Download 3DS Roms! Fee Nintendo 3DS 3D game downloads for R4-3DS Flash Cards and Emulators. The file that you need to download is the 3DS emulator.zip and then the.exe file needs to be extracted from the archive of the zip on any folder found on the computer. Nintendo 3DS Game Downloads. Categories & Filters. Digital Download Type. Full game download Full game download (142) Customers Rated Highly For. Fun Fun (27).
- Nintendo 3ds Download Game Cheap Software
- Used Nintendo 3ds Games
- Nintendo 3ds Download Game Cheap Software
- Nintendo 3ds Games List
Our editors independently research, test, and recommend the best products; you can learn more about our review process here. We may receive commissions on purchases made from our chosen links.
The Rundown
- Best Overall:Super Mario 3D Land at Amazon, “Players control Mario who can dash, barrel roll, ground pound, leap, climb and race against a time limit.”
- Best Remake: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D at Amazon, “Over 20 publications in the video game industry gave the game a perfect score.”
- Best RPG:Pokemon Sun at Amazon, “The Hawaiian-inspired location is visually split into four distinct play areas.”
- Best Puzzle:Scribblenauts Unlimited at Amazon, “The cartoon-like visual experience leaves you wondering how the developers managed something so great.”
- Best for Fighting:Super Smash Bros. at Amazon, “The game is loaded with items such as trophies, music records, replay videos and photo albums.”
- Best for Racing: Mario Kart 7 at Amazon, “The game allows for wireless multiplayer matches in the same room or over the Internet with a broadband connection.”
- Best for Strategy:Fire Emblem: Awakening at Amazon, “Players control a party of characters on a top screen tile-based map and strategically overcome enemy forces.”
- Best for ‘90s Kids: Shovel Knight at Amazon, “Old school gamers will appreciate Shovel Knight for paying ode to the early Nintendo era.”
- Best Horror:Resident Evil: Revelations at Amazon, “Players complete a series of episodes to defeat numerous enemies and solve various puzzles.”
- Best for Sports:Mario Sports Superstars at Amazon, “The full-scale recreations of each sport give players a hefty experience that makes each game feel complete.”
Our Top Picks
Best Overall: Super Mario 3D Land
Affordable, easy to play and lighthearted, Super Mario 3D Land takes the cake for the best 3DS game overall. The platformer game combines the side-scrolling 2D Mario games with a modern free-roaming 3D game with various power-ups, big beautiful levels to play in, plus fun and varied gameplay mechanics.
Super Mario 3D Land features bright colorful worlds where players control Mario who can dash, barrel roll, ground pound, leap, climb and race against a time limit. The game is loaded with various items from previous Mario games such as the leaf power from Super Mario Bros. 3 that gives Mario a raccoon outfit that allows him to float in the air and attack with his tail — players can even save an extra power up to use later. A few other power-ups give players a different way of gameplay that helps them complete levels and overcome enemies and bosses, so they can save Princess Peach from Bowser.
Best Remake: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
Considered as one of the best games ever made, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D is a completely remastered version of the original 1998 N64 game with enhanced graphics, new challenges and beautiful 3D visuals. Over 20 publications in the video game industry gave the game a perfect score with some calling it one of the best remasters of all time.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D is a fantasy, action-adventure game with role-playing and puzzle elements set in a huge expansive open world. Players control the main character Link in a third-person perspective, traversing the huge land of Hyrule while exploring various dungeons and using a sword and shield along with other items such as magic spells, arrows and bombs to fight off enemies. Any gamer yearning to play a classic with a rich story and embark on a quest of unforgettable characters, landmarks and epic boss fights should pick up The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D.
Best RPG: Pokemon Sun
The Pokemon name needs little introduction and seeing Pikachu and pals grab the top spot for best RPG likely won’t come as a surprise to many. Whether it’s the polished presentation or the quest to catch as many Pokemon as possible, Pokemon Sun stands out for its excellent graphics and gameplay. There’s a ton of new content available for both new and existing Pokemon fans as well as lengthy gameplay which, combined, make Pokemon Sun a big winner.
The Hawaiian-inspired location is visually split into four distinct play areas which essentially feels like you've gotten four games for the price of one. Embarking on a series of battles, scavenger hunts, quizzes, and even non-combat challenges, Pokemon Sun sets itself apart by taking you outside of the typical gym where previous variants in the Pokemon series have taken place. After more than 20 years of Pokemon releases, the series is reinvigorated by the main adventure of this RPG as you battle to become a Pokemon champion.
Nintendo 3ds Download Game Cheap Software
Best Puzzle: Scribblenauts Unlimited
With gameplay that allows open-world exploration of more than 41 levels, Scribblenauts Unlimited is a longtime staple on the Nintendo 3DS and one of the best puzzle games for any platform. There's no mission to rescue a princess in this portable puzzle adventure, instead, players will be focused using the in-game notepad to complete tasks, puzzles, and challenges.
