The Top 10 Best-Selling Nintendo 3DS Games (As Of June 2018)

It's not gonna change anytime soon, unless a mysterious pokemon game appears from thin air. Good list too. As I am one of the few Tomodachi Life appreciaters, the game is a nice cap.

An amazing console.

Surprised A Link Between Worlds is not up there. Just goes to show how many ridiculously popular and great franchises Nintendo has up it’s sleeve.

@ieatdragonz : They may as well have made a 3DS port of Let's Go as it seems significantly less sophisticated than the Gen VI games, let alone Gen VII.

My Top 10 3DS games : (Updated 2018)
1. Animal Crossing New Leaf
2. Fantasy Life
3. Miitopia
4. Disney Magical World 2
5. Style Savvy Fashion Forward
6. Paper Mario Sticker Star
7. Mario Kart 7
8. Pokemon X
9. Dillon's Dead Heat Breakers
10. Tomodachi Life

@Silly_G I know that sounds like a valid buisness strategy, but imagining a pokemon game with four different possible copies gives me nightmares for the parents. Hell, my sister would probably buy into it. For now, I'm thankful the less sophisticated Lets Go is console exclusive.

Though, imagine if it was a theoretical third version, what pokemon could it even be? Jigglypuff? Clefairy? Its like being the youngest child and getting the worst of wear handmedowns haha.

Surprised there's no Zelda. Ocarina and LBW were great (didn't play Majoras). Also surprised no Fire Emblem title was there.

No samus returns 😱metroid doomed!

@sandman89 I know you're joking, but now you got me worrying. How did Samus Returns sell? From my knowledge, none of Nintendos quaterly reports had even mentioned the game. Does it fall out of Nintendos report because of Mercury Steam not being true first party?

I really do hope it was a success. Third favorite game of 2017 behind Mario and Zelda. Im am 2000% sure Metroid Prime 4 will do better considering the state of fps, the console its on, the influx of more mature game buyers, and its recognizability (even people who never playd Prime got hyped).

Ive posted three text walls in this article alone lol. I just love talking about the 3DS. Its life is almost over, why not reminicise?

I'm honestly surprised Tomodachi Life sold so many copies. Didn't think it was that popular.

@Anti-Matter Fantasy Life was so so good! I truly hope there is one planned for the Switch. I heard they had a mobile game planned but I really hope not. I don't like gaming on my phone.

@ieatdragonz : I think Clefairy, Jigglypuff, or hell, just for funnies, Magikarp would have been better options as the second version over Eevee. Without the ability to evolve Eevee, the most appealing thing about the Pokémon is rendered null and void.

Clefairy would have been a nice choice, I think. It would have brought things full circle by having it release alongside Pikachu as Clefairy was once considered to be the series mascot. I think they played it far too safe with Eevee, who is relatively banal in comparison.

@Silly_G I'm holding out hope for a Magikarp reversible cover.

I remember debating with someone who told me that Animal Crossing wasn't a major release and didn't have "system seller" power. Given that it's right up there with Mario and Pokemon, I beg to differ. New Leaf still charts in Japan almost every single week. I find it amazing that Nintendo didn't flex the Animal Crossing muscle this year on Switch, it would sell systems for sure. Perhaps the mobile game releasing this year pushed it back.

@ieatdragonz I paid £10 for Metroid Returns - the big Nintendo games rarely get cut to that price. It’s a great game that flopped big time. It probably sold well for a normal game (to be in context) but I’m fairly sure Nintendo were disappointed

@Cynas

If I recall correctly, it was a big hit in Europe and Japan.

@Silly_G I can see your reasoning, but here's why I think Eevee is a more interesting pick. As far as starters have gone, it has been the typical fire water grass, with pikachu being the exception. Eevee being a normal type breaks that mold and is not a bad choice for a new type to experiment with. If Jiggly or Clefairy were still normal, that would be great, but as they are fairy types now, it just feels weird and especially so in a gen 1 remake (a gen where fairy didnt exist).

