StarTopic Wii U and 3DS Virtual Console Essential Purchases and Discussion Thread - (Update: Wii U /3DS eShops Officially Closed)

[xghost777]

Can anyone talk me in/out my remaining potential 3DS list please?

Nintendogs

Fire Emblem Echos

Ever Oasis

Mario Party Top 100

Pokémon Crystal

Kirby’s Blowout Blast

Bye Bye Boxboy

3D classics Urban Champion

Buy BoxBoy for sure! Those games are awesome!

 

[crazillo]

Wanted to say that a bunch of games have demos on both 3DS and Wii U. If you are on the fence for many of these titles, perhaps give their demos a try first. I decided against Warioware games for the asking price, for instance. I was surprised to find so many demos, especially on 3DS, they definitely were much more common back in the day! Many videos did mention the existence of demos, but I wasn't quite aware how widespread they were.

Here's an Excel list to filter for demos:
List

A tough few final decisions for me ahead!

 

[TheMoon]

Buy BoxBoy for sure! Those games are awesome!

I mean it's literally called Buy Buy Box Boy

 

[woodhead]

Wanted to say that a bunch of games have demos on both 3DS and Wii U. If you are on the fence for many of these titles, perhaps give their demos a try first. I decided against Warioware games for the asking price, for instance. I was surprised so find so many demos, especially on 3DS, they definitely were much more common back in the day! Many videos did mention the existence of demos, but I wasn't quite aware how widespread they were.

Here's an Excel list to filter for demos:
List

A tough few final decisions for me ahead!

To me it seems there are also many Demos on the Switch eShop

 

[xghost777]

Just fired up Pokémon Bank for the first time. Looks like you need a sub before you can even get to the menu option to download Transporter.

Appreciate this post. This was the very last thing I had to check and I kept putting it off. Just have to be strong and don’t last minute panic buy anything lol.

 

[GoedHeiligMan]

What's the chance that SMT: Apocalypse will come to modern systems in the near future?

 

[Linkstrikesback]

What's the chance that SMT: Apocalypse will come to modern systems in the near future?

Unlikely. Slightly better than 0 because they've ported some 3DS games with the Etrian odyssey upcoming release, but I wouldn't expect it soon.

 

[GoedHeiligMan]

Goddamn, sounds like I have no choice

 

[Symtendo]

Thanks all! I think I’ve narrowed down what I’m going to get (waiting a few days for the very slim chance that there are some discounts

Paper Mario: Colour Splash
Fire Emblem Echos
Pokémon Diamond
Bye Bye Box Boy

If there’s a sale, I might get a few other things but that’s about it I think

 

[TheMoon]

Thanks all! I think I’ve narrowed down what I’m going to get (waiting a few days for the very slim chance that there are some discounts

Paper Mario: Colour Splash
Fire Emblem Echos
Pokémon Diamond
Bye Bye Box Boy

If there’s a sale, I might get a few other things but that’s about it I think

nintendo will not put anything on sale. especially not for less than a full week. none of these games you listed will get discounted, that is 100% certain.

 

[Symtendo]

nintendo will not put anything on sale. especially not for less than a full week. none of these games you listed will get discounted.

Oh, I know that, but can’t quite pull the trigger just yet just in case

 

[Barely Able]

Thanks all! I think I’ve narrowed down what I’m going to get (waiting a few days for the very slim chance that there are some discounts

Paper Mario: Colour Splash
Fire Emblem Echos
Pokémon Diamond
Bye Bye Box Boy

If there’s a sale, I might get a few other things but that’s about it I think

Diamond was a DS game. Do you mean ORAS?

 

[Yoshifan31]

Goddamn, sounds like I have no choice

It depends of your definition of the near future but the games have been featured in their surveys multiple times now, it’s baby steps but the ports have been coming lately. If they are porting games that actually used the dual screen meaningfully they can definitely port both SMTIV games eventually. I could see them hitting modern platforms in the next two years, if you have a backlog you can definitely wait. While there’s technically bang for your buck there I really wouldn’t pay full price for a game that reuses so much content from SMTIV

 

[Linkstrikesback]

It depends of your definition of the near future but the games have been featured in their surveys multiple times now, it’s baby steps but the ports have been coming lately. If they are porting games that actually used the dual screen meaningfully they can definitely port both SMTIV games eventually. I could see them hitting modern platforms in the next two years, if you have a backlog you can definitely wait. While there’s technically bang for your buck there I really wouldn’t pay full price for a game that reuses so much content from SMTIV

"Full price" is a bit misleading, since IVApocolypse is a discount title anyway. If it gets ported, it'll probably be $50/equivalent like the SMTIII remaster which has only barely gone below the price that IVA is at right now.

