10 Best 3DS Demakes

Splinter Cell 3D is a port of Chaos Theory, and it was released for the Nintendo 3DS in March 2011. The series was inspired by the Metal Gear games. The first Splinter Cell used a version of Unreal Engine 2 that was modified to allow light-and-dark based gameplay, and that idea runs through every game since. You stay in the shadows and wait for your moment.

Players call it a port of Chaos Theory, some kindly and some less so. The ones who loved it still say so years later. Stopping to hear two guards talk before you take them out is a very Splinter Cell kind of fun. If you only know the series from the big consoles, this is the oddest way to meet it.

Fire Emblem Warriors is a crossover between Koei Tecmo's Dynasty Warriors games and the Fire Emblem series. The director and producer returned from Hyrule Warriors, which shows up again further down this list, working with Intelligent Systems staff to build a Warriors game around Fire Emblem. The first character designed for both 2D and 3D was Awakening protagonist Chrom, and his design had to be right before the rest of the cast could be drawn.

Critics praised how it blends Warriors and Fire Emblem. Criticism focused on its story and its limited character roster, and the game sold over one million copies worldwide. It came out on the Switch and the 3DS, and players mostly bring up the 3DS version as one of the games that need a New 3DS. On the right model it is a big, busy battle game that fits in a pocket.

Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition puts the console fighter on the 3DS with 35 playable characters. It adds a 3D over-the-shoulder camera option and a simple mode that lets you pull off hard moves with a single touch of the screen. There is a figurine mode that uses StreetPass, and the coins the 3DS gives you for walking can be spent on figurines.

Critics were kind. Kotaku's Brian Ashcraft named it the one game to buy around the 3DS's launch, and NGamer UK called it a "staggering port of an exceptional fighting game", though not the definitive version. Players remember it as a fun handheld fighter, best with a friend in the same room. It still holds up as proof of how much console game the 3DS could take on.

Sonic Generations was made to celebrate 20 years of Sonic. It has two styles of play: Classic levels from a side-scrolling perspective like the original Sega Genesis games, and Modern levels in 3D. Sonic Team built the console game in high definition. Dimps made the 3DS version, and it is not the same game in a smaller box.

Players agree the 3DS version has different levels and bosses from the console and PC releases. Reception to the 3DS version was mixed, and reviewers criticized its short length and design. Players are kinder. Fans who played it call it fun and say it is easy to pick up on the 3DS. Even if you finished the console game, there are levels here you have never seen.

Dragon Quest XI was released in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation 4 in July 2017. The 3DS version has the trick people remember. You can switch between the 3D graphics and a 2D style that plays like the older Dragon Quest games. As with most of the series, it was designed and written by Yuji Horii and scored by Koichi Sugiyama.

The catch is the language. Players agree the 3DS version is Japanese only, and plenty of them are still upset it was never localized. The game came out worldwide for the PlayStation 4 and Windows in September 2018. The Definitive Edition on Switch followed in September 2019, and it has the 2D mode too, so you can see where it came from. The 3DS original is still the one that started it.

Hyrule Warriors was a Wii U game from Koei Tecmo's studios, made with supervision from Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma. You cut down entire legions of enemies as Link, Zelda and their friends, with Dynasty Warriors style moves. It became one of the best-selling games on the Wii U, and an updated port for the Nintendo 3DS, Hyrule Warriors Legends, was released in 2016. Its story adds a Cucco farmer named Linkle, who receives word of the invading army during Cia's siege on Hyrule Castle.

Critics liked the mix of Zelda and Dynasty Warriors, though the repetitive gameplay was criticized. On the 3DS, which model you own matters a lot. Players agree Legends runs much better on a New 3DS, and they warn owners of the older models to stay away. On a New 3DS you get a whole Zelda war in your hands.

Minecraft had its first public alpha on 17 May 2009 and was formally released on 18 November 2011 for personal computers. It has since been ported to numerous platforms, and the 3DS got Minecraft: New Nintendo 3DS Edition. As the name says, players agree it runs only on the New 3DS. The world is still made of cubes, referred to as blocks, and you still dig and build until it is very late.

Players say it is a legacy edition, an older version of the game that stopped getting updates. Fans who own it call it a full version with what they need, and some are just happy the New 3DS can run Minecraft at all. Others say the 3DS version is not the best way to play it. Both sides are right, and it is still Minecraft on a 3DS.

Monster Hunter Tri was originally planned to be a PlayStation 3 title, but it was cancelled due to high development costs, and Capcom made it for the Wii instead. An enhanced port, Monster Hunter 3 (tri-) G, came to the 3DS in Japan in December 2011, and it reached North America and Europe as Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate in March 2013. Tri expanded the series' ecosystems to include underwater environments.

You take quests to seek and slay monsters, and every hunt earns equipment upgrades. There are over 200 quests, and four players can hunt together in local play. Wii U players can join 3DS players over a local wireless connection, and save data moves between the two consoles. Players put it among the best games on the 3DS. For a lot of them it was the one that made the series click.

Xenoblade Chronicles was released in Japan in 2010, and its North American release remained unconfirmed until December 2011, when a fan campaign called Operation Rainfall drew attention to the game. The idea started in June 2006, when Tetsuya Takahashi built a model of two giant titans frozen in place, with people living on their bodies. A port for the New Nintendo 3DS was released in 2015, and it does not run on the older models.

Critics praised the port for successfully re-creating the game in a portable form. Players agree it is amazing that a game this size fits on a 3DS at all. They also admit the graphics look dated and the small screen is not the best place to play it. A bonus mode lets you view 3D models of the characters and listen to music tracks from the game.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS is the first portable entry in the series, and it came out as the smaller of two versions next to the Wii U game. Up to four players battle each other locally or online, on stages inspired by classic portable Nintendo games. The two versions share a roster of 58 playable characters, 51 on the disc and 7 sold as downloadable content. Some features were removed, such as the story mode from Brawl, but the 3DS has an exclusive mode called Smash Run.

The 3DS version sold over nine million copies worldwide by September 2022, nearly twice the Wii U version. Players recommend it far more than any other 3DS demake. They call it polished and say the core fighting is so good that the cuts hardly matter. It is a full Smash Bros. that fits in your pocket.