Magikarp though? Would be not only a brave decision, but one that would be successful. Kids are quirky, they dont just simply want the cutest fake animal, magikarp would be a fun and memorable pick.

@Carnictis Thank you very much, always afraid to spam a forum. Makes me feel like Im controlling discussion. Hope its untrue

I wonder if those numbers include pack-in games? That might explain why Tomodachi life is unexpectedly high (there’s a 2ds bundle with it)

Hahaha. Pokemon XY are the best selling Pokemon games on 3DS. My favorites. 😘♥️

This is where I've always felt a disconnect with Nintendo's handheld community. Of that entire list I only own Mario Kart 7 and 3D Land and Mario 2. I don't care much about Pokemon, I've never had any interest in Animal Crossing or Tomodachi Life. My top 10 most played 3DS games according to system data are:
1. Fire Emblem Awakening
2. A Link Between Worlds
3. Metroid Samus Returns
4. Tom Clancy's Ghost Protocol
5. Fire Emblem Echos
6. Ocarina of Time
7. Mario Kart 7
8. Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
9. DKCR
10. Majora's Mask.

Share yours!

@Anti-Matter Interested to see you rate Fantasy Life so highly, it's in my backlog and I'm going to play it soon.

@Turrican280 Mario and Pokemon make up the majority of the list. That’s not many

I'm mildly surprised to see Tomodachi Life on there but otherwise this is pretty much what I expected.

My own top ten:

1. A Link Between Worlds
2. Ocarina of Time
3. Xenoblade Chronicles
4. Super Mario 3D Land
5. Fire Emblem Awakening
6. Bravely Second
7. Dragon Quest 8
8. Resident Evil Revelations
9. Etrian Odyssey IV
10. Virtue's Last Reward

There are so many good games though that it would probably be a different list tomorrow.

@Al_Godoy My top 10 most played (which is different to my top 10 favourite):
1. Animal Crossing: New Leaf
2. Internet Browser (apparently I used this for over 72 hours???)
3. Pokémon X
4. Pokémon Sun
5. Ace Attorney Trilogy
6. Pokémon Ultra Moon
7. Pokémon White 2 (not actually a 3DS game)
8. Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
9. Pokémon Alpha Sapphire
10. Ocarina of Time 3D

There are still several 3DS games I want to play but haven't yet, so I'm sure this list will be different in a couple of years.

@Dogorilla nice going on that Internet Browser! BTW my top 10 most played isn't my top 10 favorite either, but it is a fun statistic. My no1 is fire Emblem Awakening for a looooooot and I don't consider ir my favourite game, however it got me thinking about getting FE Fates, since I clearly love playing strategy games.

Let's see, discounting non-games like the browser and any DS games, my activity log shows my most played games to be...
1. Pokémon Shuffle
2. Pokémon Rumble World
3. Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
4. Pokémon Y
5. Fire Emblem Awakening
6. Kid Icarus: Uprising
7. Team Kirby Clash Deluxe
8. Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition
9. Dead or Alive Dimensions
10. Mario Kart 7

3DS library is amazing, and I for one think that last year we had amazing games for the 3ds: Ever Oasis, Fire emblem 2 remake, Metroid 2 remake, Ultra Sun and Moon and Monster Hunter Stories! For me 3DS 2017 is way better than Switch’s 2018!!! :3

My top 3, i can't decide the order after this though, infact even the top 3 was kinda hard.

1) A Link Between worlds
2) Majoras Mask (i never actually got to complete this on the N64, and from my memory of what i did play, i personally prefer this remake)
3) Ocarina of time (i never actually played the master edition before this, on;y the first one twice over, so to play the master edition with harder dungeons was defo good)

The problem with my top 3 or even a top 10 is i have about 15+ other games that i enjoyed and 4 of them as much as each other, Star Fox 64, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7, and unfortunately any one of those would break my top 3 if it wasn't for the other.

Can't choose so thats the best i can give.