 

[Weebos]

Since SMT4 Apocalypse is a whole-ass sequel rather than a Golden/Royal style remake, I do think it's slightly less likely to get a port one day.

The thing in it's favor is that it uses almost all of the same assets as SMT4, so they might as well do both when they eventually port SMT4 elsewhere.

Will either of those happen soon? I don't necessarily think so, but maybe. It's been long enough since SM3 remastered and SMT5 that they could have something cooking.

 

[Kitty Paws]

skip
All the other Art Style games, including the fan-favorite Pictobits.

I didn't know the developer who made those was literally named skip, and I spent an embarrassing amount of time wondering why someone would dislike the Art Style games so much that they would suggest to skip specifically that series in a recommendation post.

Also! Ditto on Spotto and Trajectile!

Other titles that people may want to look into that I don't see mentioned often:

Style Savvy: Styling Star (eShop only release in North America, basically a dress-up game but let me tell you it is FANTASTIC at what it does, with a ridiculously large amount of clothes, hairstyles, and make-up options to choose from. and it even has a fun idol side story with songs and all!)

The Denpa Men (quirky RPG with combat similar to Dragon Quest)

Creeping Terror (survival horror)

Radio Hammer (rhythm game)

 

[Yoshifan31]

"Full price" is a bit misleading, since IVApocolypse is a discount title anyway. If it gets ported, it'll probably be $50/equivalent like the SMTIII remaster which has only barely gone below the price that IVA is at right now.

Huh thought it was full price as a 3DS game but it’s actually 30$ US instead of 40. I know the last few Atlus games are 40$

I feel like a potential remaster would include both games for that price, might get a few improvements as well. Apocalypse is honestly one of the most unnecessary sequels ever (it makes FFX-2 and TOS: DOTNW look like masterpieces) but that’s another topic, I just think that regardless of when a port would be made and how low the price on sale will be, you would get the max enjoyment for that game the longer the wait is between when you play it vs when you played SMTIV. Like out of all undiscounted 3DS games that will be unavailable next week that one is super skippable and actually has the possibility of getting remastered, meanwhile there are several games that fully use the hardware that we probably won’t see for the next decade at least. Unless you’re absolutely itching to play it right now, in this situation the priority should be on games that have much lower chances of getting ported

 

[Barely Able]

I didn't know the developer who made those was literally named skip, and I spent an embarrassing amount of time wondering why someone would dislike the Art Style games so much that they would suggest to skip specifically that series in a recommendation post.

lol! Reminds me of when Wario64 posts sales of games from the publisher “Sold Out” and people think the games were gone by the time they checked Amazon.

Huh thought it was full price as a 3DS game but it’s actually 30$ US instead of 40. I know the last few Atlus games are 40$

I think Apocalypse was $50 at launch. Atlus put a premium on a few of their games, which isn’t unreasonable based on the amount of content.

 

[Linkstrikesback]

Huh thought it was full price as a 3DS game but it’s actually 30$ US instead of 40. I know the last few Atlus games are 40$

It was full priced to begin with; it got a permenant discount at some point to what it's at that now. So while it's not an explicit sale, it is less than what it started as.

 

[Koren Lesthe]

If I have ONE game to recommand to everybody on Famiboards, it is...

AlphaBounce on the DSiWare.

The game is a breakout clone... BUT it is also a Sci-Fi RPG with a gigantic space map, side-quests, upgrades, ships and other stuffs to obtain.
AND, it is made by Motion Twin. Yes, the studio behind Dead Cells.

Interrested ? Well you gotta go fast to get it.

Currently, I cannot for the love of me emulate the thing (my 3DS is dead, rest in sauce) on melonDS with the DSi files & stuff and I don't think anyone managed to launch the game on any emulators.

There is an official 2007 web version of the game, but it is a nightmare just to stay connected to the game (it is so badly done that Google refuse to register with your Gmail credentials).

So when the 3DS Shop closes, the game will be forever lost.