When it's time to take a break from mindless action games or shooting down hordes of zombies, Scribblenauts demands players use their minds and imaginations to solve puzzles by summoning any object that might help. It’s an incredibly novel approach and one that works fantastically well and incorporates Nintendo's 3DS Street Pass functionality to play online and see how players around the world have solved the same puzzle. Throw in an object editor and the possibilities — as you play and later replay — are nearly unlimited. On top of incredible gameplay, the cartoon-like visual experience of Scribblenauts leaves you wondering how the game developers managed something so great on a gaming system so small.
Best for Fighting: Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. comes to the Nintendo 3DS as the best fighting game on the platform, allowing players to play and fight as their favorite video game characters (Mario, Sonic, Mega Man and Pac-Man). The multiplayer fighting game has players duke it out with various attacks and techniques to deal damage to their opponents, so they can knock them out of the area for a KO.
The huge 58-character roster (including downloadable content) gives Super Smash Bros. one of the biggest fighting games available in existence where you can play as Ryu from Street Fighter II and Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy 7. Super Smash Bros. has multiple modes from a solo challenge campaign where players fight AI opponents to an online multiplayer versus mode for friends or anyone around the world. Aside from it’s fighting modes, the game is loaded with items such as trophies, music records, replay videos and photo albums of players’ most epic battle moments.
Best for Racing: Mario Kart 7
The best racing game on the list goes to Mario Kart 7, where players race against 17 different Mario characters on wild tracks and build unique karts, each with their own unique attributes. The game allows for wireless multiplayer matches in the same room or over the Internet with a broadband connection.
In Mario Kart 7, players choose their own unique vehicle kart and customize it with accessories that give it a competitive advantage (for example, big tires will help with off-roading). There are eight different cups with 32 courses, including tracks from previous Mario Kart games from past Nintendo systems (SNES, N64, Gameboy Advance, Wii, and DS). The game also changes the dynamic of racing by throwing players over big jumps and having them use parasails to glide. There are also underwater portions of tracks where players utilize a propeller to steer and get ahead.
Best for Strategy: Fire Emblem: Awakening
Fire Emblem: Awakening is a tactical, turn-based, role-playing video game where players control a party of characters on a top screen tile-based map and strategically overcome enemy forces and earn experience points. The game features an optional classic mode where characters who die in battle are permanently dead for the entire game, giving a sense of reality and weight to each in-game decision made (casual mode disables this, and characters who die are restored after the battle).
Fire Emblem: Awakening starts players off by choosing their avatar’s gender, hair color, feature types, voice and class system to give players a sense of ownership and self with their main character. Multiple difficulty modes range from 'Normal' to 'Lunatic,' giving new players a chance to figure out gameplay and tactics while more experienced players get a thorough and tough challenge. In-game characters have a chance to work together, creating relationships (and sometimes not) and boosting morale for better attacks and defenses — the game not only forces players to figure out strategies in war but also in love.
Best for '90s Kids: Shovel Knight
Shovel Knight takes the best of video games in the 1990s (Mega Man, Mario, Ninja Gaiden, Ducktales, to name a few) and combines them in a unique, non-derivative 2D side-scrolling platformer chockfull of fun. The modern-day, eight-bit game builds upon a golden era of gaming with detailed animations, a chiptune soundtrack, thorough game design features and multilayered parallax backgrounds.
Shovel Knight has a wide anatomy despite its 2D visual presentation that gives players the ability to flip enemies, use secondary items, leap over gaps, duel with foes, pogo jump, dig up the ground to find treasure, as well as upgrade items, armor and life points. Players play as a knight armed with a shovel who ventures off to fight against a villainous group of knights called the Order of No Quarter (their leader is an evil enchantress). Old school gamers will appreciate Shovel Knight for paying ode to the early Nintendo era, while younger gamers will love its quirky characters, challenge and fun gameplay.
Best Horror: Resident Evil: Revelations
It is fear right in the palm of your hands! Resident Evil: Revelations is a survival horror video game where players are sent to investigate a bio-terrorist organization and come face-to-face with a horde of undead zombies and mutants. While some Resident Evil games in the past have focused on action, Resident Evil: Revelations emphasizes its survival horror roots with exploration and evasion using limited supplies, ammunition and speed to make the game scarier.
Resident Evil: Revelations features both a single-player main story mode where players complete a series of episodes to defeat numerous enemies and solve various puzzles through the 3DS’s touchscreen, as well as a multiplayer mode where players fight to survive in a slightly altered campaign. The third-person perspective game has players interact with their environments and complete a series of scenarios through its episodic story of investigating a ghost ship in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Along the way, players will collect different weapons which, when aiming, shift the camera to a first-person perspective that make the game more dramatic in times of crisis.
Best for Sports: Mario Sports Superstars
With five different sports, Mario Sports Superstars gives players the chance to play as their favorite Mario characters in either soccer, baseball, tennis, golf or horse racing. The full-scale recreations of each sport give players a hefty experience that makes each game feel complete and not like a simple mini-game.
