--- description: Here's a look at the year's 10 most anticipated games for Nintendo's 3DS gaming handheld, including Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D and Xenoblade Chronicles. title: These Will Be the Hottest 3DS Games of 2015 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # These Will Be the Hottest 3DS Games of 2015 by [Matt Peckham](/author/matt-peckham/) ## Matt Peckham Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 28, 2015 12:00 PM CUT by [Matt Peckham](/author/matt-peckham/) ## Matt Peckham Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 28, 2015 12:00 PM CUT Here’s a look at the year’s 10 most anticipated games for Nintendo’s 3DS gaming handheld, including _Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate_, _The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D_ and _Xenoblade Chronicles_. ### Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate One of the first games to highlight the New Nintendo 3DS’s view-swivelable C-Stick, _Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate_ kicks Capcom’s popular creature-stalking sim into vertical mode, allowing you to leap from ledges, climb walls and even grab-attack the new topographically-mindful monsters. February 13 ### The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D Another New Nintendo 3DS launch title, _Majora’s Mask 3D_ follows in _Ocarina of Time 3D_‘s footsteps: an enhanced remake of one of–if not _the_–best Zelda games in the series’ history. If _Ocarina of Time_ was design legend Shigeru Miyamoto splicing cutesy storytelling with groundbreaking three-dimensional gameplay, _Majora’s Mask_ is director Eiji Aonuma and Yoshiaki Koizumi’s edgier followup, pitting players against a leering, runaway celestial object and time itself. February 13 ### Ironfall: Invasion A third-person shooter that zips along at 60 frames per second and support 6-player online matches, _Ironfall: Invasion_ will run on the original 3DS, but it sounds like it’ll play best on Nintendo’s newer C-Stick-ready handheld, benefitting from the latter’s dual-stick controls and extra Z-triggers. February 2015 ### Pokémon Shuffle Nintendo’s famous gotta-catch-em-all franchise meets free-to-play meets a match-three puzzler in developer GameFreak’s newest Pokémon spinoff. February 2015 ### Story of Seasons A _Harvest Moon_\-like (developer Marvelous Entertainment is known for its work on the long-running _Harvest Moon_ series), _Story of Seasons_ lets players raise ye olde crops and livestock, but in this case you can peddle your wares in an online market composed of various “countries,” each with unique trade-related demands. March 10 ### Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. It’s a new turn-based strategy game from studio Intelligent Systems (_Fire Emblem_, _Advance Wars_, _Paper Mario_), and that’s enough to make this list, but _Code Name: S.T.E.A.M._ adds a steampunk setting, third-person gunnery and a use-or-hedge resource system to heighten its novelty. March 13 ### Fossil Fighters: Frontier Pokémon meets _Jurassic Park_–here you dig up fossils that morph into dinosaurs (called “Vivosaurs”)–in the latest _Fossil Fighters_ game, where players sleuth for fossils while cruising around in buggies, carefully cleaning unearthed samples using the 3DS’s touchpad and ultimately squaring off in 3 vs. 3 online battles. March 20 ### Etrian Mystery Dungeon The dungeon-exploring _Etrian Odyssey_ series meets the roguelike _Mystery Dungeon_ games. It’s not clear yet how that mashup’s going to distinguish itself, but it presumably involves random-generated dungeons, three-dimensional environments and chess-like (I go, you go) combat. April 7 ### Xenoblade Chronicles One of the smartest roleplaying games in the genre’s history comes to the New Nintendo 3DS (and _only_ to the New 3DS–it’ll be the first that taps the new handheld’s souped up processor). This is your chance to play what by all accounts looks to be the definitive version. April 2015 ### Fire Emblem The newest _Fire Emblem_ game by the team behind _Fire Emblem: Awakening_ (the most celebrated in the turn-based strategy _Fire Emblem_ series) promises to marry global movement and local battle maps, while making your narrative choices more impactful. 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