Back in the late Summer/early Fall, Nintendo released a new batch of 3DS StreetPass mini-games. I didn’t get them right when they came out because I didn’t have an opportunity to get out with a bunch of 3DS users to really take advantage of the StreetPass capabilities. But a couple of weeks ago I went to PAX South, so I finally had a reason to download these games and try them out. You can download the games separately, or in a bundle for less than ten bucks, so it wasn’t that bad. The games are pretty small, so I thought it would be fun to do mini-reviews of these titles over at GamerDad.com. I posted the links here along with overviews of each game if you’d like to read about them.
The main problems I have are common in all the new StreetPass games. I don’t know if they’ll hold my attention as long as some of the other ones did. I unlocked everything in Find Mii and its sequel. I played through the flower game and grew all the breeds (but I did stop when they challenged me to grow all the colors in all the breeds). And I’m still enjoying the fishing game. But I don’t think these new titles have staying power. Also, I think they released these a little too late as well, because now that the Nintendo Switch is on its way and can be a portable game system, too, it makes me wonder how long of a life the 3DS has left? Better enjoy it while I can, I guess.
This is like what you think it is, a slot car racing game. Meaning you only have to press down the button to go, and release to slow down. The other racers are who you StreetPassed. At the end of the race, they’ll give you a part that’ll boost your performance on the next race, so you want to try and StreetPass as many people as you can. But the thing is, in order to progress to the next track, you don’t always have to come in first. You have to complete other missions like take a curve a certain way, and it slows down the game progress a bit. Still one of my favorite games in this batch, though. I’m surprised there’s not more slot racing video games out there. As a kid, I loved slot car sets, and I got many of them for Christmas and birthdays. One year when I was little, I REALLY wanted a Dukes of Hazzard slot car set, and when I got it, I was severely disappointed. It had a ramp so the cars could jump just like the TV show. But how many times do you think those slot cars jumped the ramp and landed exactly back on the slot so they could keep racing? None! I was so bummed about that as a kid!
This one is about the stock market, and you view a graph and must press the ‘buy’ button when the line dips low, and the ‘sell’ button when it rises high. Your goal is to come out with more money than what you started with. Your StreetPass friends act as advisors, and the more you have, the more accurate their predictions will be. But I don’t see how it helps much in-game. Honestly I think anything that has to do with the stock market is boring, and it baffles me why games like this and Wall Street Kid on the NES are even made!
I think this one and the slot car game are my favorites. Here you are a chef in an RPG town, and must cook food for heroes so they will have enough energy and strength to go on their quests. In a way it kind of reminds me of a 3DS game I reviewed a few years ago called Weapon Shop de Omasse, where you were a blacksmith in a shop that made weapons for RPG heroes. Anyway, your StreetPass tags act as your heroes, and each of them will bring an ingredient. It’s up to you to mix the right ingredients to make a good meal, so the heroes will go further in their quest. It’s simple, but I kind of liked it anyway.
You are the heir to a ninja clan and enemies are approaching from a cliff. You must use the clan’s honored tradition of firing yourself from a cannon to fight the enemies above. But wait, it gets weirder. Because the cannon will burn off your clothes when it fires, you enter it naked (it’s a good think Taki’s not in this game or else it would be rated M). This is where your StreetPass friends will come in. Each one will carry a kite at a certain height (I think it depends on the height of the Mii character). The kites will have pieces of armor and weapons for you to don if you fly through them, and the more armor and weapons you have, the better chances you have against the enemy. Before you get fired, you’ll have a short while to adjust your kites and make test fires to see how many you pass over. Even though it’s not anything like it, for some reason this game reminds me of Angry Birds.
Aside from the stock market game, this is one of my least favorites from the batch. You are an explorer and have a British accent talking toucan who gives you advice. I almost expected him to say, “Follow my nose, it always knows!” Anyway, the StreetPass friends you tag, the game will read how many steps they’ve taken on their 3DS, and that’s as far as you get to go on the map. You goal is to find the right path to the treasures. This game has some problems and I found it kind of boring, so that’s why it’s one of my least favorites.
