Image courtesy of Kansas City Star
The wait for Nintendo’s newest handheld is almost over for us Yanks. During the recent lauch in Japan, 400,000 units were sold as the 3DS sold out almost instantly. The Internets seem to be split on the 3DS launch line up, and whether the games are compelling. What titles have past Nintendo handhelds launched with?
Game Boy
-Alleyway
-Baseball
-Super Mario Land
-Tennis
-Tetris
Game Boy may have only lanched with five titles but Tetris was a free pack in and many people bought a Game Boy just for the game. Super Mario Land was no slouch either as, even though it was a launch title for the handheld, it is still one of the systems best titles to date.
Game Boy Color
-Centipede
-Game and Watch Gallery 2
-Tetris DX
-Pocket Bomberman
Game Boy Color is to Game Boy Advance as DSi is to 3DS. The Game Boy Color was really just a stop-gap until the Game Boy Advance was released 3 years later. The system did eventually get some great titles such as Pokemon Gold/Silver and Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Ages, but the launch was nothing to write home about. Luckily the console was completely backwards compatible with original Game Boy games and even added a few shades of color to them!
Game Boy Advance
-Army Men Advance
-ChuChu Rocket!
-Dodge Ball Advance
-F-Zero: Maximum Velocity
-Fire Pro Wrestling
-Fortress
-High Heat Major League Baseball 2002
-Iridion 3-D
-Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure
-Rayman
-Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2
-Super Mario Advance
-Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
-Top Gear GT Championship
-Tweety and the Magic Jewel
The Game Boy Advance by far has had the best launch of any Nintendo handheld thus far. There was something for just about everyone and help to show everyone exactly what the handheld was capable of.
Nintendo DS
-Asphalt Urban GT
-Feel the Magic: XY/XX
-Madden NFL 2005
-Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits
-Ping Pals
-Ridge Racer DS
-Spider-Man 2
-Sprung
-Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt
-Super Mario 64 DS
-The Urbz: Sims in the City
-Tiger Woods PGA Tour
Developers were still figuring out what to do with all the features of the DS with most of the systems launch titles, and that’s why most of the games either had you blowing in the mic or doing awkward touch screen gestures such as turning a steering wheel. Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt was a pack in title for the system, and was more a tech demo than an actual game. Amongst the standout titles were Super Mario 64 DS and Feel the Magic: XY/XX.
Where would you rank the 3DS launch among Nintendo’s finest?