And yes, if you haven't figured it out, Zelda is my favorite Nintendo franchise.

Tomodachi Life should be remastered for switch, it would be very popular on there as well

My top 5 in no particular order are
Pokeman
Pokeyman
Pocket monsters
Pokemon
Ssb4

Not a single third party title made it up there and people wonder why third parties stop making games for Nintendo systems after one or two releases.

@LUIGITORNADO

I think what I wanted to convey was, Nintendo have so many franchises not included in that list (Zelda, DK, Luigi’s Mansion, Monster Hunter, Metroid, Fire Emblem etc.) that I would have thought would be on the list. So it was surprising for me to see games I didn’t expect to be as popular to outsell them; therefore reminding me how many popular franchises Nintendo have.

Which can’t be a bad thing 🙂

I'm surprised by no Zelda at all or FE Awakening. Or 3rd party games for that matter.

FE Awakening is my personal best 3DS game ever

@baller478

I thought that would be up there!

Ocarina of Time 3D is the 11th best-selling 3DS game and has sold nearly 6 million copies, which is an amazing figure for a remake of a 7.6 million seller on the N64. Of course, a good deal of those sales come from the 2DS bundles, but nevertheless, it is by far the best-selling handheld Zelda game (excluding Breath of the Wild, obviously).

Other than that, the list of Top-selling 3DS games is pretty much expected - a ton of Pokemon, Mario Kart, NSMB, 3D Land, Animal Crossing, Smash Bros, etc.

Tomodachi Life's success is amazing for the type of game it is. There needs to be a sequel on Switch sooner that later as the game is hugely popular in Europe and Japan.

3DS was my favorite console for 5 years. I still love it. It clearly shines. It is an RPG lovers dream.

My top 10 from play data:

1. StreetPass Mii Plaza
2. Animal Crossing
3. Nintendo Pocket Football Club
4. Mario &Sonic London 2012
5. Fantasy Life
6. Hyrule Warriors Legends
7. DK Country Returns
8. Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon
9. Rayman Origins
10. Fallblox

One of my favourite systems of all time.

Oh man, even an unpopular Pokemon game that almost nobody I know owns sold close to 8 million copies. Pokemon Let's Go! is tear the charts apart in November worldwide (aside from the UK, where all they buy are Crash Bandicoot, GTA V, and soccer games).

@Al_Godoy I belong to the rather small demography of Nintendo 3DS owners, that mostly prefer playing 3rd party games on the platform (which probably shows in my list).

Top 10 most played games (including DS games):
1. Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
2. Resident Evil Revelations
3. Castlevania LOS Mirror of Fate
4. Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D
5. Resident Evil: Deadly Silence (DS)
6. Konami Arcade Classics (DS)
7. Splinter Cell 3D
8. Dementium Remastered
9. Runaway: Twist of Fate (DS)
10. Secret File: Tunguska (DS)

@ieatdragonz I expect metroid prime 4 to sell well but bear in mind that the series was never a heavy hitter (I believe the best selling one did around 2M+) and that super metroid is actually one of it sold the least due to come out very late in the SNES when the PlayStation launched

Those Pokémon numbers disgust me with how mediocre the 3DS era games were, but everything else is about right.

Mario kart 7 deserves some new tracks, they would've made a killing....

@Balta666 Yeah, I know the situation. Theres a reason why the series took so long to come back. I have already conceeded the fact that Japan will never fully appreciate the games, but imo, the other games in America were just due to mistimming or lack of advertising.

Thankfully word of mouth has been Metroid's kindest friend. Switch will lilely be over gamecube numbers by the time Prime 4 comes out, and surpass the sales of any game in the series (except maybe the original). Its also the best fitting console thus far for any 3D immersive game.

Just, you know, I feel bad for Samus Returns. Just like so many Metroid games, it was doomed by the moving audience and some bad press (amiibo content locking). At least MercurySteam seem pretty happy about it (from an article a sometime in July).

