My Top Games for the Nintendo 3DS of FY13!

Another late list adjusted for this previous fiscal year. This gets very confusing if you work at various businesses because there is no real standard. The company I work for ends their fiscal year between the beginning and ending of February. They seem to make it up as they go along....
Whatever.
Let's get to it!

My Favorite 3DS Games of FY13!!!

by Spencer Shoemaker

This list is a lot like my last but since the 3DS would have had at least 5 games in my top 10 favorites I decided to pull them to their own list! In the top 50 games sold in FY13, ONE was Sony exclusive, THREE were Microsoft exclusive, and FOURTEEN were Nintendo Exclusives. Even counting out pre bundled games from the counts, just take away 1 game from each company (leaving Sony with zero, unfairly) Most of those 14 were 3DS games....and a lot of em were new releases...and some didn't get the Wright exposure because of Nintendo all of a sudden becoming more download, online, and indie friendly.

Okay....I guess I will start with one of the games which sold well with the hardcore, well over seas, and got good reviews, But was hurt by no Advertising and a lack of awareness to Americans.

Number 10
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies
Developed and Published by Capcom

This game is fun. Not a normal game by far, but it's a change of pace game (much like Professor Layton or Animal Crossing) that focuses more on story and brain teasing more than platforming or action. Phoenix Wright is a popular character, even if you haven't played a game of his or even heard about him. They mae a movie about this game series in Japan that looks kinda cool...in that Japanese way...

Honestly, I never played an Ace Attorney game before until I tried this one (I immediately went out to find older ones, like I did after playing Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask a year ago) These games are funny, full of great characters, and are written pretty well.....even though I think our NA localization team trolled us sometimes...

The different relationships and lack of respect Phoenix Wright gets from his colleagues and opponents and judge and clients really surprised me after seeing pictures like this all over the internet from the hardcore crowds

But it actually helps add to the story and dialogues to see that the combo of Phoenix, Athena, and Apollo is actually a dysfunctional group. Of course, until it really matters, when the chips are down and the cheese is high

This Game was very different, very fun, and is regular price at $30 dollars on the eShop. Luckily eShop cards are 20% off at Best Buy between 2/23-3/1 So it's kinda like the game is on sale! (just go with it)

NUMBER 9
Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins
Developed by TT Fusion
Published by Nintendo

The Wii U game, Lego City Undercover, really helps this game a lot. It is constantly referencing things in Chase McCain's past but never elaborated on. A month after that game came out, this game was released onto the 3DS. The Same huge open world, quirky humor, and amount of side missions, customization, and unlockables but on the little brother.

The 3DS handled it well and gave me just as memorable of an experience to a character and world I already fell in love with on the Wii U. The only gripe I have on this game is that there isn't as much voice acting as the Wii U version. they still have some things subtitled and intended to read instead of listen to. The bad guys and fighting are the same however, with this one being more straight forward since you already know from the first game that you will be going after Rex Fury in your first attempt to apprehend him.The Wii U version of Lego City was truly a Grand Theft Auto game with Legos. And The Chase Begins is truly a great prequel but apparently just doesn't know how to use it's tongue...

This game is definitely worth getting for the 3DS, a must have if you enjoyed any Lego or Grand Theft Auto Game ever. Same goes for the Wii U Lego City as well!

NUMBER 8
Steam World Dig
Developed and Published by Image & Form (on the 3DS eShop)

This game was an eShop exclusive for many months before success called for it to be ported to PC in an HD remake. This game is many peoples Indie game of the year and the same goes for me! Its a simple concept...dig down and make sure you can get back up.

It also calls for exploration to gain gems for power ups, and fighting enemies in hopes of their dead robo-bodies will leave something like health, fire, or water behind. The story of the game is set in an old robo-west and you are left a mine due to an uncle dying....Yeah. Welcome to the freak show.

Well ultimately you keep digging and keep getting cool powerups which give the game more of a Metroid type feel.

As you dig down you find more and more evidence towards an ancient world and someone who seems to be living deep underground.....Shia Labeouf!!!

Well, maybe not. But it is a rewarding end to the game which keeps taking hours and hours from your life. Great game and a MUST HAVE if you download ANY game on the eShop!

NUMBER 7
Mario and Luigi: Dream Team
Developed by Alpha Team (with help from Good-Feel)
Published by Nintendo

The first game from the year of Luigi to make it on the list is also one of the most misunderstood. The same team that has developed all of the Mario and Luigi series games has returned to make this new RPG. This series has always differed from the other Mario games. A turn based fighting style similiar to paper Mario with an open world "Metroid" style gameplay set up.

This game boasts hilarious dialogue, funny and intriguing story, amazing characters, and a weird trip into the mind of Luigi and how much he feels like a loser in comparison to his brother. In real life he is treated as a second class citizen. However in his dreams it is a different story..

