10 3DS Games To Look Forward To In 2012

2011 saw the beginning of the 8th generation of gaming, with a brand new system called the 3DS being released. Simply by the virtue of being the successor to the awesome DS and being a Nintendo handeld, people had expectations of it that were almost impossible to meet. In the beginning, though, it looked like the 3DS would manage to do the impossible. Before it was announced, tons of impressive features were announced for it- an awesome analog pad, great online functionalities, excellent third party support and a great upcoming lineup.

When the 3DS did launch, however, everything wasn’t all daisy and sunshine. Everything was going wrong. The price, it seemed, was too high for people, the marketing for the system sucked, game releases were being pushed back and the 3DS either had only remakes and ports or no games at all. The online functions weren’t all up and running, and when the highly reasonable price tag for Vita was announced, everyone was pretty sure that the supremacy of Nintendo in the handheld market was coming to an end.

Nintendo being Nintendo, however, switched it around. The online functions are all up and running now, the eShop is great and varied, the price cut has helped the system’s sales greatly, and the system is getting one great game after another.

2012 seems to be a great year for the 3DS, unlike 2011. As mentioned above, everything’s fallen in line for Nintendo now, and things are finally going right with their new handheld- and the awesome lineup that was promised for the 3DS a few months before its launch is starting to draw close. There’re gonna be a lot of great releases for the 3DS in 2012.

So here are what we believe are going to be the ten must-buy games for all 3DS owners next year. Enjoy, and give us your feedback in the comments section below.

Luigi’s Mansion 2

Critics may not have been all over Luigi’s Mansion when it released as a Gamecube launch title all those years ago, but it is a fan favourite. And fans had been begging Nintendo to develop a sequel to it. When Luigi’s Mansion 2 was finally announced for the 3DS at E3 this year, everyone was overjoyed- the game looks great, implementing a lot of the functions and quirks that made the original so charming, full of personality and enjoyable. We haven’t seen much of Luigi’s Mansion 2 so far, but we sure hope that changes in the future.

Paper Mario 3DS

Super Paper Mario was another one of those IPs that had so much potential but Nintendo never developed- because the first game on the N64 was brilliant. Obviously, fans of the RPG genre and of the Mario franchise are looking forward to Paper Mario 3DS more than any other game on Nintendo’s new handheld. And for good reason, apparently. The game looks great, pure fun, utilizing the 3D functionalities of the 3DS too. It may not be the typical Final Fantasy-esque RPG, and it may not be a full fledged Mario platformer, but it’s still something that all 3DS owners would be very foolish to miss out on.

Monster Hunter 4

This was perhaps the most shocking announcement that was made for the 3DS in the entire year. Why, you ask? Because people usually associate Monster Hunter with the PSP. It was more or less dead, when Monster Hunter came along and sold like crazy and revitalized its hardware sales. To see that Sony let such an important franchise go over to Nintendo, who have already got the likes of Mario and Pokemon to sell their systems in millions, was a huge shocker. And the fact that the game releasing on the 3DS isn’t even a spinoff, rather a full fledged main sequel, is an even bigger astonishment. Anyhow, we’re really excited to see how the game will be, and if it’ll be as big a system seller on the 3DS as it was on the PSP.

Kid Icarus: Uprising

Kid Icarus: Uprising is probably one of the most anticipated 3DS titles. When it was delayed to a 2012 release earlier this year, we were really disappointed. But no harm done, because the game is almost here now. And it looks brilliant. Naysayers might hate on it for having no “blood and gore” and for being on-rails, but it’ll be the sensible 3DS owners who’ll be having tons of fun with this game- because it does look really fun. And coming from a studio like Project Sora, who boast of great talent, it’s hard not to be excited.

Resident Evil: Revelations

The Resident Evil franchise has been down in the dumps for a long time now, and it’s been some time since we last saw any sign of the franchise making progress on a new game. Resident Evil: Revelations on the 3DS looks very old school, reminiscent of the glory days of the franchise, and it looks more or horror and survival games than Resident Evil 4 and 5 could ever hope to be. It’s the game that all RE maniacs have been waiting for all these years. Mercenaries showed last year that the 3DS is more than capable of handling Resident Evil games, so we’re excited to see what Revelations has in store for us.