@SethNintendo True, it's not very good relatively speaking, but it works fine with web sites it can actually load. I personally find it perfect for reading online fan fiction while lying in bed or on a couch.

Those aren't surprising when you consider the long-lasting popularity of many of those franchises, plus some of those games were bundled with systems as well. My red OG 3DS shipped with a physical copy of Super Mario 3D Land back in early 2012.

I am kinda surprised that there's not a Zelda title in the top ten, but I bet they would have sneaked into the top 20.

@ieatdragonz
By the end of March 2018, Metroid Samus Returns had yet to reach 1 million copies shipped.

@nintendoPLAYROOM
Too Late.
Level-5 had released Fantasy Life 2 & Fantasy Life Online on mobile.
Hopefully they port Fantasy Life 2 & Fantasy Life Online to Nintendo Switch.

@Anti-Matter Interesting, I'm guessing they haven't released it outside of Japan just yet. I found an article stating Fantasy Life Online released in Japan at the end of July.

@Cynas

It’s really popular in Japan and Europe. And it did solid in America too.

Anyways it’s not surprising to see Zelda missing. Look at DS Top ten(In millions)

New Super Mario Bros: 30.80 million
nintendogs
: 23.96 million
Mario Kart DS
 23.60 million
Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day 
19.01 million
Pokémon Diamond Version/Pearl Version
 17.67
Pokémon Black Version/White Version
 16.64
Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day
 14.88
Pokémon HeartGold Version/SoulSilver Version: 
12.72
Animal Crossing: Wild World
: 11.75
Super Mario 64 DS
: 11.06

Wii is similar.

Zelda sells systems and is a critical darling and always does well In Sales...but it doesn’t hit as wide an audience as Mario, Pokemon etc.

BOTW is the first Zelda game that is looking to sell on par with Mario Platformers, Pokemon and the like. 9.48 Million(Switch version alone) and it’s not losing any momentum at all.

However as of March 31st 2018 Ocarina of time 3D was at 5.60 Million in sales. Behind only Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon netting it the #12 spot. We haven’t had a sales update on Link Between world since March 2014 but I dare say with it getting a Selects release(In Europe a couple years back and America early this year) and a hardware bundle at GameStop, as well as being freakin Zelda it’s probably not too far behind OOT.

My top ten favorites:
1. VVVVVV
2. Mutant Mudds
3. PilotWings Resort
4. Pokemon X/Y
5. Super Mario 3D Land
6. Pokemon ORAS
7. Retro City Rampage
8. Sonic Lost World
9. Pokemon Sun/Moon
10. Animal Crossing: New Leaf

To further expand the top 20 to the best of our knowledge would be...

1 Mario Kart 7 17.21 (As of June 31st 2018)
2 Pokémon X/Y 16.31 (As of June 31st 2018)
3 Pokémon Sun/Moon 16.10 (As of June 31st 2018)
4 Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire 14.10 (As of June 31st 2018)
5 New Super Mario Bros 2 12.70 (As of June 31st 2018)
6 Super Mario 3D Land 12.12 (As of June 31st 2018)
7 Animal Crossing New Leaf 11.78 (As of June 31st 2018)
8 Super Smash Bros 9.30 (As of June 31st 2018)
9 Pokémon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon 7.72 (As of June 31st 2018)
10 Tomodachi Life 6.25 (As of June 31st 2018)
11 Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon 5.75 (As of December 31st 2017)
12 Legend of Zelda Ocarina of time 3D 5.62 (As of December 31st 2017)
13 Monster Hunter Generations 4.3(As of March 31st 2018)
14 Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate 4.2(As of March 31st 2018)
15 Monster Hunter 4: 4.1(As of March 31st 2018)
16 Nintendogs + Cats 3.96 (As of December 31st 2015)
17 Yokai Watch 2: 3.16(Japan sales only)
18 Animal Crossing Happy Home designer 3.04(As of March 31st 2016)
19 Super Mario Maker 2.93(As of December 31st 2017)
20 Legend of Zelda Link Between Worlds 2.90(As of March 31st 2014)

Link Between Worlds current sales are likely several places up though.

