But do not buy NSMB 2! It’s the worst game of the “NSMB” series. I got it for “free” from Club Nintendo when it ended and I’d still demand that my time be compensated for having played it. Ever see the meme, “He may have been your father, but he’s not your daddy”? This is like that. It may be 2D Mario, but it’s not 2D Mario Quality, nor NSMB Mario Quality. It is crap, it is crap. You may be able to get play it, return it and get something else but you will never get that time back. When you look back on your life and you see how things positively and negatively affected your experience, you’re going to see a black hole of disappointment around this game. It’s the least inspired, it’s more basic than a manufactured home and the gimmick around overall coin collection for “replayability” is a joke. Just buy Super Mario Bros. 3 from the VC. This is not hyperbole, replaying Super Mario Land will likely be a better experience since it has better music. Graphics may be worse and the physics are unrecognizable in comparison, but the imagination of the limited release will outshine how unfun it is to control Mario in NSMB 2. You could at least enjoy the bare minimum of moving Mario around in NSMB 1/Wii/U. It’s just gone in 2. There is no difficulty where it matters. There are better platformers available for the 3DS, although none of them are exclusive to it (as far as I can remember).
Bravely Default may get ported, but I’d say play the demo on the 3DS first anyway. Before you buy any games, download lots of demo’s on the 3DS. RPG’s tend to be generous and fair enough in their representation via demos on the system. You miss out on the literal repetition and campiness/corniness of Bravely Defaults story but it is a game worth playing. You could easily find many things to complain about with the game, but you know what you’re getting into if you Final Fantasy: Warrior’s of Light on the original DS. Either that or think casual Final Fantasy V with a story/characters attached. The story won’t hold a candle to it, but it’s the type of camp that I like sometimes. The opening is also gimmicky, but it’s still fun and is worth experiencing at least once. It has a sort of Pagemaster/Neverending Story vibe to it.
I can recommend the Shantae, Azure Striker Gunvolt, Etrian Odyssey, Pocket Card Jockey, Picross, Mario Kart, Xenoblade and Rayman series on the system. There are going to be games you’ll miss out on completely because they’re digital only like Citizens of Earth and Retro City Rampage, but they’re at least available on other systems.
Oh, and Tetris Axis sucks. That’s why you can find it for $5 or less. There has been a good Tetris on a handheld since Tetris DS released. I’ve played every release for DS, PSP, 3DS and Switch. Tetris DS’s only fault is not having a true marathon mode for the main game mode. All of the others have them, but their music and style just detract from the experience. They should have gone more basic like the original NES/Gameboy releases or the GBA release if they couldn’t do a “personality filled” release like Tetris DS.
Hmm, do other readers share the same complaint about NSMB 2? I know Nintendo used it as training grounds for ‘level design’ from the junior members which may be why it sucked.