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3DS

Top 10 3DS eShop Games (As of Now)

#1

by Patrick Barnett - December 18, 2012, 7:06 am EST

And the number one game is...

#1 - Mutant Mudds:

Mutant Mudds is the defining eShop experience that I recommend to everyone that owns a 3DS and the worthy choice of our number one spot. Deciding that this would be the game that crowns all others on the eShop was an easy choice for me. Everything from its visual style, sound design, and gameplay mechanics brings a smile to my face that is unmatched on the 3DS eShop, and perhaps even the 3DS as a whole. 

My glowing praise has to begin with the game’s music. Retro-themed original tunes are littered throughout the game, and all of them are great. In fact, on one or two occasions I opened my 3DS and left it sit on the menu screen to hear the great song. The character art is similarly fantastic. Its pixelated approach matches the music, and captures the old-school platformer feel. 

Old-school platformer is probably one of the better ways to describe Mutant Mudds. You run and gun enemies down while carefully traversing the landscapes. While moving about, Max, the main character, can jump into the foreground and background. With the 3D effect turned up on the 3DS this looks gorgeous. The tri-layer effect pronounces the 3D effect better than almost any other 3DS title. Enemy layouts get progressively more challenging throughout, building up to some real devilish levels. Even with its hard obstacles, its hard to complain about the difficulty while you are having so much fun. 

Max does get some power-ups that grant him access to bonus areas that offer even more platforming challenges. These area’s change up the visuals in favor of something reminiscent of the Virtual Boy or Game Boy. 

Everything I have described so far only related to the main game. Free DLC was made available this past October that put Max’s grandmother behind the gun with all of the power-ups at her disposal. The developer, Renegade Kid, crafted some of the most deviously challenging levels that while frustrating, were completely beatable. Most of the time when a death would occur, it would be your own fault and not bad level design. 

Mutant Mudds is a must-have for 3DS owners. It is not an overly long adventure, but it certainly brings back the old-school platformer in a good way. Mutant Mudds well deserves the crown of best 3DS eShop title thus far.

Talkback

zeeroidDecember 10, 2012

Something appears to have gone horribly awry in the writing of this feature.


Crashmo is 7 spots too low. Don't worry, we all make mistakes now and then.

KhushrenadaDecember 10, 2012

Heh, considering the blurb given this article, "May your Top 10 lists be Muddy, Mighty, or Pushy", you may as well have posted all the titles since we now know 7 of the top ten.

Honestly, though, wouldn't this be an factually incorrect list if MSF, Mutant Mudds, and Pushmo weren't on it? I honestly don't think the list is full of too many surprises if you really think about it (and look at our review scores for these games). The ordering might be surprising, but that's it.

Pixelated PixiesDecember 10, 2012

I'm with Zeeriod. Fallblox/Crashmo is by a long margin my favourite eShop game and is way too good to be placed at 7th in my opinion. I guess that's what it's all about though, right? Opinions. I probably shouldn't be surprised though, these staff top 10s always seem to differ very much from my own.

Blame Tyler and Patrick. If I had my druthers, Crashmo would be sitting #2 or #3.

Pixelated PixiesDecember 10, 2012

Remember when the community voted for their top 10 first and third party games on Wii? Was anything ever done with those votes, because if so I must have missed it. Anyone got the link?

ejamerDecember 10, 2012


eShop has been the saving grace for my 3DS, as I've gotten more enjoyment there than from retail releases so far. The tide is slowly turning, and a handful of decent Fall releases probably puches retail ahead overall... but I haven't played them yet so will reserve judgement.


Without these digital games my 3DS would've spent a lot of time in the cradle.
Can't wait for the Fluidity sequel later this month.

Quote from: Pixelated

Remember when the community voted for their top 10 first and third party games on Wii? Was anything ever done with those votes, because if so I must have missed it. Anyone got the link?

I was wondering the same thing.

FreudianLemurDecember 10, 2012

But Cave Story isn't out here yet! Not fair!

Mop it upDecember 10, 2012

I wonder if they'll release any compilations in the future, like the Bit.Trip series.

tylerohlewTyler Ohlew, Staff AlumnusDecember 10, 2012

Quote from: NWR_Neal

Blame Tyler and Patrick. If I had my druthers, Crashmo would be sitting #2 or #3.

That's right. Not on my watch, Ronaghan!


I like Pushmo, so it's on the list. I didn't want to reward sequels though, especially when there's so much great, original content.

noname2200December 10, 2012

Quote from: Mop

I wonder if they'll release any compilations in the future, like the Bit.Trip series.

Isn't Bit.Trip.Saga coming to the eShop soon? (and for only $15 to boot!) Or do you mean other compilations?

Pixelated PixiesDecember 10, 2012

Quote from: tylerohlew

I like Pushmo, so it's on the list. I didn't want to reward sequels though, especially when there's so much great, original content.


Crashmo is so much more interesting than Pushmo though. Those Challenge B puzzles in Crashmo were the most fun I think I've ever had with a puzzle game.

As awesome as Pushmo was, the second half of that game began to recycle concepts with the result that latter puzzles amounted to more complex and larger versions of the previous puzzles; more time consuming? Yes, but there was no essential shift or evolution. Crashmo on the other hand evolved throughout the course of the game so that by the end you were playing a completely different game than the one you began. It truely was incredible.

As I've said elsewhere, Crashmo in my eyes is second only to 3D Land in terms of pure enjoyment.

As for that community top 10...my bad, guys. :(

List is in my documents somewhere, and it was weirdly similar to the staff top 10, if I recall correctly. I'll dig it up soon.

Mop it upDecember 10, 2012

Quote from: ejamer

Quote from: Pixelated

Remember when the community voted for their top 10 first and third party games on Wii? Was anything ever done with those votes, because if so I must have missed it. Anyone got the link?

I was wondering the same thing.

I was actually wondering this too.

Quote from: noname2200

Quote from: Mop

I wonder if they'll release any compilations in the future, like the Bit.Trip series.

Isn't Bit.Trip.Saga coming to the eShop soon? (and for only $15 to boot!) Or do you mean other compilations?

I mean compilations of eShop games released at retail, like how Bit.Trip Complete is six WiiWare games released on a Wii disc. I don't like buying digital games for personal reasons, so I'd like to see some of them released in physical form somehow.

zeeroidDecember 10, 2012

I would under most circumstances agree with the sequel non-rewarding, but Crashmo is not only the successor to a new IP, but changes so fundamentally the gameplay mechanics of Pushmo that, I believe, it deserves to be rewarded especially as such, because it's a damn impressive feat they've pulled off.

Not only that, but it fixes many of the common complaints with Pushmo such as the overlong, unskippable tutorial, gradual unlocking of key features, and repetitive music without much variety.

Crashmo, you guys!

ejamerDecember 10, 2012

Quote from: NWR_Neal

...
List is in my documents somewhere, and it was weirdly similar to the staff top 10, if I recall correctly. I'll dig it up soon.

Weirdly similar indeed - although I think that due to the scoring process this isn't a surprise. In fact, wasn't that part of the point: to see exactly how similar the lists would be?  Thanks for posting the results in the forum thread!

KhushrenadaDecember 11, 2012

Quote from: NWR_Neal

Honestly, though, wouldn't this be an factually incorrect list if MSF, Mutant Mudds, and Pushmo weren't on it? I honestly don't think the list is full of too many surprises if you really think about it (and look at our review scores for these games). The ordering might be surprising, but that's it.

True. I'm sure it is the ranking of games that always makes for the biggest discussion but I'm not concerned with rankings. When I look at lists like this, I'm just interested in what the games actually are. It's like movies. Does it really matter if Citizen Kane or Vertigo is considered the best movie of all time? They are both worth watching and both constantly show up on great movie lists so I'll check them both out. Likewise, just because one list might have Crashmo over Pushmo and another list Pushmo over Crashmo doesn't make either list invalid to me. It just means that both lists highly rate those games and they are worth checking out.

FreudianLemurDecember 11, 2012

I'd say you got Zen Pinball and Marvel Pinball the wrong way round. As much as I love Blade, Excalibur and Earth Defense and Shaman are better IMO.

zeeroidDecember 12, 2012

Shaman is not better than anything :P
Turrible.


I actually grew to like El Dorado a fair bit though.

Pixelated PixiesDecember 12, 2012

I'm going to say something now just in case it comes up later.