And those are all the StreetPass games! In the comments section, let me know what you think of these titles, and tell me YOUR favorite 3DS StreetPass games! Later! --Cary
I just put Warrior's Way and Monster Manor in the Vault. That leaves just Slot Car Racers, Flower Town, and Puzzle Swap in my collection. I need a new one and I think your description of Feed Mii makes me want that one. I played Weapon Shop deOmasse and liked that. One issue I have with the street pass games is they are so simple. I wish there was just a little more depth to them. My favorite was Find Mii but I finished that a long time ago.
All the 3DS StreetPass games of mine are in the vault except for Warriors Way, the fishing game, and the new five titles.
Feed Mii is really good, but if you haven't downloaded it yet, I recommend the fishing game. It has a lot of depth to it.
Speaking of which, I'm glad the games don't have much depth to them so you can get through them quickly. Usually I'm out and about when playing these games, and I don't want to spend TOO much time on them.
I had the fishing game and put it in the vault. I forget why, but maybe it bored me a bit.
I wish I could've finished Warrior's Way. I couldn't get enough armies for that last fight. I could sit there and just use all my coins everytime but it still took forever. I needed like 1.8 mil or something to at least be even with the last boss. I had like 1.1 and it grew way too slowly. So I put it in the vault. I just finished Monster Mansion the other day though. I liked that one.
I'm in the same boat as you with Warrior's Way. I just haven't put it in the vault for some reason.
I really like that fishing game, though. I don't know why, but fishing in video games in surprisingly fun. Way more fun than fishing in real life!
I loved the Sega Bass Fishing games back on the Dreamcast. I still have my fishing rod controller for those too. That was part of the fun of it.
I think I reviewed those games and the controller, too, back when I was writing for the newspaper!
The Wii also had some fun (yet gimmicky) fishing games, too.
Mark and I played the heck out of Sega Bass Fishing and Sega Marine Fishing on Dreamcast. We also had Sega Bass Fishing 2 and Reel Fishing Wild. All used that controller, I think, and were fun. I still have them all too.
Wow I didn't think there were that many fishing games on the Dreamcast!
I think that's all of them.
You'd think more third party companies would've made fishing games on the DC, but I guess that happened more on the Wii.
I havent had any of new games except the one I was given for free which I choose the stock market one. I dont like playing it that much either. I might eventually try to get the others.
Oh you chose the stock market one? I'm so sorry, that's one of the worst ones. My favorites are the cooking game and the slot car game. But you can get the bundle of all the games for less than ten bucks, so that's not TOO bad of a deal.
I'm definately going to get Feed Mii. I really love the fishing game, so I'll always keep that one ready to play. I have the flower game but it's almost too complicated for me to enjoy as a fun little downtime game.
Collecting the puzzle pieces is the BEST at conventions.
Well I beat the flower game, and if I can do it, I know you can!
Conventions are the only time I make any real progress in my StreetPass games!
I think 3DS might be one of those systems that remains popular enough to sustain new games for a while after its "replacement" comes out. To be honest, I'm much more concerned about how popular the Switch will be over the course of its life. The initial hype is great, but once Nintendo wears out their base, I wonder how much mainstream appeal it will have. I hope plenty, because it's a neat concept, but I just don't know.
It's really hard to tell with the Switch. I know Nintendo will always pump out games i'm interested in, so I don't regret buying their consoles even if they don't get as popular.
Thanks for reading and commenting on my reviews!
I never in my life would have noticed these games, if it weren't for you, Cary!
Well sniffing out oddball games is my specialty. Although I think Nintendo talked about these games a lot when they first came out. Do you have a 3DS?
I do but I mostly play retail releases. Lately DQVIII mostly. I havent touched any of the indie games really either.
Two downloadable indie games on the 3DS you should try are Pocket Card Jockey and Gotta Protectors.