I received my 3DS for Christmas in 2012. It was the first gaming device that I'd been given as a present since my DS Lite way back in 2007. I enjoyed playing Super Mario 3D Land which would eventually become one of the very few games that I'd complete to 100%.
2013 was indeed a great year for the 3DS. I picked up Mario Kart 7 to tide myself over until 8 came out but the So Many Game Promotion was a big boost to my new handheld. I loved the demo of Fire Emblem: Awakening and I was very keen to get Luigi's Mansion 2. The promotion led to me deciding to pick up Donkey Kong Country: Returns, which I had wanted to play, and Animal Crossing, which I loved on the GameCube but I wasn't sure if I'd still enjoy it. I ended up sinking nearly 100 hours into both Awakening and New Leaf (each) after I had finished Luigi's Mansion 2. I never did complete DKCR but I'll go back to it via Dolphin with dat 60FPS.
The end of 2013 saw the return of three great franchises: mainline Pokémon, Ace Attorney and The Legend of Zelda. I was so hyped to play Pokemon Y that I put over 20 hours into it in the first weekend! Sadly this kind of burnt me out and I've never gone back to move onto the 5th gym. Ill return...one day.
I've had a strange tendency to play Phoenix Wright games in big, spaced out chunks so I ended up completing DUal Destines over a year after it launched. I think that I only completed the first case and about half of the second on around launch while the rest waited for me until the beginning of this year. I think that I even completed Ace Attorney: Investigations in the meantime!
I've owned A Link Between Worlds for nearly a year now but I've yet to even start it
I wanted to complete A Link to the Past first but I never get around to doing it! Perhaps a GRplays LTTP is in order? After Xenoblade Chronicles, of course.
2014 slowed down for the 3DS but, after an incredible 2013, it wasn't too bad to have some time to catch up on old games. I did get caught up in the hype of a new Mario game before the launch of Mario Kart 8 which led to me trying the demo of Mario Golf. I was so impressed by it that I bought a download code from GAME the next morning and I was teeing off regularly thanks to jawa's wonderful tourneys
I was glad to finally get a chance to buy Theatrhythm: Curtain Call as I'd enjoyed the demo of the original but could never find a well-price copy. Sadly I didn't sink as much time into it as I'd have liked but it still has a place in my 3DS for when I want to have a quick go. It has made me keen to play some more Final Fantasy games but I just don't have the time for as many JRPGs as I used to.
The hype of Smash Bros sent me searching for a demo code and I was lucky enough to be sent one from someone on here, plastic, I think. I wanted to play Smash Bros as soon as possible but I wasn't sure about how it would handle on the 3DS. Initially, I wasn't a fan but, after a break of a week, I went back to it and it suddenly clicked. I remember waiting up until midnight to redeem my digital code, having tried throughout the day several times, and having a few matches with Qikz before bed. I managed to clock in over 50 hours of gameplay before the Wii U version was released. It's still amazing to see Smash run at 60FPS in the palm of my hand, even if I haven't played in since getting the Wii U version
One of my gaming highlights of 2015 has been replaying Majora's Mask on the 3DS. The improved framerate makes it an even bigger joy to play what was my favourite Zelda game until Skyward Sword came out. I'm still working my way through the Stone Temple, and some of the remaining side quests, but it's still an absolute pleasure to play after 35 hours. I'm still surprised that I clocked up so many hours without realising it!
I've got a lot of play time out of my 3DS, New 3DS and New 3DS XL and I look forward to many more hours in the future! I've got other games in my 3DS backlog, like Star Fox, Tales of the Abyss and Professor Layton, but I'm also looking forward to future titles, especially Code Name S.T.E.A.M. and the new Fire Emblem game. Hopefully E3 will bring even more life to the 3DS, perhaps with new Metroid and Advance Wars games.