So you want to buy a 3DS and you can’t figure out what to buy alongside it? Welcome to the special 3DS Edition of Coming Soon! Today I’m going to take you guys through all the 3DS games that will come alongside the 3DS. It’s not exactly the most scintillating of launch lineups, but what system could possibly say they had a killer launch lineup anyway? Take a look around, and see what game you can use to impress your friends.

Remember. Release dates are quite literally made at the whims of the publisher.  The following are subject to change without any warning, but in this case, it’s probably unlikely.

First Party Titles

Nintendogs + Cats: Toy Poodle & New Friends, Nintendogs + Cats: French Bulldog & New Friends, Nintendogs + Cats: Golden Retriever & New Friends

It’s no exaggeration when I say that the original Nintendogs made the DS the leading handheld that it is today. Of course Nintendo would make a 3DS version to christen its launch! From the looks of it, not much has changed between this and all of its previous incarnations. You still adopt up to three puppies/kittens. You can train them with voice commands, dress them up with silly hats and glasses that would drive real life dogs up the wall, play with them, and have them do the most adorable things like coming up to the screen to paw and lick your face, or at least the screen anyways, all in glorious 3-D! The kittens, being cats and all, are not as trainable as the puppies, and from what I hear, the kitten breed selection is limited compared to the puppies where you get 3 kinds depending which version you buy. But still kitties!

PilotWings Resort

The 3DS is seriously becoming grounds for long forgotten franchises to make a comeback. The last PilotWings came out on the N64 well over a decade ago. What’s next? Metal Storm? In classic PilotWings fashion, you fly various forms of flying machines – namely a hanglider, a jetpack, and a single occupant small airplane, around WuHu Island to accomplish various missions. In case you’re wondering why WuHu Island looks so damn familiar, that’s because it’s the same island as the one in Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit Plus. The last two PilotWings were incredibly fun experiences thanks to some tight controls and straightforward, skill-based missions, and this one seems to be following those footsteps very closely. I just wish Nester, er I mean, “Lark” was in it

Steel Diver

I wonder if there really is a market for a submarine sim? Steel Diver is by no means a simulator of actual, uhm, submarining. The presentation may scream shmup seeing how Steel Diver plays on a 2D plane, but given how you don’t even control the submarine directly with either the circle pad or the D-pad, you’d be hard pressed to call it a shmup (On a side note, just looking at screenshots for this game made go back and dig out In The Hunt). Instead, the touch screen has two levers that control the submarine’s horizontal and vertical motions. You need proper timing and a good grasp on your craft’s momentum to maneuver it through obstacles and enemy fire. Now I have an excuse to yell out “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” in public.

Third Party Titles

Asphalt 3D

Because every new system needs a generic racer to christen it, Ubisoft has decided to grace the 3DS with Asphald 3D. You get to pick one of 40 “prestigious” (trailer’s words not mine) cars to race through 17 different cities including Rome, San Francisco, Miami, and Rio de Janeiro. It may seems generic, but it’s all in glorious 3-D!

Bust-a-Move Universe

It’s Bust-a-Move. You know the drill. The titular stars of Bubblle Bobble continue to shoot colored marbles at other colored marbles stuck to the ceiling to make them disappear. I would point out anything new and unique about this iteration of Bust-a-Move, but I got nothing other than it’s in 3-D.

Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D

Yes! Primal Rage is back, baby! Well, probably not, but this game sounds like it. Take on the role of a dinosaur back when they roam the earth, walk around, and fight any dinosaur that looks at you funny. The combat system looks a little bit like Punch-Out though. Namely, the best time to attack is right after you successfully dodge an enemy attack. If you must have a dinosaur game for your brand spanking new 3DS, Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D should be at the top of your list.

LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars

In their continuing effort to make damn sure anyone can play their LEGO video games, we have their latest LEGO Star Wars ported over to the 3DS. If you’re wondering what’s different between this one and the DS version, it involves your second eye. As long as you have one that functions correctly, you’ll see the difference.