 

[DecoReturns]

You need to link your NNID (the Wii U and 3DS account system) with your Nintendo Account (the switch and webpage account system). Then funds for the NA account wallet can be used on the 3DS. So say you added money to the switch, you could use it on 3DS. The actusl 3DS native ability was closed last year. Link is below on how to do it. You can also buy 3DS games with a credit card form the Nintendo webpage. This is US, but assume other regions have directions.

Nintendo Support: How to Link a Nintendo Network ID to a Nintendo Account

en-americas-support.nintendo.com

I’m trying to figure it out. But I don’t see any option to edit like the directions say. I think I’m screwed in the end. It only says to unlink and I don’t want to risk doing something dumb

Bummer. But at least I used the rest of the balance I had. Won’t be able to buy anything else tho.

 

[DecoReturns]

I think I see the problem.

I already linked my account with my Wii U and my OG 3DS that I lost long ago. And created a new one when I got a NEW 3DS later. Dang it, I think I screwed up big time.

 

[ezr__]

If I have ONE game to recommand to everybody on Famiboards, it is...

AlphaBounce on the DSiWare.

The game is a breakout clone... BUT it is also a Sci-Fi RPG with a gigantic space map, side-quests, upgrades, ships and other stuffs to obtain.
AND, it is made by Motion Twin. Yes, the studio behind Dead Cells.

Interrested ? Well you gotta go fast to get it.

Currently, I cannot for the love of me emulate the thing (my 3DS is dead, rest in sauce) on melonDS with the DSi files & stuff and I don't think anyone managed to launch the game on any emulators.

There is an official 2007 web version of the game, but it is a nightmare just to stay connected to the game (it is so badly done that Google refuse to register with your Gmail credentials).

So when the 3DS Shop closes, the game will be forever lost.

I believe the game is delisted, I searched it on the US eshop and I only got the video trailer.

 

[julian]

I think I see the problem.

I already linked my account with my Wii U and my OG 3DS that I lost long ago. And created a new one when I got a NEW 3DS later. Dang it, I think I screwed up big time.

Are you in a country with decent Nintendo support? Call them first thing if so. They should be able to delink the old system.

 

[DecoReturns]

Are you in a country with decent Nintendo support? Call them first thing if so. They should be able to delink the old system.

Don’t think I even made an ID on my 3DS. Can’t find it anywhere. Only have an option to link or create on the menu.

But even then, I don’t know if I’ll be able to get it fix in time now.

 

[39Subrosia]

Went with Mario Golf World Tour DLC, and the Pokémon Ranger games for my last purchases. I wanted to get Zack & Wiki too since it's so cheap, but you can only choose certain amounts when adding funds and I didn't feel like adding money a second time. Maybe if I still want it closer to the end.

Didn't go all out with buying games I was still interested in because I wanted to limit it to stuff that made sense to buy, and I already have a huge 3DS backlog from buying a lot of Atlus games when they were on sale a year ago.

 

[Gingerbread Man]

I didn't know the developer who made those was literally named skip, and I spent an embarrassing amount of time wondering why someone would dislike the Art Style games so much that they would suggest to skip specifically that series in a recommendation post.

Also! Ditto on Spotto and Trajectile!

Japanese Wikipedia says their name is a pun. スキップする様な楽しいゲームを作る = "Create a fun game that makes you want to skip", where "スキップ" (sukippu) also means "to jump lightly and cheerfully with a skipping motion" (according to DeepL and ChatGPT at least, I don't know Japanese).

I love everything skip except the 3DS Chibi Robo games and I wouldn't suggest anyone skip their games. I even own an original copy of Captain Rainbow, bought at launch from YesAsia!

 

[thoughthaver]

are prices really spiking on physical copies or will that happen after the 27th? cuz im looking at the stuff that im interested in and it's holding steady at 40.

 

[Barely Able]

are prices really spiking on physical copies or will that happen after the 27th? cuz im looking at the stuff that im interested in and it's holding steady at 40.

Depends on the games. Fortunately, the older titles had Nintendo Select lines (and most Wii U games beside Color Splash and Twilight Princess). For NTSC region (outside Japan and Korea) had these international releases. Essentially these were SEA/ME releases (even branded as Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, UAE) that work on the same format as North America. They helped stabilize the market in some ways because third party sellers were flooding the NA markets with those. So basically discounted rereleases and international versions that work in the US helped to keep some physical prices low for games that had decent print runs.

