It’s time for the third part of our look at the games coming out from now until the end of the year. Today, we’ll look at Nintendo’s systems, the portable 3DS and the Wii U console. Both have a healthy amount of exclusives coming out for the holiday season.
You can learn more about them in our list, or you can check out our previous early holiday gaming guides below:
Part 1: PlayStation 4, PS3, and Vita
Part 2: Xbox One and 360
Part 3: Wii U and Nintendo 3DS
Part 4: PC
Part 5: Multiplatform
Cooking Mama 5: Bon Appetit!
Above: No one does it better than Mama.
Platform: 3DS
Release date. Sept. 16
The Cooking Mama series lets players become virtual chefs by using the touch screen to chop vegetables, flip pans, and do all that other stuff that merits an apron. This is the second entry in the series to come out on the 3DS.
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call
Platform: 3DS
Release date: Sept. 16
Curtain Call is a sequel to 2012’s Theatrhythm. Like its predecessor, it’s a music-based game that allows players to tap their way through a large song selection that includes tunes from multiple games in the Final Fantasy series.
Hyrule Warriors
Platform: Wii U
Release date: Sept. 26
Hyrule Warriors is a Zelda game that plays like an entry in the Dynasty Warriors franchise. You can play as one of many heroes and villains from the Zelda series and battle gigantic armies, capture bases, and lead your own troops.
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
Platform: 3DS
Release date: Oct. 3
This is the first portable entry in Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series, which brings together characters from different Nintendo games and some third-party guest stars into a four-player fighting experience. The 3DS version has the same roster coming to the Wii U game later this year, which includes new characters like Mega Man, Pac-Man, and the Wii Fit Trainer.
Bayonetta 2
Platform: Wii U
Release date: Oct. 24
The first Bayonetta was an action title for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 that featured the sort of brutality and titillation you wouldn’t expect to see in a Nintendo exclusive. However, this sequel, which promises even more ultraviolence and hair-based combat, will only be available for the Wii U. It will come packaged with a port of the original game.
Fantasy Life
Platform: 3DS
Release date: Oct. 24
Fantasy Life is a role-playing game with a heavy emphasis on gathering and crafting. It comes from Level 5, the same studio responsible for the Professor Layton series and the PlayStation 3 RPG Ni no Kuni.