VVVVVV stars the strapping young Captain Viridian, who's on a quest to find the members of his space ship crew after they're scattered by an accident. It's also the handiwork of talented developer Yasumi Matsuno, whose previous games include Final Fantasy XII and another under-appreciated RPG, Vagrant Story. Though a bit on the short side, it offers an experience that's quite unlike anything available on the eShop. This unique hybrid blends gamebook-style storytelling, table-top RPG mechanics, and dice-rolling with more conventional digital JRPG gameplay a pretty brave mix. Level-5's Crimson Shroud doesn't get the attention it deserves. Steamworld Dig is definitely a must-play, as slamming a pick into the hard ground - and into enemies - is indescribably satisfying. This unforgettable action / adventure game puts you in the brass boots of Rusty, a steam-powered robot who digs, digs, and digs some more while he unravels some unsettling secrets his late uncle left behind.Īll that digging means you uproot tons of precious stones and gems, which can go back into upgrading Rusty. There's something cathartic about digging a hole, and oh boy, does Steamworld Dig ever give you a hole to pick your way through. Sonic now has access to the Spin Dash - a spin-out move that wasn't part of Sonic's repertoire until Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - and there's a stage select option that lets you leap past your most hated levels. Of course, M2 deserves a shout-out for the loving care it put into Sonic's 3DS port. It was worth playing on the Sega Genesis in 1991, and it's still worth playing on the Nintendo 3DS now. Sega's blue rodent hardly needs an introduction, and neither does his very first game. It also runs at twice the original game's speed (60 FPS versus 30 FPS) and has a host of additional features like difficulty settings and car customization options.
M2's excellent port of Out Run makes full use of the Nintendo 3DS's 3D functionality. Yu Suzuki's arcade classic from 1986 is still celebrated for simultaneously offering an intense challenge while letting players soak in the game's speed, soundtrack, bright visuals, and iconic characters.
3D Out Run ($5.99 USD)Īs you may well already know, Sega's Out Run isn't a racing game it's a driving game. BOXBOY! is quite different and very charming, more or less what you'd expect from HAL. It's that box-spawning ability that lets him vault over high walls, move across spiked pits, trigger traps, and defend against hazards. That's the premise driving BOXBOY!, a clever puzzle / platforming game from HAL Labs.īoxy little Qbby isn't very good at running or jumping, but he's a champ at spawning boxes from his own body (let's not think too hard about the biology behind this act). Part of being a hero is finding ways to surmount your problems in spite of your own limitations. The same push-and-pull mechanics that define Pushmo and Crashmo are present, but now there's a little horizontal stretching action as well. If you're already a fan of this excellent block-based puzzle series, then you're definitely going to want to pony up for more good times with Mallo. When Nintendo first entered the prickly territory of free-to-play games, the company stressed its offerings weren't going to be "free-to-play" so much as "free-to-start." That describes Stretchmo perfectly, as you get its opening tutorial levels for zero dollars and then decide if you want to pay up for more. Here are some examples, and keep in mind these are base prices you can find them even cheaper during a sale. The Nintendo 3DS eShop has a host of sweet titles that are under ten bucks.
One of the nicest things about the Nintendo 3DS is that you don't have to spend a lot of money to get quality games.