For the longest time, a Nintendo generation meant one console and one handheld. The Game Boy alongside the NES. The Game Boy Advance next to the GameCube. The Nintendo DS and the Wii. In the Switch, Nintendo combined console and handheld into one, seemingly ending the need for a traditional mobile Nintendo system. But the company’s last true handheld, the 3DS, is absolutely still worth owning, even in 2022. If you don’t have one, you should buy one.
The 3DS, like the Wii U, holds a special place in my Nintendo fanboy heart. I was SO excited when the system was announced back in 2010. The screen-based 3D sounded cool (and, also, impossible), but I was most excited about three things; the analog circle pad, the widescreen display, and the upgraded graphics over the Nintendo DS.
When the system launched the following year, things didn’t seem as rosy. The 3DS itself was awesome; the apps included out of the box were fun tech demos that showed off the 3D effects, AR (Face Raiders, anyone?), and other new bells and whistles. Aside from the incredible remake of Ocarina of Time, however, the library was pitiful. Nintendo sold so few of the things at launch that those of us who had spent the enormous $250 entry fee were awarded as “Nintendo Ambassadors,” gaining access to a small collection of virtual GBA and NES titles.
Of course, that’s not where the story ended. As the games started rolling out, the fans came rolling in. Sales spiked, and as Nintendo released multiple different models of the 3DS, it managed to raise the sinking ship, eventually moving some 75 million of the things. These days, the handheld is discontinued, but both the system and its games deserve to be played, even 5 years into the Switch’s reign. Here’s why you should totally get one.