Long live last gen: 10 3DS games we can’t wait for © Nintendo

Amazing how time flies, isn’t it? You know how it is: you look down to play Monster Hunter and beat a few bosses only to find that half a decade has passed and Nintendo is already talking up its next console, the NX . Yep, the Nintendo 3DS is more than five years old already, but despite the gaming giant’s plans to move to mobile as well as a new system that may or may not be a replacement for the Wii U , it’s by no means done.

Whether you’re into timesink JRPGs , Nintendo stalwarts like Zelda , indie eShop titles or – different strokes – Metroid Prime spin-offs that have absolutely nothing to do with Samus, there’s still something on the way for you on the little glasses-free 3D console that could. These are the titles on our radar:

Bravely Second: End Layer

Bravely Default is easily the greatest Final Fantasy game of the last decade: it’s published by Square Enix, has a compellingly old school storyline (‘Powerful crystals gone wrong oh noes’), turn based battles, addictive job system and boasts stunning art design by one of the visionaries behind Final Fantasy XII and Tactics. It just also happens to be a 3DS exclusive, and not carry the Final Fantasy moniker. Still, given how Squeenix has run that franchise into the ground of late, perhaps that’s no bad thing. This sequel promises even more jobs to let you finetune your characters (Fancy being an exorcist that dresses like a cat but with the support skills of a time mage? Go for it) as well as another meaty saga that’ll take you many morning commutes to polish off. Bravely Second is already out in Japan, but due for a Western release next year.

The Legend Of Zelda: Tri-Force Heroes

Sure, we’re still waiting for a proper Zelda game to hit the Wii U (Wind Waker HD doesn’t quite count, folks), but the 3DS is still a portable haven for getting a dose of your much-needed Hyrule fix. While we’ve seen remakes of the two N64 Zelda classics hit the 3D portable, Nintendo’s also crafted a sequel to the SNES adventure A Link to the Past in the form of A Link Between Worlds. The next handheld adventure ditches the wall-merging gimmick for a co-op one instead, letting you buddy up with two of your pals to, uh, help the princess with a bad case of fashion by solving puzzles and clearing temples. Yep, according to early previews, the next Zelda title plants you into into a fashion-forward world where the princess has been cursed with a horrible outfit she can’t get out of – and it’s down to you and your pals to help her out. Tri-Force Heroes? More like, Fashion Police, right? It sounds quite bizarre, but if it’s anything like the previous portable Zelda titles, you should be in for a tiny treat to keep you busy on the go. Grab it when it’s out around the globe in October.

Project X Zone 2

Nobody asked for a strategy RPG crossover between Capcom, Namco and Sega’s most popular series, but Monolith Soft (the studio behind Xenoblade Chronicles) showed us what we were missing with the first X Zone in 2012, a Final Fantasy Tactics style game that let you move across the board, comboing bad guys senseless as Ken, Ryu, Mega Man or even Arthur from Ghosts ‘n Goblins. It’s pure fan service, with a nonsense plot about colliding universes, a strangely compelling fight system and a script stuffed with in-jokes about the strange norms of each world. This time round stars like Leon from Resident Evil and Axel Stone are joining the melee, so expect plenty of gags about pots of magical healing plants and eating turkey off the floor. Also, Space Channel 5’s Ulala is in this one, making it an essential purchase for any rehabilitated Dreamcast owners.

Metroid Prime: Federation Force

When Samus fans around the world were promised a new Metroid game at E3 2015 , the Nintendo hype fire had been well and truly stoked. In hindsight, it’s fair to say this was not the game fans were looking for. Federation Force is more of a spin-off from the Metroid – an attempt to expand the franchise beyond Samus Aran – that sees you play as a Galactic Federation marine, and team up with other marines to shoot your way through the Metroid universe. Sure, there’s a petition for the games’ cancellation floating around, complete with about 22,000 signatures, but you can sign us up as intrigued given that Canadian studio Next Level Games (behind the sublime Luigi’s Mansion 3DS) is at the helm.

Hyrule Warriors Legends

Hyrule Warriors came out near the end of last year on Wii U all told. Nintendo actually collaborated with Tecmo Koei – the brains behind the Dynasty Warriors series – and it plays exactly as you might expect a Zelda x Dynasty Warriors crossover to play, as you battle your way through Hyrule to take down Ganondorf (yes, he’s back again). And with Hyrule Warriors Legends coming to 3DS in early 2016, complete with new DLC characters and stages, there’s really no reason not to give it a try.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

After the Mario RPG saga splintered into the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series, it was inevitable that the two would merge once more in the crossover to end all crossovers (at least until the ghouls-n-J-Pop insanity of Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem hits). Developer AlphaDream is in the hotseat for this one, which sees a Flat Stanley-esque 2D Mario transported to the Mushroom Kingdom with an extra dimension. Sentient fungi are splattered with hammers, coins are hoarded, Bowser is embarrassed; you know the drill by now, and so does Nintendo, so we can’t wait.

Yo-Kai Watch

It would not be overselling things to call Yo-Kai Watch the next Pokémon: it’s the premiere system seller for the 3DS right now in Japan, and has spawned a popular manga, anime and set of video games. Main character Nathan Adams interacts, collects and battles ghosts in a similar vein to Nintendo’s famed Pocket Monsters with the help of a cat that just begs to be sold as a plushie this Christmas. Yo-Kai Watch is poised to make its Western debut later this year along with a translation of the TV series, so brace yourself for the next phenomena – or just accept it and join in the fun.

Monster Hunter X

Along with Phantasy Star Online and similar hack-and-slash RPGs, Monster Hunter has a gigantic fanbase in Japan, but still hasn’t quite managed to break the west in a big way. But Monster Hunter X could be about to change all that, bringing a classic combo of co-op monster slaying and items crafting to 3DS later this year. If you’ve never played Monster Hunter before, be prepared for a challenge – taking down larger boss monsters can be long and gruelling task, but if your idea of a good reward is some shiny loot to help you craft a new weapon, well, Monster Hunter is probably something you should look out for.

Fire Emblem Fates

If you think Nintendo only makes family-friendly games, you haven’t played Fire Emblem. It’s a strategy RPG where your characters make quips about stabbing people, ride around doing just that, occasionally get stabbed themselves and – here’s the thing – never come back. By rights, the series should never have got past the pitch stage (“It’s about a group of medieval knights who move across a grid murdering each other, and then some of them reproduce and their children fall out of a time rift and join the fray because obviously.”) but that’s the beauty of Nintendo: it can take a surreal premise and turn it into something utterly addictive. In this case, the potential perma-death of your favourite characters adds a frightening level of compulsion to every skirmish. After 2013’s near-perfect Fire Emblem Awakening, sequel Fates has expectations set sky high, but developer Intelligent Systems looks set to deliver when the game drops in the West next year.

Mighty No. 9