The story deals with the Princess getting kidnapped as always except it puts a different spin on it.

The current people on the island who live and visit there, the ancient people who founded the island, and our Mario bros. are all on the line against an evil new foe. The only way to truly take on the new dangers is to go into the dreams of a chosen one. Which is Luigi....also while there Mario is out matched. Which leaves him to rely on Bros. attacks which implement unique help from his brother...and since they are Luigi's dreams the help is just as odd as him....

This game looks odd and is odd but also is one of the more memorable games I have ever played. It has a long story if you don't avoid fighting and love leveling up (which I highly recommend). The game plays and acts a lot like previous games because the same Nintendo developer made the whole series, but a few REALLY amazing things were added into battle thanks to Good-Feel (The developers of Yarn Yoshi, Kirby;s Epic yarn, and Mii Force) and the additions are truly Epic. My Favorite thing is the humor. The humor will make you laugh out loud like an idiot. but I'm a sucker for Meta-Humor.

If you don't have a 3DS XL yet, just buy the Silver one which comes with this game like I did. If you have one, congrats, you can just go buy this game on the eShop or in store. it is SOOO worth it. And as a taste, there is a free demo on the eShop. The demo doesn't even begin to make you understand how great this game is but it is something.

Number 6
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
Developed by Next Level Games
Published by Nintendo

The next game on the list is from a very talented Nintendo development team which has put out some great Wii games like Mario Strikers Charged and the Punch Out remake. They outdid themselves by making one of the best games on the 3DS. This is a sequel to the extremely short cult hit game from the Gamecube. The second Luigi focused game on my list is incredibly detailed, well written, and has flawless game mechanics.

The game revolves around Luigi returning to help Professor E. Gadd by using the Pultergust 5000 upgrade to save Evershade Valley from the Dark Moon. the game play is fun and the story is funny. It travels the same road as Mario and Luigi Dream Team to make Luigi realize that he is as much of a Hero as Mario. He just has to face his fears.

The Pultergust 500 has many upgrades which helps with the many missions per haunted house. The detail in the houses is amazing, Try to suck up the walls an floors and you will find every picture moving and some rugs revealing secrets. So much to explore it will make you sick and there are so many different types of ghosts that one trick won't do the trick, it's like Mario Bros. meets Supernatural. Hope you got a trunk full of salt and silver bullets....

The game has very good length to it and a lot of unlockables. The coolest extra is the co-op mode called SCARE SCRAPER which features online multiplayer or local download play to see who can capture the most ghosts and gets to do the Dark Moon Walk...

A must have game for anyone that enjoyed the first, or any 3D platformer. And whoever loves family drama with a little brother with serious self worth issues.

NUMBER 5
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
Developed and Published by Capcom
Distributed by Nintendo

A game in the right direction for Nintendo. This game and the Wii U version are the same game just HD graphics compared to 3D graphics. You can even play this game on your 3DS locally alongside a friend playing on other 3DS and even on Wii U!! DO I NEED TO SAY MORE??

This game is VERY addictive. Each Mission is basically just about killing one monster or a variant of the monster or a herd of the monster. You can team up with up to 3 other people to be 4 vs 1 gigantic creature. The depth comes in how you want to take on these Monsters. There are almost 50 DIFFERENT MONSTERS!!! Ranging from Alzaroths, to Baggis, to Jaggis, to Rhenolpolis, to Wroggi from the small monsters list.

The Large Monsters are very diverse ranging from Agnaktor to Brachydios to Diablos to Lagiacrus to Queropeco to Rathian to Uragaan!

And the strategy to take on all of em varies by your skill set. What armor suits you best can be crafted from the body parts left from the monsters. Crafting the armor and weapons can take many battle with the same monster, but the pay off is very rewarding! The weapon classes include Sword/Shield, Dual Blades, Long Sword, Great Sword, Hammer, Hunting Horn, Lance, Gunlance, Switch Axe, Light Bow gun, Heavy Bowgun,

and Bow.

So...the depth is there, the graphics are there in either fashion (HD or 3D) and the player customization and replability is there. Add in the support of streetpass to lend you streetpassers that have the game so that you can send them on quests to fetch items for you and you can even level up your streetpass slaves and this game has all the makings of Number 1 Game of All Time. However, this isn't top games of FY13. It's MY favorite games of FY13.

It's my opinion that this game could be many peoples favorite games....So try it, the demo is single player only but will give you and idea of what is in store. I tiny idea.

NUMBER 4
Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Developed By Nintendo and Monolift Soft
Published by Nintendo

Yep, co developed by Monolift Soft, they have worked with Nintendo on such games a Legend Of Zelda Skyward Sword & Link Between Worlds, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Pikmin 3, Project X Zone, and Xenoblade Chronicles! Shows you how hardcore this game really is huh?

