The 3DS is the greatest handheld of all time
| 3 min read
During my recent trip to China, I packed as light as I possibly could. We had 2 kids to manage, and I knew I'd be returning with a bike, so extra roller bags or check-in luggage were out of the question. I knew in the evenings and on my return flight I'd have downtime, so I wanted some sort of gaming system to keep myself busy. Both the Switch and Steam Deck were out of the question, with their large, bulky sizes.
You can fit a 3DS XL and a GBA SP in a Switch 2!
The console I chose was my New Nintendo 3DS XL. I originally bought the system at a Target sometime around 2015/2016. At the time, I mostly bought it to play Xenoblade Chronicles, as I loved Xenoblade X on the Wii U, and it blew my mind this little handheld could run a Xenoblade game. Since then, the 3DS is still my most used handheld, typically occupying a pocket in my bag.
What can I say, I like Pokemon!
There's a number of reasons I love this console so much. Most obvious of course is the game library. The 3DS had a huge list of hits, including 3 generations of mainline Pokemon games, Zelda A Link Between Worlds, Metroid Samus Returns, Super Mario 3D Land, Dragon Quest 8 and Mario Kart 7 (just to name a few). Then you add in the original DS library, which is even more packed with hits!
But it doesn't stop at DS games! Thanks to the Virtual Console, you have access to Nintendo's entire retro library. NES, SNES, GBC and GBA. With GBA games they even run natively thanks to the 3DS including a GBA CPU.
Finally you have some of the best games on N64 ported over to the DS/3DS. Star Fox, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Mario 64 and Perfect Dark (thanks to homebrew).
A few lifetimes worth of incredible games, in a pocketable console with an excellent battery life and great controls is hard to beat!
The system itself is pretty nifty as well. Of course the dual screens are great, and something that can't be properly replicated on most modern devices. The 3D effect (in my opinion) is awesome and used really well in games like Super Mario 3D Land. The head-tracking added on the New 3DS makes the 3D even better.
Pokemon gen-2 theme on my homescreen
Even the 3DS operating system is great. You can heavily customize the homescreen with themes and folders, making the device feel much more your own versus the Switch, which only offers generic dark and light themes.
If you're at all into gaming, I highly recommend picking up a New 3DS. Thanks to homebrew, running any game in the catalog is a breeze. With the suspend feature you just crack open the system, play a level or two, and put it back away. Significantly better than doom-scrolling on social media!