 

[thoughthaver]

Depends on the games. Fortunately, the older titles had Nintendo Select lines (and most Wii U games beside Color Splash and Twilight Princess). For NTSC region (outside Japan and Korea) had these international releases. Essentially these were SEA/ME releases (even branded as Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, UAE) that work on the same format as North America. They helped stabilize the market in some ways because third party sellers were flooding the NA markets with those. So basically discounted rereleases and international versions that work in the US helped to keep some physical prices low for games that had decent print runs.

the last couple of titles I'm interested in are
fossil fighters, planet robobot, fe echoes, dq7 and bowser's inside story. just from a cursory glance through ebay everything but dq7 and bis seem to be holding at 40. should I just hold off on the first three or do you think the physical resellers will jack up the prices on everything post shutdown?

 

[scamander]

Good to know. I thought about buying world tour but now I‘m not sure anymore

Just, so you know- multiple people have confirmed they fixed the problem.

 

[Barely Able]

the last couple of titles I'm interested in are
fossil fighters, planet robobot, fe echoes, dq7 and bowser's inside story. just from a cursory glance through ebay everything but dq7 and bis seem to be holding at 40. should I just hold off on the first three or do you think the physical resellers will jack up the prices on everything post shutdown?

I could see some of the games going up quickly mainly because I think the more nefarious resellers will try to prey on the lack of a digital option. I do think that there probably hasn’t been a ton of movement on these titles though in a long time though. I haven’t kept too much of a look on physical games but a lot haven’t gone up recently and you would think physical collectors would be looking to get games over the past year driving up price as demand is increased. And who knows how the economy might influence things over the next year.

 

[Koren Lesthe]

I believe the game is delisted, I searched it on the US eshop and I only got the video trailer.

Urgh... this sucks !

 

[Derachi]

Ok so I’m an optimist so I’m going to assume the best

Altus doesn’t want to put their games on sale because they don’t want people panic buying on-sale 3DS versions of SMT4/SMT4A because they’re making Switch versions of ’em and don’t want people to buy them at like 5 bucks and then NOT buy them on Switch for way more

That has to be it, right? Right??

 

[GoedHeiligMan]

I believe the game is delisted, I searched it on the US eshop and I only got the video trailer.

Couldn't find it in the EU Eshop, not even a trailer.

 

[scamander]

Guys, between Punch-Out!! (Wii) and Sin & Punishment 2, which one would you take as your last Wii U purchase? I have no experiences what so ever with both franchises and I suck at shooters, but S&P 2 is so highly regarded and will probably not be re-released for a long time, that I think about getting it, just to be safe. Punch-Out on the other hand doesn't look like it has much content, but is supposedly a really fun game. I can't decide...sigh

 

[Barely Able]

Ok so I’m an optimist so I’m going to assume the best

Altus doesn’t want to put their games on sale because they don’t want people panic buying on-sale 3DS versions of SMT4/SMT4A because they’re making Switch versions of ’em and don’t want people to buy them at like 5 bucks and then NOT buy them on Switch for way more

That has to be it, right? Right??

Keep telling yourself that! Today is the day for the sale I hope!

 

[Barely Able]

Guys, between Punch-Out!! (Wii) and Sin & Punishment 2, which one would you take as your last Wii U purchase? I have no experiences what so ever with both franchises and I suck at shooters, but S&P 2 is so highly regarded and will probably not be re-released for a long time, that I think about getting it, just to be safe. Punch-Out on the other hand doesn't look like it has much content, but is supposedly a really fun game. I can't decide...sigh

I would go with sun and punishment myself. As you said, unlikely to get any more games in this franchise for a while and control scheme is totally unique to Wii (they could do gyro easily enough though). I think you will find it’s not too difficult to control if you played other rails shooters on Wii. Both are more arcade like experiences with score chasing and replayability being big selling points. If you have a balance board though, you can play punch out with that which is ridiculous.

 

[Kingpin722]

I'm actually going to make a real effort to buy up some of these games bc while i have a PC that can easily emulate, I really value the respective dual screen experiences that the Wii U and 3DS offer to their games as much as the improved graphics options through emulation. There's nothing like being able to play certain games in that form factor.

I've been fortunate to catch a lot of sales on 3DS over the last year. Wii U I'm kind of hesitant bc Nintendo has made a real effort bringing so much from there to Switch. Also finding physical Wii U games is much easier than 3DS.