Well it may not look hardcore but it is a casual grind fest in the vain of games like The Sims. Except this one is cuter and full of Nintendo stuff so it's better right? You are apparently some child who has been sent off to live on his own in the woods full of Animals while you are appointed as Dictator of their strange government which is composed of any town that anyone else has created.

The creepiest thing with this story is you. The one human child in the town has got to be the creepiest character every in a video game.

You have to play everyday. no Joke. This game is the most played on my 3DS by FAR! That even beats out Pokemon Y and Fire Emblem: Awakening...It's kinda sad. And Kind of addicting. I'm going to be a negative influence on you right now. You want to try this game. Every one is doing it. It was a top seller amongst all games last year. Just try it once. You can quit whenever you want....

Then you realize that you dont play the game. It plays you. Build the town, buy all the town advancements, try to manage which 10 of the hundreds of villagers you will get, keep, and turn away, buy all the house expansions, use play coins for fortune cookies full of triforces and Arwings, and participate in every seasonal event like the spokes person for AC Addiction: Mark Hoppus of Blink 182...

This game is fun and enjoyable and a grind fest. You will never stop........it will consume you.
Join Us.


NUMBER 3
Pokemon X & Y
Developed by Game Freak
Published by Nintendo

I have sinned apparently. The BEST Pokemon game since the original thanks to updated graphics, music, animations, and a nice 80s-esque childhood friend storyline....and it isn't number1!!

Well This game is still amazing and for most people would be the most Necessary game to play out at the moment!! I know people who NEVER played Pokemon games before say this was their favorite game they have ever played. It's that good. It is still Pokemon, which is weird reinterpretations of animals but with odd names.

Besides the other normal stuff like catching em all and filling up the pokedex and beating the Elite four and stopping the evil doers.There are a lot more things to do too. I'm currently addicted to doing stuff all around the game...so much stuff...

There have added in really creative ways to train and bond with Pokemon which includes mini game trainings and feeding the Pokemon.

And Mega Evolutions. You will be given some stones to make the evolutions happen during battle, but the rest are found after beating the game. Want your weird little fat gengar to stop being weird and be a man?

DONE! There are many Mega Evolution stones and surely one of your favorites has one! This game is Pokemon. It sells as much as Call of Duty every time it comes out. So I'm sure you will get it eventually if you are one of the few who haven't already. To entice you even more, they have online capabilities which make battling and trading easier and its like a constant living world with online players passing your screen every half second. Also there is this glorious new thing called WONDER TRADING! it's like playing the lottery. Trade out a Pokemon to the world and hope you get a really cool one in return! You could get a level 100, Shiny, or legendary. Just try and see. 75% of the time it's great, Every time!

NUMBER 2
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Developed by Nintendo (w/ Monolift Soft)
Published by Nintendo

Yep. the game that was told to have many references to Majora's Mask while also serving as a Direct sequel to A Link to the Past. Well It served as a sequel while also teasing all of the desperate people that are a part of Operation Moonfall which probably cried when they saw this

and then raged when nothing came of it. nothing else. It's almost Like Nintendo wanted to make those crazy A-Holes rage their guts out.

Well newsflash to the group who waste time and many peoples money trying to get Majora's Mask remade. It is the 3rd day. And

JUST ENJOY THE GAMES THAT COME OUT! WE SHOULD ENCOURAGE NEW DEVELOPMENT AND NOT REGURGITATED REMAKES!!!!!
Well....Now...onto this Wonderful game. The game plays much like A Link to the Past. this game doesn't hold your hand but offers assistance when asked of it. The graphics are gorgeous. It's basically 2 games in 1. The top down look was achieved by slanting everything

But when you are in the painting form and you see the world from a normal 3rd person perspective, there are no slanted people. Because they built two games into this. These developers deserve some respect. O wait....did I mention? Are you ready? this game performs in 60 Frames per Second on the 3DS!

The Xbox One even has trouble doing that with some games. Congrats developers on creationg the best handheld Zelda Experience ever. And I havent even mentioned the story yet.

So, the story is a huge reference back to the mythology laid down in previous Zelda games. Most notably A Link to the Past. You are a blacksmith apprentice and a lazy one at that. Evil Looms and strikes at the Princess. you are forced to team up with the new 7 sages and use various items to unlock your way to a "Dark Realm" known as LORULE. Nice one Nintendo. Well the layout of the map is the same in LORULE except slightly altered to look so very menacing.

The Princess of Lorule is actually a really well done character. Her realm was as prosperous as Hyrule. Until their own Triforce was destroyed. Which brought the evil and darkness. She recognizes how lucky Hyrule and Zelda are to have Link. it's truly sad how much she knows her world sucks. Her she is Luigi and Zelda is Mario.

