipnote Hatena with my cousin who had a DSi when I was there, and I feel like part of the appeal of it was seeing all the animations that people had made and shared. I was excited for the release of Flipnote Studio on the 3DS, but was disappointed to find out that it basically had no online functionality. You could exchange Flipnotes between two 3DS systems, but that was about it, you couldn’t share and browse animations online. On top of that you could only download the software off of Club Nintendo and My Nintendo making it’s release ultimately pretty limited. I’ve heard this was largely due to concerns about inappropriate content being shared through the service, which I guess I can understand but I feel like that could have been fixed with improved moderation and by removing the online functionality I feel like Nintendo just got rid of what made the Flipnote Studio so appealing in the first place.

There are more features than those of course, but those were a few I thought were the most memorable to me. But now… I want to move on to talk about the game library of the 3DS.

I think the first really significant release on the 3DS that kind me, as well as many other many turning their heads, was definitely Super Mario 3D Land, released in November 2011. It was described as being a 3D Mario game that played like a 2D game - unlike the others this game didn’t have an emphasis on collecting stars or anything, but rather just from getting to point A to point B. It was generally received when it was released, although some do consider it to be one of the more bland Mario titles. Admittedly it’s not my favorite Mario game, not really one of the more memorable titles in the series in my opinion (although I did really enjoy 3D World on the Wii U), but I did have fun with it when I played it, and ultimately, I don’t think anyone can argue that it wasn’t the game the 3DS needed. Unless you count the DS port of Super Mario 64, this was more or less the first original 3D Mario title on a handheld, and I think ultimately it did just what it needed to do. Something that didn’t necessarily “amaze” anyone, but just a fun game that lent itself to handheld gameplay. And, well, Super Mario 3D Land did that, especially considering it’s often considered the game that really “saved” the 3DS.

Then Mario Kart 7 came out about a month later, another game that really got the 3DS off the ground, and also the first 3DS game I ever owned considering it was bundled with my 2DS. I remember a lot of people talking about this game when it came out, but I feel like in retrospect it isn’t really looked at as fondly as it was at launch - I know a lot of people consider this one of the weaker titles in the series, and I feel like once Mario Kart 8 released, people just sort of moved on to that. And I’ll admit, Mario Kart 7 isn’t exactly groundbreaking or anything. Scott the Woz considered it one of the most “Mario Kart feeling Mario Kart games” and I think that’s a perfect way to describe it. But again, I did have a lot of fun with Mario Kart 7 - it was the newest Mario Kart game I owned for a while and was the one I went back to most after getting my 3DS. Admittedly though I do think it’s been outshined by Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but I still had some good memories with this game.

Another Mario game released a year later in the form of New Super Mario Bros 2. And I gotta admit, this one I’ve always considered to be one of the weaker Mario titles. Even when it first came out and I was watching gameplay footage of it on YouTube, I pretty much just got this whole impression that it was more or less just a watered down version of New Super Mario Bros Wii with a coin gimmick released for the 3DS. I did eventually get the game for Christmas one year, and for what it’s worth… I mean, it was still enjoyable, it’s really hard for me to dislike a main series Mario game, but ultimately I don’t really consider it one of the best Mario games out there and even as far as the New Super Mario Bros series itself is concerned it’s probably the weakest one.

During it’s first year on the market though, the 3DS did one more killer app. Maybe not one as major as Super Mario 3D Land, but was another pick from Nintendo’s IPs - this being, of course, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, a remastered version of Ocarina of Time with improved visuals and an improved control scheme. And I think this was a good release - Ocarina of Time has often been considered the best game ever made, so re-releasing the game on the 3DS - for the first time on a handheld system - I’m sure caught the eye of many. I’ve established in previous reviews and retrospectives that I’ve never really been a big Zelda person, but Ocarina of Time 3D was probably the most I’ve played any Zelda game and I enjoyed it well enough. To be honest I couldn’t really get into the N64 original, largely due to the poor framerate in that version, but I feel Ocarina of Time 3D did give the game new light. In addition to the improved visuals, the frame rate was made into a more solid 30FPS rather than the somewhat unstable 25FPS of the original version, and in some ways the controls were improved as well, with features like gyro aiming for the crossbow and from what I’ve heard also making the Water Temple less of a pain in the ass. I still never got around to beating this game (tbh going back to my old save file I can’t even remember where I left off), but I do think this was a solid release.