I really hope 'Colors 3D' ends up on the list (even though that North American spelling sickens me  :P: ). In other words, I hope that it's not disqualified because it's not...you know...a game.

ejamerDecember 12, 2012

Quote from: Pixelated

I'm going to say something now just in case it comes up later.

I really hope 'Colors 3D' ends up on the list (even though that North American spelling sickens me  :P: : ). In other words, I hope that it's not disqualified because it's not...you know...a game.

Colors 3D is by far one of the best apps available on 3DS, and very deserving to be on the top half of the list. I doubt it'll be there because, as you say, it's not a game... but the use of 3D is brilliant and the online features are superb.

LittleIrvesDecember 13, 2012

Really glad to see the inclusion of Denpa Men here. It might be repetitive and frustratingly difficult, but there's a magic in looking through the 3DS, seeing all these dudes floating around, and capturing them with a net. The quirky personalities and unique, simple appearance of each Man lifts this up beyond a generic dungeon crawler. I might have given up after 10+ hours (darn you Bog Monster-thing) but there's nothing quite like it anywhere else.

WiiUIVLifeDecember 14, 2012

NWR... do you have any plans on releasing the top 10 eShop games for the Wii U?

TJ SpykeDecember 14, 2012

Quote from: WiiUIVLife

NWR... do you have any plans on releasing the top 10 eShop games for the Wii U?

They probably will eventually, right now there are only 5 games on the Wii U's eShop though.

Fatty The HuttDecember 14, 2012

Quote from: Pixelated

I really hope 'Colors 3D' ends up on the list (even though that North American spelling sickens me

It is strictly American spelling, not North American.
We Canadians spell "colour" the proper way.


Can't speak for the Mexicans...

noname2200December 14, 2012

Quote from: Fatty_The_Hutt

Quote from: Pixelated

I really hope 'Colors 3D' ends up on the list (even though that North American spelling sickens me

It is strictly American spelling, not North American.
We Canadians spell "colour" the proper way.


Can't speak for the Mexicans...

¡Es "color"!

Pixelated PixiesDecember 14, 2012

Quote from: Fatty_The_Hutt

Quote from: Pixelated

I really hope 'Colors 3D' ends up on the list (even though that North American spelling sickens me

It is strictly American spelling, not North American.
We Canadians spell "colour" the proper way.


Can't speak for the Mexicans...


My mistake.

We can't help it that you Brits went and changed the language for no reason, adding "u"s all willy nilly.

NemoDecember 15, 2012

I hate to be "that guy" but this really bugs me: "If it's more game your after..."  This should be you're (or you are).

(It's located in the second to last paragraph of the VVVVVV page.)

Pixelated PixiesDecember 15, 2012

Quote from: NWR_insanolord

We can't help it that you Brits went and changed the language for no reason, adding "u"s all willy nilly.


I ain't no Brit! You take that back!

:)

tylerohlewTyler Ohlew, Staff AlumnusDecember 16, 2012

Quote from: Nemo

I hate to be "that guy" but this really bugs me: "If it's more game your after..."  This should be you're (or you are).

(It's located in the second to last paragraph of the VVVVVV page.)

Thanks, it's been changed.

NemoDecember 17, 2012

Thanks. I feel like I've saved the English language. (Even though, no one actually cares.)

KhushrenadaDecember 17, 2012

Quote from: Pixelated

Quote from: Fatty_The_Hutt

Quote from: Pixelated

I really hope 'Colors 3D' ends up on the list (even though that North American spelling sickens me

It is strictly American spelling, not North American.
We Canadians spell "colour" the proper way.


Can't speak for the Mexicans...


My mistake.

Shouldn't it be "my mistakue"? Can't forget aboot that extra u, eh?

Also, I guess we'll never learn why Mutant Mudds was the best game on the E-shop.

Pixelated PixiesDecember 18, 2012

Mutant Mudds was obviously going to be number 1 given it's popularity amongst the staff, but I have to disagree that it's the best game on eShop. Mudds would probably be in my top 5, but games like Pullblox, Fallblox and VVVVVV were more to my tastes.

There's a pretty good chance if I were making a list that Mutant Mudds would be my Game of the Year for 2012 across all platforms. It's so fantastically good.

FreudianLemurDecember 18, 2012

Quote from: Nemo

Thanks. I feel like I've saved the English language. (Even though, no one actually cares.)

I care! I- I love you... :-[

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