Madden NFL Football

Madden 12 uses all of the 3DS capabilities allowing you not only to play in 3D but also draw your own plays with the touch screen and stylus. Along with features like Spotlight Moment, which focuses the spotlight on you in critical moments, and three types of play calling, the only question left to ask if is if you'll be able to see your punt bounce off the new Dallas Stadium scoreboard.
-Wolf96

Pro Evolution Soccer 2011

Need to get your pitch fix off, without getting any grass stains? PES 2011 is here to help. With this year's version in 3D, you'll be able to get a sense of the pitch like never before with a great sense of depth and distance that will let you feel the game like never before. With some interesting features, like 1 vs. 1 wireless, PES 2011 for the 3DS will have you shouting "GOAL!!!" in no time.
-Wolf96

Rayman 3D

Continuing the tradition of porting old games to the new system, Rayman 3D kinda breaks that tradition a little bit. Namely, the original game came out over a decade ago. Rayman 2 was a third person platformer that came out around 1999 for the N64 and Dreamcast, which is the version that this port is based on. Ubisoft did say that this port has received some major updates on various parts of the game. What that actually means, I have no idea.

Ridge Racer 3D

Not wanting to feel left behind, Namco saw fit to make a 3DS version of their arcade racer, Ridge Racer. As powerful as the 3DS is, it’s probably not going to be as pretty as the other versions on PSP, but it definitely looked better than that Asphalt 3D game. Ridge Racer 3D comes with a good number of tracks, many of which should be familiar to Ridge Racer fans. It doesn’t sound like this Ridge Racer will be breaking any new grounds in the racing realm, or even Ridge Racer’s realm, but It sure looks pretty.

Samurai Warriors Chronicles

The 3DS will be taking its first breath tomorrow, and already Koei has infected the system lineup with their Warriors franchise. In case you don’t know, Samurai Warriors takes place in Japan during the time of Samurais. You pick one of the many warriors they have available, and the game throws you onto a battlefield filled with about a billion mindless soldiers all ripe for killing by your hands. Koei did add one new wrinkle though. You can swap between 4 different characters on the field at any time. Let’s see if that’s enough to get players excited about this.

Super Monkey Ball 3D

Poor Monkey Ball. Back when the Gamecube first came out, Monkey Ball was arguably one of the best games around. Its reputation has gone down since then, but maybe this version will turn things around for them. As usual, you play as Monkeys who thinks they’re hamsters and have decided to move around inside a plastic ball. You’ll have to move them through various obstacles to collect bananas and ultimately reach the goal. The game does feature the ability to play by tilting the 3DS or just using the Circle Pad. If you’ve got friends with the game, you can play a Super Smash Bros. mode called Monkey Fight or Monkey Race, which is basically Super Mario Kart with monkeys. I really liked the original Gamecube version, so here’s to hoping that this is the one that makes it all better again.

Super Street Fighter IV 3D

If you just can’t get enough of Super Street Fighter 4 and you must play it while on the subway or something, Capcom has heard your prayers. Super Street Fighter IV 3D is basically the console game in the palm of your hands. All 35 fighters are available, and even the online mode is available as well. To make up for the fact that you’ll never be able to play this with a stick, the touch screen has 4 programmable buttons that executes either a special move or even combos.

The StreetPass feature lets your 3DS “fight” with other 3DS that has a SSF43D save file. By playing the game, you’re able to buy these figurines that has its own stats. You can assemble up to five figurines as your fighting team. These figurines gain experience and points for fighting against other 3DSes, and you’ll be able to track their record.

Portable fighting games are still a weird proposition for me, but this one seems to be taking steps to mitigate the limitations of the handheld with 4 programmable buttons thing. Let’s see how well it works out.

The Sims 3

People always love to find weird, new ways to screw with their Sims. That might be a little bit tougher than usual in the 3DS version if you decided to make your Sim look like you. This version can use the 3D camera on the 3DS to take a 3-D picture of yourself with which the game then renders unto your Sim. If your Sim gets lonely, the StreetPass feature enables you to download other people’s Sims into your world, and vice versa. You’ll never know what new Sim might pop up in your game after a day’s worth of walking around with your 3DS on you. It’s kinda creepy now that I think about it.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars

You might be wondering as to how they’re pulling off a third person shooter on the 3DS. Easy, they didn’t. Shadow Wars have decided to take a page from Japan’s favorite genre, the Strategy RPG. Shadow Wars plays out on a grid like Advance Wars complete with turns and Command Powers like the ability to let a unit act again or to call in an airstrike, but unlike Advance Wars, you don’t produce units. In SRPG tradition, you get 6 units who gain experience as you play. If you lose any character in combat, the game ends. I loved Advance Wars to death. Let’s see if this one will fill the void left behind by Advance Wars.

Like every lineup, this one is filled with games experimenting with the various features of the system. In this case it’s the 3D part of the system, which might explain why I’m most attracted to the one that’s the most traditional of the bunch. That Shadow Wars game sounds really good. How about you guys? What will you pick to amaze your friends with.

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