Majora’s Mask 3D came out in 2015, this being a remaster of Majora’s Mask of course, although this version tends to be a bit more divisive from what I’ve seen. Majora’s Mask veterans especially felt the changes made in the 3DS version of the game kind of went against a lot of what they felt made Majora’s Mask great in the first place. But like Ocarina of Time, I couldn’t get into the original N64 version of Majora’s Mask either, and this time not just due to the frame rate but also the save system, which always just felt confusing to me in the original. The 3DS version, well, improves upon that at least, so if I ever do get to playing through this game for the first time I’ll probably do so through the 3DS version.

In addition to these remasters, the 3DS also got an original, exclusive Zelda game in the form of Link Between Worlds - which sort of serves as a sequel to my favorite Zelda title, Link to the Past. I haven’t played too much of this one though - I got it for $20 a couple years ago but never got around to playing it, but whenever I do want to invest more time into the Zelda series it’s one I do want to look into.

However, I’d probably say my favorite game for the 3DS was Animal Crossing: New Leaf. This was actually the first Animal Crossing game I played, I had no experience with the series prior and decided to pick this up after receiving a Walmart gift card for Christmas. And for a few months I spent a lot of time playing it - it was the kind of game I was always playing after school, I pretty much just always wanted to check up on my villagers and see how they were doing while also doing different tasks around my city. It turned out to just be a relaxing game that I never really played anything like prior, and as an introvert I feel like the social interaction with the NPCs was something I really needed at the time. Eventually I will admit I did get burned out of it, but I did go back to it on occasion. These days I’ve pretty much entirely moved on to Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Switch, but I'd say New Leaf was a good introduction to the series and honestly made me somewhat of a fan. I guess it’s just the perfect kind of game to wind down with after a long day.

Another one of my favorite 3DS games was Super Smash Bros for 3DS (and yes, in case you didn’t know, that’s literally what it’s called). This was the first time Super Smash Bros officially released on a handheld system and for what it’s worth it definitely was a solid fighting game and entry to the series. It didn’t have the HD graphics of Smash for Wii U, but it did come with a few features that I actually really digged… including an actual “Classic” mode that the Wii U game didn’t have for whatever reason.

But I also wanted to return to the Mario franchise for a second. I mentioned in my DS review that Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story was probably my favorite game on the system and made me somewhat interested in the series. Well, there were a couple entries for the 3DS - Dream Team and Paper Jam, both of these I did enjoy. Not to the same extent I enjoyed Bowser’s Inside Story, but I did get Dream Team during the same Christmas I got the system and I did have a lot of fun with the whole “dream” mechanic it introduced. Paper Jam was an interesting idea as a crossover game as well, and was oddly enough the best Paper Mario game in the past decade… which is kind of sad.

Superstar Saga, the first Mario and Luigi game, was also remastered on the 3DS - a bit of a later release that came out the same year the Switch did but one that showed Nintendo was still supporting the system. This was actually my first time playing the game despite always wanting to and while I haven’t played it through I definitely found it to be a great title.

And after bringing up Bowser’s Inside Story, that was also remade on the 3DS and released in 2019. I can’t say I really understood the point - you could play the original game on the 3DS because of backwards compatibility, so I didn’t feel any need to pick it up. And apparently I wasn’t the only one with the mindset, considering that it ended up being the worst selling game of the series up to that point and is blamed for bankrupting AlphaDream. Which is… pretty sad actually and makes me wonder if we’re even going to get another Mario and Luigi title.

Oh yeah, and the other Paper Mario series got representation on the 3DS in the form of Paper Mario: Sticker Star. I haven’t played it, but from what I’ve heard a lot of Paper Mario fans didn’t enjoy the game due to it’s battle system and story, and from what I can tell it’s often considered the worst Paper Mario game to date.

Anyway, the Pokemon series returned on the 3DS because… of course it did, it’s pretty much Nintendo handheld royalty at this point. Both the sixth and seventh generations of the series made their debut on the system with Pokemon X and Y released in 2013 followed by Pokemon Sun and Moon in 2016… and then Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon in 2017. There were also remakes of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire in the form of OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire. I’ve never really been a huge Pokemon fan, but out of all the games for the system I did have OmegaRuby and did enjoy what I played of that. There were also two Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, Gates to Infinity and Super Mystery Dungeon… neither of which I’ve admittedly played.