 

[julian]

Wow. So seems Badge Arcade isn’t doing the two free daily pulls today nor are they offering a theme or badges if you spend money. Never seen that and I’ve played it frequently for years.

 

[woodhead]

Guys, between Punch-Out!! (Wii) and Sin & Punishment 2, which one would you take as your last Wii U purchase? I have no experiences what so ever with both franchises and I suck at shooters, but S&P 2 is so highly regarded and will probably not be re-released for a long time, that I think about getting it, just to be safe. Punch-Out on the other hand doesn't look like it has much content, but is supposedly a really fun game. I can't decide...sigh

Sin & Punishment just because it looks more fun to me (already bought it a few months ago, it is fun, haha). But I also thought about buying Punch Out but I'm still not sure

 

[Barely Able]

Wow. So seems Badge Arcade isn’t doing the two free daily pulls today nor are they offering a theme or badges if you spend money. Never seen that and I’ve played it frequently for years.

That’s not good. Luckily I got everything I wanted out of it (mostly the cool icon badges for things like the eshop and Mii plaza). Would be hard to get everything in a set without paying a few bucks though.

 

[scamander]

Great, thanks for your input! I'll buy Sin & Punishment 2 first and will get Punch-Out in case my copy of Mario Golf doesn't arrive in time for me to get the DLC.

 

[EricTheGamerman]

I think I've narrowed down all my real interest to the following:

• Mario Golf World Tour DLC
• Pushmo, Crashmo, Stretcmo, and Pushmo World (I really these and think they're super unique, so I'm super tempted to pick them all up as a nice collection)
• Box Boy 3DS Games - Again, really unique series for $15 total
• Affordable Space Adventures - Was super hoping the developers would do us a solid and throw it on sale
• Rhythm Heaven Megamix - I love the DS game, need this one badly
• 3D Classics Kid Icarus and Kirby's Adventure to have the definitive versions of those games
• Pokemon Crystal - Stupid stupid stupid Celebi lol.

 

[Fercho]

So this is it, not with a bang but with a whimper, only Capcom put some last minutes sales, no other company did, so disappointing

I'm thinking in adding another $100 USD to my account in order to get everything I want, some questions:

Of the ATLUS RPGs, what are a most buy? (I already have SMT IV - Vanilla Version)

I'm planning to grab Apocalypse, but what else should I grab?

 

[PK_Wonder]

Anybody else absolutely going to procrastinate/second guess if you will actually play the games past the “too late” point, even though your 3DS is just feet away from you and already has some funds in the eShop?

 

[Linkstrikesback]

So this is it, not with a bang but with a whimper, only Capcom put some last minutes sales, no other company did, so disappointing

I'm thinking in adding another $100 USD to my account in order to get everything I want, some questions:

Of the ATLUS RPGs, what are a most buy? (I already have SMT IV - Vanilla Version)

I'm planning to grab Apocalypse, but what else should I grab?

Of the Atlus rpgs, Radiant Historia is a standout by far. It's also among the least likely to be ported anywhere.

I'm also a big fan of Devil survivor overclocked and Devil survivor 2.

 

[Fercho]

Of the Atlus rpgs, Radiant Historia is a standout by far. It's also among the least likely to be ported anywhere.

I'm also a big fan of Devil survivor overclocked and Devil survivor 2.

Ok will get those, many thanks.

Any other that people may want to recommend?

 

[Barely Able]

I think I've narrowed down all my real interest to the following:

• Mario Golf World Tour DLC
• Pushmo, Crashmo, Stretcmo, and Pushmo World (I really these and think they're super unique, so I'm super tempted to pick them all up as a nice collection)
• Box Boy 3DS Games - Again, really unique series for $15 total
• Affordable Space Adventures - Was super hoping the developers would do us a solid and throw it on sale
• Rhythm Heaven Megamix - I love the DS game, need this one badly
• 3D Classics Kid Icarus and Kirby's Adventure to have the definitive versions of those games
• Pokemon Crystal - Stupid stupid stupid Celebi lol.

All good choices and agree. The pushmo and box boy entries all have different enough mechanics to make them all worth getting even if the general gameplay conceit is the same throughout each series.

 

[Barely Able]

With the new sonic origins collection announcement, you won’t need to get a chunk of game gear games last minute. This knocks about half of the games available off the list of potentially disappearing forever. Some of these also weren’t even in 3DS VC.