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RadFox edited this page Jun 17, 2026 · 1 revision

"Take a look inside"

Released on February 26, 2011 in Japan and the rest of the world in the following month... the Nintendo 3DS was the direct follow up to the smash hit DS. A product of its time in an era when it seemed like 3D screens that jumped out at the viewer was the next huge thing. In the end it was a gimmick, and later 3DS titles would seldom use the 3D slider at all. However it was a handheld that managed to prove its worth extremely well.

Emulators

PC

  • Azahar - A fork of the deprecated Citra emulator. I've tested a lot of games in this emulator, both popular and incredibly obscure, and have yet to find anything that doesn't boot. Supports gyro, cameras, netplay emulating local connection, full 3DS home menu, and you can even use a real 3DS as your controller using the homebrew app Arctic Base!

  • AzaharPlus - A fork of Azahar reimplimenting a handful of features missing from base Azahar. Installing encrypted files, downloading 3DS system files from Nintendo's servers, compatibility with older CPUs, and a special implementation of sharing Streetpass data called ZipPass. Only recommended if you're looking to use more advanced functionality, Azahar is still fine for casual play.

Mobile

  • AzaharPlus - Azahar does have an official Android release, but I've gotten much more consistent performance with Azahar Plus.

  • Citra mmj - A simple fork of Citra more optimized for play on Android. Only recommended if the game you're looking to play doesn't perform well on AzaharPlus

Games

  • ⭐ Animal Crossing: New Leaf (gameplay)

What if you were the mayor, and you could control so much more about your town? Animal Crossing New Leaf expanded on the comforting life sim formula by giving the player the ability to decorate the town with special new "Publics Works Projects". Your ability to customize yourself was also massively expanded on, allowing the player to design more complex outfits and even cross dress! This game was the perfecting of the Animal Crossing formula, and remains to be one of the best ways to experience the world of Animal Crossing to this day.

  • ⭐ Tomodachi Life

You're given control of this strange little island with the simple task of filling it with Miis to all live together and make bonds. This game has an extremely quirky sense of humor, with strange dreams about rituals, magic shows at the carnival, rap battles that don't make sense, hyper realistic food and treasures, and so on! This is an extremely simple game yet filled to the brim with so many weird wacky fun visuals to keep you wanting to discover every little thing your miis can get up to.

  • 💎 Yo-kai Watch 2

The direct follow up to 2013's Yo-kai Watch, this is a time traveling tale of friendship with a quirky sense of humor. It's a world filled to the brim with so many different weird wacky fun creatures to befriend and battle with. Paired with a simple yet very charming and heartwarming tale of familial bonds and accepting friendship. Then once the game's story is over... it's only just beginning. You'll find this game's postgame content is absolutely massive, effectively doubling or tripling the amount of time you'll keep playing this if you want to discover all of its little secrets.

  • 💎 Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure

A charming story focused rhythm game where you rob the famous Louvre before uncovering a strange time twisted tale spanning the city of Paris. There's a very strong variety in the rhythm minigames, and beautifully animated 2D cutscenes. If you enjoy Professor Layton and want something similar yet different, this is up your alley.

  • Super Mario 3D Land

One of the 3DS's first really big hits. A simple fun linear platformer with strong level design and lovely visuals. Even uses the 3D screen very well by improving the depth perception for a lot of the platforming.

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