So I've just bought my first Nintendo system, a new 3DS.

With it I bought fire emblem and bravely default, but I also want to educate myself on whatever classics I missed from not owning a Nintendo system previously.

My brother had an N64 so I've played Ocarina of Time but that's it . And I'm not really interested in playing every entry in a series, just the best example ( e.g; not every Megaman game).

My list so far is The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros.

Any suggestions?

Super Mario World and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, also probably Super Metroid

Link's Awakening and Super Mario Bros. 3 are the best in their respective franchises (IMO)

Also, I actually do recommend playing all the NES Mega Man games...the best are Mega Man 2 and 3, but they're all good - even the first one.

Anything with the word Kirby on it.

Bravely Default is a bad game that actively hates it's players.

@alanm26v5: I had a look at Link to the Past but I think it's only available on the Wii systems.

That sucks, I heard it was a old school FF RPG.

@thenine: You should just play old school FF RPG's. And get the DS version of Chrono Trigger.

It is an alright FF up to the point where it tells you to fuck off.

Badum-tsss.

Without going into a diatribe on how Nintendo's Virtual Console is a terrible mess of missed opportunities, I always preferred Link's Awakening to the original.

@gaff: Link's Awakening is Link to the Past?

Don't let these Negative Nancies get you down, Bravely Default is alright. But yes, there is a very obvious point in the game where you've basically done everything of importance, but then they needlessly pad out the game with recycled boss fights for a silly story reason.

@thenine: Sorry, misunderstood your original question. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is probably the best Zelda game you can play on a 3DS.

Don't waste your dough on virtual console NES games. Lots of graphical glitches meant to be disguised by the overscan overstretch of old school TV sets.

On the eshop, there's a great puzzle game called Pushmo.

On cartridge there is Super Paper Mario (beginners RPG where the battle system is jumping on heads like Mario Bros.), Animal Crossing, the best Mario game is Mario 3D Land, the best Zelda game is Link Between Worlds.

For original DS games to play on 3DS, Mario Kart DS is the best racing game. Those brain Age training games with Sudoku are pretty great, too.

Non Nintendo DS/3DS games worth playing: 999, Dragon Quest 9, Etrian Odyssey: Millennium Girl, Ghost Trick, Final Fantasy Theatrhythm, Persona Q, Phoenix Wright Trilogy, Phoenix Wright Dual Destinies, Rhythm Heaven, Shin Megami Tensei 4, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked, The World Ends With You, Virtue's Last Reward (sequel to 999).

Shin Megami Tensei IV if you wanna get hardcore

@alanm26v5: @beachthunder: @believer258: @gaff: @bisonhero: @alanm26v5: @rachelepithet: @corevi: @frostyryan: Thanks for the suggestions.

I've got a pretty decent list now to add to my increasing steam backlog...

I'm gonna say that if you're only gonna play one Professor Layton game than play the original Curious Village. It might be hard to find now, though I was driving through a small town last summer, stopped at Walmart and found it new. It had clearly sat there for five years. They also had Picross 3D. It was like going back in time.

People seem to dislike Mario Kart 7, so maybe Mario Kart DS is the way to go for the Mario Kart series. Not sure what older versions they got in the eShop.

The pushmo / crashmo puzzle games.

I really liked the Resident Evil Revelations game on the 3DS.

Also Shovel Knight is almost mandatory imo.

From what I understand it's the sequel to LTTP.

KID

ICARUS

UPRISING

Super Mario 3D Land and Zelda A link between worlds are must own titles as far as new titles are concerned. As for Nintendo classics, well they've really dropped the ball on that. There's no SNES games on the eShop, its pretty fucking lame. Otherwise I'd have a mad list for you lol.

I'd also recommend buying up old DS games as they are cheaper and if you didn't have a DS there's heaps of classics. Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow and GTA Chinatown Wars are pretty good.

Be wary of NES classic games on the virtual console. Try to find out how they play first. As an example, Super Mario Bros 3 is there but the button config is really dumb with using B to run and A to jump. It's an awkward angle.. It should be B to run and Y to jump. You can't change the configuration either. Big mistake on Nintendo's part there.

The Sega 3D classic range is pretty good. Ecco the Dolphin 3D is fucking awesome!

Pokemon X/Y or ORAS, Super Mario 3D Land, Smash Bros, Mario Kart, Majora's Mask 3D, Star Fox 64 3D, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D. Should note that if you can get on Club Nintendo, some of those games are available from there, provided you have enough coins.

Mario Kart 7.Mario 3D Land is supposed to be pretty good too. (I bought I just haven't played it yet.

Super Mario 3D Land, Animal Crossing" New Leaf, Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Ridge Racer 3D, and Super Smash Bros. for 3DS to name a few.

Don't let the haters discourage you, Bravely Default is the fucking BOMB (and my third favorite game of last year). I'd say that 60+ hours of some of the best JRPG in years is well worth an extra 5 hours of slog at the end that is 95% optional. It sounds like they are taking a lot of the criticisms to heart for the sequel as well, so you'll definitely want to be caught up when that comes around.

