The 3DS was mostly sunset shortly after the Nintendo Switch began gaining traction. In numerous ways, the Switch is a far superior piece of gaming hardware, with a capacitive screen instead of a resistive one, along with more obvious improvements like the higher processing power and visual resolution. But the 3DS’ namesake–its glasses-free 3D technology–hasn’t been utilized by other traditional systems, and it remains one of the most underappreciated and underused features in gaming history.
Consumers didn’t universally accept the feature, and many actually turned down the slider on the 3DS. Nintendo eventually even released its 2DS lineup that omitted the feature entirely, but many games were better with it enabled. In fact, a few of them used it so well that it makes 3D sorely missed on the Switch. These games didn’t rely on 3D as a gimmick but instead included it to add a greater sense of space and texture to the world. In the best cases, the 3D even made the game more fun to play, and it’s no surprise that Nintendo developed most of those examples in-house earlier on in the handheld’s lifespan.
It’s a shame that Nintendo stopped emphasizing 3DS’ stereoscopic 3D functionality because it was notably unique and awe-inspiring, following closely in step with the company’s always forward-thinking philosophy to expand the way we think about and play games. With that said, we’ve compiled the games that made the best use of 3D to commemorate the 3DS’ 10th anniversary. Below we discuss why they’re still worth picking up or digging out of storage if you’ve retired the system in favor of the latest offerings.