 The Year of Luigi Contiues!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyways....The story is great and the dungeons are much better when they are not in any order. the items are very fun and the unlockables are amazing....and not to be missed if you want to be tough and strong. The Streetpass was also done better than a lot of games. If you get a streetpass from someone else who has the game, they send a DARK LINK to your game and those dark Links will wait in various specific areas until beaten. When you challenge a Dark Link you fight them and whatever items and power ups they are equipped with and the reward for beating them is very shiny. very shiny indeed. This game is amazing and proved why FY13 was the year of Nintendo 3DS (AND LUIGI!)

NUMBER 1
Fire Emblem: Awakening
Developed and Published by Nintendo

 Number 13 in the series, But Number ONE in my Heart for FY13 and for the 3DS in general. This Game is a masterpiece of story, depth, streetpass functionality, spotpass functionality, DLC strategy, graphical options, and gameplay Mechanics. This game is worth the near 100 hours it can take away from you in one play through!!!

This game is actually the Best Selling Fire Emblem in the franchise. Shocking when you think that the game almost didnt get localized for North America and also was very close to being the last game in the series if it didnt sell well. Luckily, the word got out.

The game revolves around you and your bff Chrom. You run across the legendary hero, Marth, from time to time. You try to keep the peace in your land and try to stop various evil invading forces. All while meeting and recruiting new soldiers and trying to groom friendships and relationships. The importance of the relationship buildings come half way through the game....when time travel happens.

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

The people who get married before that halfway mark actually affect what kind of soldiers their kids become....because they time travel. they come back in time to help their parents defeat the evil before it is too late. This adds much depth cause there are many different possible marriages which all reflect the type and quality of the children. Marriage is a new feature to Fire Emblem. it was tied to the story very well and add to the depth. Don't disappoint Chrom son! Or you will be punished!

The added depth was also met with added accessibility. Fire Emblem games usually make you pay for bad decisions. If a character dies in battle, then they are gone for good. Well the Casual mode added to this game allow you to stop resetting your game to the last save over and over again. Casual mode lets your characters die in battle and simply go home and chill. But Hardcore mode definitely adds drama!

A few more features are small things like the battle animations being either 3d fights or sprite battles which give the game a certain amount of customization towards the type of player you are. The Streetpass feature basically lets you send out a hand picked team to other players and when they receive it they can find you on their map and battle you for money and renown! The Spotpass feature allowed for more teams to face, extra weapons, and more! The co op mode allows you to partner with a friend to face strong teams for money and more renown. Finally, the DLC is well priced and offers everything from boosted XP to extra gold to classic characters such as Ike and Roy! Definetly worth checking out!

Overall, this game was very important to localization efforts, to Nintendo, and mostly to the Fire Emblem series. If it wasn;t for this game being a hit, the whole series might have disappeared. Now we have a Wii U crossover with Shin Megami Tensai to look forward to and maybe another 3DS game (PLEASE!) This game was a desperate Hail Mary pass....but it was caught....thank Naga.

 That's my FY13 top 10 favorites!!! I have a list of runner ups but there are wayyy too many....
ugh....okay. I'll mention them and give one sentence or else I will feel bad for not even trying...

THE REST!!!

Chibi-Robo! Photo Finder

Take Pictures and clean and compete against others in challenges and stuff!

Project X Zone

SEGA! CAPCOM! NAMCO BANDAI! ALL the Characters!!!!.....in a Strategy game!!!

Mario and DK: Minis on the Move

Mini Games! Sling toys! Puzzles! Extras! Ect!

HarmoKnight

A Rhythm Platformer made by the makers of Pokemon!!!! Pokemon Bonus Levels!!!

Urban Trial Freestyle

Platforming as a Dirt Bike that does tricks. So Awesome!!!!!

Coaster Creator 3D

Create roller coasters in 3D using the touch screen. Fluid gameplay. Earn people and things!!!!

Dillons Rolling Western: The Last Ranger

A bunch of rough animals in the wild west! Tower defense meets RPG!!!

Mighty Switch Force 2

Same 3D timing based platforming with switched. But now, put out fires!!!

Attack of the Friday Monsters

Lie to Kids while making them play rip off Pokemon cards and get attacked by aliens!! Japan!!!

Air Race Speed

Fast racing game! F-Zero until we actually get a 3DS F-Zero!!!

and Finally the best of the NON Top 10...an optional DLC update to Streetpass which actually can be bundled. The Streetpass Games!! This encompasses Mii Force, Flower Town, Warrior's Way, and Monster Manor! Developed by extremly talented groups. These games are side scrolling, micro managing, strategy based and puzzle filled. And Powered by the streetpass tags you obtain!

If you read this. Truly thank you for taking the time just to read someone's opinion. Hopefully our opinions and styles mesh and it influences you to give one of these games a try. Remember to keep an open mind and don't let reviews or the media make decisions for you. And as always...