Also Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate just came out and it's fantastic and apparently looks significantly better on the N3DS. I'd also recommend Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Fantasy Life, and some downloadables: Pushmo, Crashmo, Crimson Shroud, HarmoKnight, and Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale.

@starvinggamer: Yeah, that's what I'm wondering about the usual criticism of Bravely Default. I'm thinking about getting it at some point, but does the boss rush really ruin the rest of the game?

As much as I liked A Link Between Worlds I'd put Link's Awakening and the N64 Zeldas ahead of it. The Oracle games and Phantom Hourglass are worth playing as well. The two NES Zeldas are also playable on 3DS, they are tricky to recommend because they are the most dated, but may have archaeological worth to players who don't have nostalgia for them. The only Zelda game I'd recommend you outright skip is Spirit Tracks.

There isn't a game I can suggest more than The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.

I'm actually curious about this, i'm not trying to defend it, I beat it and was entirely lukewarm about it, but what stems from the "hating it's players" part?

Does it have something to do with the complete and utter bullshit crystal mini game that you have do like, 24 times and the constant recycling boss battles ?

Because I actually was really enjoying the game until I realised that is what that game really is, but would you define that as hating it's players?

I don't think so because A) if you're a player like me that loves the battle system, they remix and re-remix the encounters in fun ways to make them gradually more challenging and B) if you aren't into it you can skip almost all of that stuff. And again, it's like a 60 hour game even if you aren't doing a bunch of the side stuff. It's not like the 55 hours of awesome somehow retroactively get removed from your life-experience because it's capped off with 4 hours of meh (then another hour of awesome).

I really wish I could recommend Kid Icarus Uprising, but still, I don't think that second joystick will do anything. Shame, as there's a really good game in there, past the bad control.

You should get Link Between Worlds. Luigi's Mansion and 3D Land if you like 3D platformers at all

As already expressed, don't get any NES games. They look and play far better on the Wii/Wii U, or it'd be more worth it to go buy the carts and something that will play them. You should however get some Game Boy games.

Super Mario Land 1 & 2. The Wario Land games. The Game & Watch Gallery games. Kirby's Dream Land 1 & 2. Link's Awakening and to a lesser degree the Oracle games. Kid Icarus Myths & Monsters is enjoyable if you're willing to abuse restore points. Mega Man V. I'd also say the Game Gear Shinobi is the best Game Gear game available and you should get it if you're capable of enjoying a good 8-bit ninja game.

I'd get Rusty's Real Deal Baseball because it's really charming and I think you get a sizable chunk of it for free right off the bat (ahem). The 3D Classics line are good ways to play NES games as opposed to 3DS Virtual Console NES games. Steamworld Dig is a really good game, though you might have access to it on other platforms.

Animal Crossing New Leaf was a great entry point into the series as far as I was concerned but you might be too late to that party. I enjoyed the 3DS version of Sonic Generations a lot. I've logged like almost 40 hours on it. The Ace Attorney games are all excellent. Castlevania maybe Pokemon maybe. That's all I got.

If you've never played a Pokemon game before then I'd certainly recommend one of them, Pokemon X/Y or Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire are as good a place as any to start.

I'd recommend the Professor Layton games if you like puzzles, I find them really charming. The order doesn't matter much apart from for the final game. The series is split into 2 trilogies so I'd recommend starting at the beginning of either of them, so eitherThe Curious Village or The Spectres Call.

999 and Virtues Last Reward are excellent if you're looking for something a bit darker, they're visual novels with puzzles in them. If you're gonna play these, I'd say play 999 first since the end of VLR gives some spoilers for 999. Also there's a save-breaking bug in 3DS version of VLR, its easily avoidable but if you do get the game google how to avoid that first.

Mariokart 7 and Super Smash Bros 3DS are real fun, imo they aren't quite as good as their console counterparts but they're certainly well worth your time especially if you've never played anything in these series.

It's hard to recommend stuff really, there have been SO MANY amazing games on nintendo platforms and like with any other games you'll find some are to your taste and some really aren't.

Pushmo/Pullblox

Pokemon ORAS. XY was amazing when it came out, but the remakes are objectively better.

Fantasy Life is just really fun and chill. Need to get back into that...

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. Make sure to get the v1.1 patch though, which fixes a few bugs (one of them which is apparently a game-breaking one near the end of the story).

I just bought a N3DS as well and just purchased a "Eh" game like Project X Zone and just invested in Monster Hunter 4U(can't play it until later this week :[)

So Bravely Default does have a demo on the eshop if you want to give it a shot without risking your wallet. Personally as a guy that likes old school FF, I'm mixed on it so far.

I said Kid Icarus Uprising before, but I'm going to say it again, because nobody else seems to be. Maybe it isn't as well-liked as I thought, but god if that wasn't one of the best games I played in 2012. Just a joy from start to finish. It's fun.