Surprises? Only Tomodachi Life.

Co-signing the "Tomodachi Life was the surprise here" comments.

Based on overall impressions, I'd say Fire Emblem Awakening and Shin Megami Tensei IV are the absolute must-haves I'd recommend to fellow 3DS owners, I keep going back to them over and over. I'd add Pokemon ORAS as the token 3DS Pokemon to finish off my top 3.

Based on total play time, my top 10 is:
1. Pokemon Omega Ruby
2. Fire Emblem Awakening
3. Persona Q
4. Shin Megami Tensei IV
5. Fire Emblem Fates (PSA: only Conquest is worth it)
6. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
7. Pokemon Sun
8. Pokemon X (half the play time of Sun. Favorite gen design-wise, but god I disliked everything else)
9. Xenoblade Chronicles 3D (Not even close to finishing it, it should rise a lot)
10. Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward

Would probably enjoy but can't be bothered to buy on 3DS/give me a remastered Switch port or sequel:
1.Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology
2.Fire Emblem Echoes
3.Devil Survivor Overclocked/Record Breaker

@Silly_G Jigglypuff (or Meowth, let's be honest) would have made so much sense as the second Let's Go mascot; just off the anime it's the most memorable Gen 1 mon besides Pikachu and the 3 starters, enough to also completely eclipse its evolution (like Pikachu). The no-evolution rule is why I'm a bit confused over Eevee.

Oh, and Magikarp should definitely be the contender for a potential 3rd version.

@NatalieH Nice to see some hidden gems in your list like Mutant Mudds, Pilotwings Resort and Sonic Lost Wold. Haven't played VVVVV yet but got it on Switch recently so looking forward to giving it a go.

Not much love for Kirby here

I think I only have one of those games. Guess I'm not a top tenner?

I have seven of the top ten titles. I'm a little shocked that The Legand of Zelda , Kid Icarus or Fire Emblem didn't round out the top ten, I hope Metroid did well also such a great game. 3DS the little system that could what a phenomenal system it is hands down my all time favorite Nintendo system an unlimited number of fantastic titles, long live the king 🤘👑❤

I’ve always been a bit surprised by how well Tomodachi performed - not that it is a bad game or anything.

I am surprised to see Tomodachi Life of all things outsold Zelda a Link Between Worlds and Fire Emblem Awakening.

The Mario game where you just spam coins selling more than 3D Land is tragic.

Anyone know how the ratio between sold 1st party and 3rd party games on the 3DS is approximately?
It must be at least 3:1, which is pretty crazy when you think about it.
But that's the power of Nintendo i guess.

Edit: Well, if we look at the Switch, Nintendo's million selling games have sold 47.53 million out of a total of 86.93 million games sold and that's not counting the likes of Bayonetta 1 + 2, Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, Snipperclips, Sushi Striker and Fire Emblem Warriors.

This means that approximately 55% of the games sold are Nintendo 1st party (or to a small degree 2nd party) games and when you take into account that Indie games are very popular on the Switch, then probably at least 3 out of 4 of the 60$ variant of games sold on the Switch are Nintendo games.

So we can probably conclude that the same can be said about 3DS games.

Never understood the Pokemon craze.

@MaseSco You need to play Majora's Mask. It is better than Ocarina of Time, in my opinion.

@retro_player_22 @SethNintendo @Turrican280 @shgamer This is only first party games to show off that Nintendo games are selling well. Nintendo doesn’t include third party games in their financial numbers.

@Mrtoad yeah, they do if they sell 1 million copies, but as you see, the highest selling games on Nintendo systems are Nintendo owned IP's. That's just the way it is, people buy Nintendo systems for Nintendo games, not 3rd party games, and that's why they don't sell, which is why they don't get listed in the top 10.