Like the Game Boy Advance and DS, there were also a few exclusive Sonic games for the system, albeit I didn’t really find the 3DS offerings to be quite as memorable as previous Sonic handheld titles. The first Sonic game released for the system was Sonic Generations, but not a port of the PC/360/PS3 version, rather somewhat of a different take on the game entirely to make it work better as a handheld title. While the concept and story are largely the same, the level design is different from it’s console counterpart with some levels being based on different ones from their console counterpart. Instead of Chemical Plant from Sonic 2, it uses Casino Night Zone. Instead of Sky Sanctuary from Sonic 3 & Knuckles, it uses Mushroom Hill… so on and so forth. If Sonic Colors DS was pretty much Sonic Rush 3, this is basically Sonic Rush 4. I bought this one recently due to it being on sale, and I did enjoy it, albeit definitely not to the same extent as I enjoyed it’s HD counterpart.

And then there’s Sonic Lost World. Like Generations, the story and concepts are the same as it’s console counterpart but the levels are pretty much entirely different. I actually got this one for my birthday in 2015 and did enjoy what I played of it… albeit I don’t think I ever got around to playing past the third world or so. I’ve been meaning to go back and finish it at some point but just haven’t gotten around to it. To be honest between the two I’d definitely say the Wii U and PC versions are better and more fun overall, but Lost World 3DS was technically the first 3D handheld title so that has that going for it.

And in 2014, going along with the rest of the reboot, there was Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal. I played a demo of this one for a bit and… honestly got bored pretty fast. I mean it’s better than Rise of Lyric, but that really isn’t saying much because from what I remember it was still a pretty mediocre, boring game. Maybe I’ll give it another chance some day, but for now… eh.

In 2016 this was followed up with Fire and Ice, which I haven’t played, although I’ve actually heard this is an improvement over the 3DS, which I’ll take.

There were also a few Wii U ports on the system. Two of the ones I remember most being Poochy and Yoshi’s Woolly World and Super Mario Maker. On Super Mario Maker, I remember thinking about getting it a few times but never did. From what I’ve heard the 3DS version of the game lacks the whole level sharing feature which I feel was a part of the appeal of the original game and without that, the 3DS version definitely feels watered down in comparison. I remember considering buying it a few times but that was a pretty big dealbreaker, and eventually I just got the Wii U game after I picked up a used Wii U in 2018.

Poochy and Yoshi’s Woolly World I did enjoy though. The graphics definitely aren’t as good as the Wii U original, but that’s about to be expected, and ultimately it is a solid port of the game. The game itself I really enjoyed, not as much as the original Yoshi’s Island but probably the best game in the Yoshi subseries since that title, even with Yoshi’s Crafted World releasing in 2019. There was another game for the system, Yoshi’s New Island… frankly it was mediocre (and the soundtrack was outright painful) but between the two this is definitely the best Yoshi game on the system.

Now, there are more than these games of course, and other good games for the system include of Kirby: Planet Robobot, Kirby Triple Deluxe, Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, Fire Emblem Awakening, Kid Icarus Uprising, Metroid: Samus Returns, Tomodachi Life, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, the Pheonix Wright games, and more. Ultimately, I either haven’t played a lot of these games or just don’t have much to say about them, but I did want to conclude this post.

To be honest, writing this kind of made me feel nostalgic for the 3DS. Whereas I got the Nintendo DS during my pre-teen years and that sort of made up my life between ages 10 and 13, the 3DS I got during my first Christmas after turning 13 and it basically made up my teenage and high school years in general. In a way, it was kind of the last system I had before I entered adulthood and with it being discontinued… it’s sort of the end of an era. Not just for the system itself, not even just for traditional Nintendo handhelds, but sort of the end of an era in my own life in a way.

I know I said the original DS was my favorite handheld, but that doesn’t really change the fact that I really had a lot of great experiences with the 3DS in my time with the system, and with all of the games and features the system offered, it was just one I had a lot of fun with and treasured my time with. There was just a lot of great stuff on the 3DS and it made the handheld a really fun one for me to collect for. So with it being discontinued now, it definitely makes it feel like that era of my life is over. And while I’m happy to move on for better hardware and deeper games with the Switch, it is kind of sad to be letting the 3DS go. It still was a great system all around and one I had a lot of fun and memories with, and down the road, I can only assume it’ll be one I look back fondly upon.

Would I recommend the 3DS who didn’t own one? Right now, I’d say so. With it only being discontinued so recently games for the system shouldn’t be too expensive or hard to find and in time systems probably won’t be too expensive either. I’d probably say it’s best to go for one of the New 3DS models if you’re going to get one yourself, but ultimately, regardless of what model you get, if you enjoy Nintendo games, you’ll probably find the 3DS to have a really solid library full of really good, memorable titles.