Mario Sports Superstars features an exciting 11-on-11 soccer game that shows a mini-map of all characters on screen to make game navigation easier along with replays of goal shots. Its baseball game has a targeting system for both pitchers and batters that showcases mph for swings and pitches, while tennis allows for different racket swings such as lobs and drop shots for more tactile gameplay mechanics. Golf is the gentler game of the bunch, with calming music and wide serene courses and target alignment systems, so players can perfect their swing. The horse racing mode almost feels like its own racing game, with players hopping over tracks, collecting power-ups and using turbo boosts.
Best answer: Whether you prefer digital or physical, there are pros and cons to each. Those who don't want to swap cartridges should go digital and would be wise to invest in a microSD card, while those looking to start a collection or anticipate trading games in down the line would want to go physical and should look into a game case.
- Amazon: Samsung EVO Select 256GB microSD Card ($55)
- Amazon: HORI Game Card Case ($10)
The most obvious benefit to downloading a digital copy of a game onto your console is the fact that it doesn't take up any physical space. You won't have a shelf full of old Switch games that you never play anymore. You also don't have to worry about losing the cartridges. Your little brother can't steal them and take it to a friend's house. Your parents can't take them away from you when you're grounded (although we suppose they could just take away the entire console).
Another great reason to go digital is that you'll always have all of your games with you, no matter where you go. This is especially useful for mobile gaming on the Switch. Whether you download games directly to the console or to a microSD card, you don't have to worry about carrying a case filled with cartridges around.
Digital games offer convenience at the cost of true ownership.
When you download games from Nintendo, you also don't have to wait one second to get a game. You could be sitting in class or homesick without a car and still be able to download and play a game at your will.
Preordering games can be even more of a delight. When you preorder the digital download of a game from Nintendo, it gets pre-loaded onto your device at the time of your order. You can then start playing it right after midnight on the day of its official release. There's no waiting in line and no waiting for a delivery. If you stay up late enough, you could have most of the game completed before your friends even get up for work.
Not to sound like a tree-hugging hippie, but digital downloads also cut down on the amount of waste produced for a game. Instead of dealing with the plastic of the cartridges, case, and even sealed packaging, you are dealing with ones and zeroes. It's a much more environmentally friendly way to consume.
If you're going digital, a microSD card should be high on your list of priorities. The Nintendo Switch only has 32GB of internal storage, some of which is eaten up by the system. That'll be enough to download a few games, but you'll quickly run out of space. We recommend a high-capacity microSD card like the Samsung EVO Select 256GB to ensure you have enough space to hold all the games you want.
The Physical Advantage
The most obvious positive about buying a physical copy of a game is that it can be shared with others. If your friend wants to borrow Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild after you're done playing it, no problem. If your brother wants to play Splatoon 2 in his bedroom on his Switch, he can sneak it away from the rest of the family if he's sly. You can also skip a microSD card or opt for a smaller one, as physical games only store save data. Another cool benefit: physical collector's editions with limited run memorabilia like statues, stickers, art books, and soundtracks. You often can't get this stuff when buying digitally.
You can also sell or trade in physical games to help support your entertainment habit, something digital buyers are still dreaming of. Some rare and out-of-print games have been known to sell for a lot of dough on the resell market. With a physical game, you have the opportunity to be a collector.
Go physical if you're an old-school collector.
Selling your old games isn't the only benefit of buying physical copies. You can also buy them cheaper on the resell market. Sometimes for more than half of their full price, if a game isn't particularly popular. Plus, retail stores will oftentimes put games on sale, so you could potentially buy a brand new game at a discounted price (especially if you're a savvy shopper). Digital games do, also, go on sale from time to time in Nintendo's shops, but they are at the whim of Nintendo instead of your discount-finding prowess, and the deals usually aren't as good as they would be in physical format.
If you determine physical is your style, consider investing in a carrying case for your Nintendo Switch game cartridges. We like HORI's Game Case as it offers the best combination of protection, convenience, and portability. Games snap into their own little slots in the case to make sure they aren't moving around. You can hold up to 24 games, which is on the high side for game cases. Plus it's super cheap! The HORI game case lets you take a large number of cartridges on the go with a lesser chance of losing them. The only downside is that if you lose the case, all the games go with it, so don't lose the case!
For Digital
Used Nintendo 3ds Games
Samsung EVO Select 256GB
All the space you need
Samsung's EVO microSD cards are some of the best on the market, and this one has enough space to hold dozens of games. Better yet, it's more than half the price it used to be!
For Physical
HORI Game Card Case
Keep your Switch games safe
Nintendo 3ds Download Game Cheap Software
Officially licensed by Nintendo, the HORI Game Holder Case can store up to 24 games, each with its own individual slot with clasping mechanisms to keep the cartridge nice, safe, and to hold it in place. It's small enough to hold in the palm of your hand, in your pocket, or in your bag.
This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy for more details.