@MoonKnight7 yes, and no. Yes, it's a system seller, but to a VERY specific demographic (Japanese females). The highest sales for every handheld variant have come from Japan, and something like 70% of that group is female. That's why when Kimishima said they needed to find a way to sell Switch to more Japanese females, it's like uh, Iwata knew how to do it- MAKE A DAM ANIMAL CROSSING GAME!!

@pika677 This isn’t a list of million sellersthough this is the top 10 best selling Nintendo published games for the system for investors. We know that at least 3 3rd party Switch games have reached one million copies sold, why weren’t they on last quarter’s charts hmmmmm?

@Mrtoad I had to go back digging through Nintendo's financial report- all the way back to 2014, but here on the list of million selling 3DS games is listed Lego, proving that Nintendo does indeed reveal 3rd party games when they reach 1 million. Link to proof: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2014/140508e.pdf

And to say why is because they didn't sell 1 million copies, Lego did, and is listed, others within the fiscal year didn't.

@Mrtoad and to answer more clearly, if the game doesn't sell 1 million within the fiscal year, it doesn't get listed, 1 million is the threshold, so unless it somehow manages to outsell 1st party Nintendo games on a Nintendo system, the fiscal year 1 million sales is the only way it's going to get listed. Lego City Undercover proves it, selling just over 1 million units in a fiscal year for 3DS.

@pika677 LEGO City Undercover was published by Nintendo on 3DS and Wii U, but nice try. And again this isn’t a million sellers list this is a top ten best preforming first party games, not a complete million sellers list.

Publishing a game=a first party game @pika677

EDIT: I really screwed up the wording of this. I meant it more as that a second or third party was as worthwhile for Nintendo’s financial reports as a first party game, but man I made it sound like publishing a game automatically made it a first party game. I’m sorry, if I confused anyone and hope that I did not spread any misinformation. I’m sorry for being both tired and an idiot.

@Mrtoad huh, so a game on Wii U, PS4 and XBox was published by NINTENDO, huh, try again yourself. DEVELOPER=party, not publisher. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_City_Undercover

Oh, and what is the title of this again? It's A THIRD PARTY GAME, PUBLISHER DOESN'T MEAN DEVELOPER, PUBLISHER IS PLATFORM!!

https://www.polygon.com/2017/3/27/15078334/lego-city-undercover-download-size-nintendo-switch

@Mrtoad good job showing everyone how ignorance can be cured, but stupidity cannot.

@Mrtoad
Ah I see. Would be interesting to see those figures to. Thanks

@stache13 It's on my list. After I finish Bravely 1 & 2, Project X Zone & Luigis Mansion 2.

It breaks my heart that almost everyone seems to have forgotten Kid Icarus or doesn't care... :c

All first party games.

And, I didn't really expect the remakes of Zelda games to top the biggest new first party games on 3DS, but it would have been nice if A Link Between Worlds had made the list. Although I expect the kind fugly art style put off quite a lot of people. If they had made that game look like the current Pokemon Let's Go games, albeit in lower resolution obviously, then I really think it would have made this list. I believe ugly visual choices really can have a huge impact.

@pika677
Publisher(s)
Wii U
Nintendo
Huh but thanks for being civil about the whole thing.

3DS. It's the Pokémon platform!

I love the comments from people who think that the lack of 3rd party-published games in a list of top-selling 1st party-published games means that no 3rd party game sold well on the 3DS.

The same applies to the comments on the article about the best-selling Switch games.

Some people either need to read or stop trying so hard to bash Nintendo's success.

@westman98 If I could “love” this comment 100 times I would.

@nintendoPLAYROOM It was released. Last week, I think.
Several Fantasy Life player groups on the Internet have already tried it out.

Lots of pokemon? I'm very ok with this

@SethNintendo No I still feel that third party games deserve better. Seeing 1st party titles hog the entire top 10 is not an interesting thing to see. It's like seeing a kung fu movie with the entire top 10 cast as a bunch of white actors when some Asians could had made to the list.

And Fire Emblem Awakening is better than all of them.