Nintendo's turn-based Pokémon Mystery Dungeon spinoff series makes its way to 3DS for the first time with 3D graphics, dozens of randomly generated dungeons, and a new town-building mechanic in Gates to Infinity. Players once again play as a Pokémon, choosing from Axew, Oshawott, Pikachu, Snivy, or Tepig, and enlisting one of the four remaining playable characters for companionship during adventures and dungeon crawling. Gamers begin their journey in Post Town, where they can shop for goods, learn new moves, and accept quests from fellow Pokémon.

Battling foes and scouring dungeons for treasure earns players rewards that can be used to turn the barren swath of land known as Pokémon Paradise into a thriving city, complete with shops and other facilities. Gamers will encounter many different Pokémon during their travels, including the rare Legendary Pokémon, who may offer helpful advice or become hostile and attack. Players can find dungeons in the wild, or they can use Gates to Infinity's augmented reality features to instantly create Magnagate dungeons by pointing their 3DS camera at any circular object in the real world. Multiplayer fans can join up to three friends for co-op dungeon crawling, and activating StreetPass lets gamers revive friends who have fainted in dungeons. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate combines most of the content from the Wii title Monster Hunter Tri and the Japan-only game "Monster Hunter Portable 3rd" to offer players more than 200 quests full of classic monster-stalking action. As always, gamers take on the role of a hunter and battle large beasts through a variety of locations both on land and in the sea, and then return to their base settlement to take on more quests, exchange goods, purchase items, and upgrade weapons and armor.

Multiplayer remains a core part of the Monster Hunter experience, and 3DS gamers can enlist the help of AI companions or join up to three local friends, including Wii U users, to take on tougher monsters, using their touch screen to quickly access books, maps, weapons, and mini-games. Capcom also plans free post-release DLC updates including new quests and cross-region multiplayer action. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

The first entry in Atlus' Etrian Odyssey series released on 3DS, Legends of the Titan adds new aeronautic adventures and a casual difficulty level to its classically styled RPG action. Called to the city of Tharsis as part of a quest to reach the giant tree Yggdrasil, players form a party and head into the wild to battle a variety of beasts in the top screen, and manually map out the game's labyrinthine dungeon grids in the bottom screen. Combat is turn-based, and a special gauge fills after each action in battle, eventually allowing the party to unleash powerful Burst Skills.

There are ten character classes from which to choose, including Medics, Snipers, and Runemasters, and each character in the party can be assigned a secondary class and acquire new skills as they level up and earn experience. At the hub of Tharsis gamers can acquire quests, recruit new party members, heal their wounds, sell battle spoils for new weapons or armor, and save their game before heading out on more adventures. Players use hot-air balloons to travel to the game's many dungeons, but the world map itself is also home to a variety of treasures and extremely powerful beasts. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Nintendo's popular brain-building series returns with an emphasis on short-term memory and focus in Brain Age: Concentration Training. Working on the premise that a society full of emails, text messages, and video clips has produced an information overload, Concentration Training aims to improve working memory through a variety of five-minute exercises. Dr. Ryuta Kawashima returns to guide gamers through simple math problems, matching, and cup-and-ball mini-games, among other activities, and the game offers dynamic difficulty settings that adjust to players' progress. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Drawn to Life meets Pokémon as players design their own characters, guide them through side-scrolling landscapes and dungeons, and engage in one-on-one battles in Freakyforms Deluxe: Your Creations, Alive! Players begin by creating their own Formees, choosing from more than 600 shapes and customizing their character's color, size, and voice. Gamers then use their stylus and touch screen to guide their Formee through a variety of themed worlds, collecting coins, opening treasure chests, laying eggs, and taking on mini-game challenges put forth by other Formees.

Players unlock themed dungeons as they explore each level, and the goal in each dungeon is to defeat other Formees, collect key-like jewels across three floors, and eventually battle boss characters to unlock special powers. Sharing creations is encouraged in Freakyforms Deluxe, either through random StreetPass encounters or through the trading of QR codes, and up to four gamers can get together to create characters at the same time in the Formee Playhouse. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Based on the titular animated series, Transformers Prime: The Game finds Optimus Prime, the Autobots, and their human friends Jack, Miko, and Raf teaming up to prevent Megatron and the Decepticons from using a mysterious power source to take over Earth. The story mode finds gamers using their stylus and touch screen to engage in brawler-style combat and fast-paced driving sequences, while multiplayer options include co-op action and competitive Brawl, Battle for Energon, and Emblem Match modes. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Aspiring artists of all ages can learn to paint or hone their established skills with Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone! An in-game tutor offers explanations behind basic art, drawing, and painting theories, and step-by-step instructions guide users through 30 different lessons. The Free Paint mode allows for full artistic expression as players use their touch screen and stylus to apply pencil, colored pencil, pastel, and paint to their drawings, and gamers can also use their 3DS camera to snap 3D photos for inspiration, or use the SpotPass feature to share art with friends. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

3DS users once again put themselves in the middle of ABC's hit gameshow as they run, duck, jump, and contort their bodies through a variety of wacky obstacle courses in Wipeout 3. Players use their stylus and touch screen to guide their character through 12 new winter and summer courses, avoiding familiar pitfalls like the "Sweeper Arms" and "Big Balls," and watching replays of outrageous spills. Multiplayer fans can join friends for local or online competitions, and gamers can visit the new Wipeout Shop to purchase performance enhancers or unlock new characters. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Ubisoft's multifaceted puzzle collection heads to the 3DS for the first time with eight new activities and more than 1,200 new puzzles in Puzzler World 2012 3D. Gamers can challenge themselves with the new "Drop Zone" and "Pathfinder" puzzles, or take on bonus puzzles like "Hangman," "Chain Letters," and "Splitwords," all the while earning trophies and rewards for their accomplishments. Players can also use their stylus and touch screen to teach the game their individual handwriting for letters and numbers, and collect hint tokens for use when puzzles get too difficult. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Nintendo's flagship franchise returns to its side-scrolling roots with a new focus on coin collection in New Super Mario Bros. 2. Levels are filled with power-ups and classic koopa-kicking, goomba-squashing action as players run, jump, fly, and warp through pipes. New features include the Golden Flower power-up and special rings, which respectively transform blocks and enemies into coins, and a mask that creates a coin trail behind Mario as he runs. The game also offers local wireless two-player co-op action, and asynchronous "Coin Rush" multiplayer competitions via StreetPass. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide