Wii U and 3DS: 10 games to catch up before it's too late

Wii U and 3DS

The preservation of software has always been a complicated and debated topic: consoles and games that disappear from the shelves in a short time, connections that become unusable with the progressive advancement of technology. It was thought - and we still hope - that online shops could mitigate this phenomenon; at the moment, the situation is quite different. Nintendo will definitively close the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS eShop starting from March 2023: after that date you will be able to re-download what you have already bought, but it will be impossible to make new purchases.

The date of March 2023, however, is not the only deadline to consider: the shutdown will in fact be gradual, and many options will be removed before that date. Starting from 23 May 2022, therefore in only three months, it will no longer be possible to use a credit card on the eShop. From 29 August 2022, however, the transfer of funds from eShop cards will also be blocked (in six months). Finally, from September 2022 to March 2023, it will be possible to buy titles online only through download codes (which can be purchased online).

In this article we avoid investigating the issue from broader perspectives, which we are committed to doing in future; given the urgency imposed by the timing, we recommend 10 exclusive games on eShop that you should try before it's too late.

The software present is in the order of thousands; thousands of titles that from March 2023 will no longer be available, so we invite you to search for what might interest you, as well as our advice: in the list we have privileged - we repeat - the exclusive eShops, but there are many valid works, difficult to physically find , which may interest you.

BOXBOY! (3DS)

BOXBOY !: the iconic protagonist of the game We wrote BOXBOY! in the title, but we refer to the entire trilogy, developed by HAL Laboratory (yes, the same software house as the upcoming Kirby and the Lost Land), and published online on the 3DS eShop between 2015 and 2017. After BOXBOY! BOXBOXBOY is out! , and finally BYE-BYE BOXBOY! (try saying them aloud if you can). These are 2D platformers with regular and essential graphics, in which the protagonist (square) has to commit more to think and multiply, to solve the puzzles, than to jump. There is a physical version of the title, exclusive to Japan, but it is essentially unavailable.

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (Wii U)

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3: compared to the original, this version has additional content Directed by Takashi Tezuka and Shigeru Miyamoto, Super Mario Bros. 3 (born in 1988) is one of the most acclaimed, sold and loved 2D platformers of all time: no wonder it comes continuously repurposed on any branch of the Virtual Console, not least the Nintendo Switch NES Online. This one that we present, however, is a particular version of the game: it is the one for the Game Boy Advance, including the additional content originally published as cards to be inserted in the e-Reader of the console. Given the rarity of the cards and peripherals, this is definitely the best way not to miss out on the little-known and hard-to-find content of one of the best games ever made.

Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale (3DS)

Attack of the Friday Monsters! In Tokyo Tale: the delicate graphics of the game This work dates back to 2013, was developed by Millennium Kitchen and produced by Level-5. It is a title with extremely simple mechanics, whose heart lies in the setting, in the story and in the narration, as well as in the splendid and blatantly Japanese visual aspect. As can be guessed from the title, it is an adventure set in Tokyo, and based on the solving of puzzles, during the 70s. The stories of the protagonist, Sota, are told with a lot of taste and delicacy. A kind of The Kids We Were, but with a more elegant graphic style, inspired by Miyazaki.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies (3DS)

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies is not a 3DS exclusive, because it was later released on iOS and Android as well; however, it is an exclusive console, available only online, which we recommend you download (especially if you are a lover of the saga). In this episode, you take control of three lawyers (Apollo Justice, Phoenix Wright and Athena Cikes), and try to prove the innocence of the various clients / defendants, fighting against injustice and corruption. You did not know the series, it is (as you may have guessed) a visual novel with a legal background.

Rhythm Hunter: HarmoKnight (3DS)

Rhythm Hunter: HarmoKnight: a pleasant digression from Pokémon for Game Freak The deviations of Game Freak from the world of Pokémon are quite rare, and we fear that in the future they may almost disappear; but that's not the only good reason to download Rhythm Hunter: HarmoKnight, released by Nintendo between 2012 and 2013 as an exclusive 3DS eShop. Directed by James Turner, one of the few Westerners featured in Game Freak, it is a fun rhythm-platformer where you control Tempo on his mission to save the planet Melodia. Scrolling is automatic, and the goal is to jump - and press buttons - with the right timing, in a visually well-thought-out world.

Affordable Space Adventures (Wii U)

Affordable Space Adventures: one of the games to make the most of the Wii U dual screen Released in 2015, the latest year full of Wii U releases, Affordable Space Adventures is an indie game, developed and published by Napnok Games. On the surface it doesn't look very original, in the sense that you control a spaceship (with side view) in an alien planet, exploring and solving puzzles in an unknown land. What makes Affordable Space Adventures advisable, in addition to its quality, is the uniqueness of the control system: a control system so tied to the characteristics of Wii U that we will hardly see it again elsewhere. In addition to moving the spaceship with the buttons, you have to manage various parameters through the touch screen: it is one of the few titles that has really exploited the particularities of the console, and it is also the reason, as already mentioned, why it is difficult to bring it to other platforms . If you loved Wii U and the idea behind the dual screen, unrepeatable on Switch, we recommend giving it a try.

Nintendo Pocket Football Club (3DS)

Nintendo Pocket Football Club : the retro graphics of the game Developed by ParityBit and published by Nintendo, Nintendo Pocket Football Club is a management game, in which you manage a football club. It was also published in a physical version, but its presence in this list is more than justified, since the package contained only a download code. It is a strange project with retro and minimal graphics, which we will hardly see again in the future: it is an essential approach to the genre, which aims at the maximum possible simplification, so as to involve - in theory - anyone who is fascinated by the idea but frightened by the tide of statistics, and options, of traditional managerial.

Dillon's Rolling Western (3DS)

Dillon's Rolling Western: Dillon, the wacky armadillo protagonist of the game Dillon's Rolling Western, now dating back ten years ago (2012, if you had arithmetic problems), is a game developed by Vanpool and published by Nintendo. It is a title that seems to come from a bygone era: polygonal graphics, bizarre protagonist (an anthropomorphic armadillo ranger), western setting, and mechanics that hybridize three-dimensional exploration and strategy (in detail, tower defense). The protagonist, Dillon, has also been included by Sakurai in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: give him a chance, before it's too late, because Vanpool doesn't seem willing to give him another chance at the moment.

Pullblox (3DS)

Pullblox: Mallo, the protagonist of the game Published by Nintendo in 2011, known as Pushmo in the United States and as Hikuosu in Japan, Pullblox is a very pleasant puzzle game developed by Intelligent Systems. In this game you play as Mallo, a clumsy sumo wrestler (or rather, aspiring one), and his goal is to rescue children trapped in structures erected with cubes. He has the ability to move these blocks a few positions, as well as climb on them, but only by one unit: the climb requires logic, not acrobatic skills. The progression is gradual, and well structured: it is one of the many cases in which Intelligent Systems has lived up to its name. We highly recommend it.

Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move (3DS)

Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move: A cool puzzle set Another 3D eShop exclusive, like the other titles in the Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move series, it was developed by the American NST (Nintendo Software Technology), recently engaged in the creation of the pleasant Bowser's Fury for Nintendo Switch. In Minis on the Move the player, through the touch screen, must move blocks in such a way as to favor the path of a "mini" (a mariesque-shaped device, but not only) so as to make him reach the star in one of the most of 180 puzzles featured in the game. It is a high-quality puzzle, in which there is also a secondary objective, namely the collection of coins along the path between the star and the beginning of the journey: an aspect that gives further structure to the challenges.

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