Every Nintendo eshop exclusive/download only game that looked interesting to me (from Wikipedia lists).

You can buy practically none of these anymore. Technically the Guild01 games are still available because of the 3DS game in Japan, but their english translation can no longer be bought.
Many of these may look like nothing but shovelware, but some are actually gems.
I'm including DSi-ware/Wii-ware and 3DS/Wii U eshop exclusives in this list (basically every online storefront Nintendo had before the Switch).
To make it easy to see what game is on what console, I'll have DSi-ware first (arranged alphabetically), and then Wii-Ware starting alphabetically, and so on for 3DS and Wii U (that way, you can just follow the first letters of the titles to see if they go back to A, then you know the console has changed.)

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords - Anniversary Edition
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords - Anniversary Edition
Pushmo
Pushmo
Boxboy!
Boxboy!
My Pokémon Ranch
My Pokémon Ranch
Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale
Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale
Shantae: Risky's Revenge
Shantae: Risky's Revenge
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!
HarmoKnight
HarmoKnight
Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth
Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth
WarioWare: Snapped!
WarioWare: Snapped!
Liberation Maiden
Liberation Maiden
Pokémon Rumble U
Pokémon Rumble U
Not a very good game, but I'm keeping it because it's still interesting
Photo Dojo
Photo Dojo
Stretchmo
Stretchmo
Dillon's Rolling Western
Dillon's Rolling Western
Crashmo
Crashmo
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars
LostWinds
LostWinds
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - My Life as a King
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - My Life as a King
Mini Mario & Friends: Amiibo Challenge
Mini Mario & Friends: Amiibo Challenge
Dr. Luigi
Dr. Luigi
Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure
Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure
Crimson Shroud
Crimson Shroud
Pushmo World
Pushmo World
Chibi-Robo!: Photo Finder
Chibi-Robo!: Photo Finder
Fluidity
Fluidity
Contra ReBirth
Contra ReBirth
Freakyforms: Your Creations, Alive!
Freakyforms: Your Creations, Alive!
The Denpa Men: They Came By Wave
The Denpa Men: They Came By Wave
Dr. Mario Express
Dr. Mario Express
Automaton Lung
Automaton Lung
Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword
Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword
Brain Age Express: Math
Brain Age Express: Math
Aura Aura Climber
Aura Aura Climber
Affordable Space Adventures
Affordable Space Adventures
Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters
Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters
Dark Void Zero
Dark Void Zero
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - My Life as a Darklord
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - My Life as a Darklord
Bomberman Blitz
Bomberman Blitz
Lost Reavers
Lost Reavers
Note: not a very good game
The Starship Damrey
The Starship Damrey
Dragon Quest Wars
Dragon Quest Wars
Excitebike: World Rally
Excitebike: World Rally
Jett Rocket
Jett Rocket
The Denpa Men 2: Beyond the Waves
The Denpa Men 2: Beyond the Waves
Aero Porter
Aero Porter
Dillon's Rolling Western: The Last Ranger
Dillon's Rolling Western: The Last Ranger
The Denpa Men 3: The Rise of Digitoll
The Denpa Men 3: The Rise of Digitoll
Mighty Milky Way
Mighty Milky Way
Mighty Flip Champs!
Mighty Flip Champs!
A Kappa's Trail
A Kappa's Trail
BlayzBloo: Super Melee Action Battle Royale
BlayzBloo: Super Melee Action Battle Royale
Brain Age Express: Sudoku
Brain Age Express: Sudoku
Metal Torrent
Metal Torrent
Tokyo Crash Mobs
Tokyo Crash Mobs
Let's Catch
Let's Catch
Blaster Master: Overdrive
Blaster Master: Overdrive
Bonsai Barber
Bonsai Barber
Chasing Aurora
Chasing Aurora
Mr. Driller: Drill Till You Drop
Mr. Driller: Drill Till You Drop
Adventure Island: The Beginning
Adventure Island: The Beginning
Siesta Fiesta
Siesta Fiesta
Harold's Walk
Harold's Walk
Harvest Moon: My Little Shop
Harvest Moon: My Little Shop
Snowpack Park
Snowpack Park
Crash-Course Domo
Crash-Course Domo
Pro Jumper! Guilty Gear Tangent!?
Pro Jumper! Guilty Gear Tangent!?
Bit Boy!!
Bit Boy!!
Pole's Big Adventure
Pole's Big Adventure
DodoGo! Robo
DodoGo! Robo
Go! Go! Kokopolo: Harmonious Forest Revenge
Go! Go! Kokopolo: Harmonious Forest Revenge
Magical Whip: Wizards of Phantasmal Forest
Magical Whip: Wizards of Phantasmal Forest
Candle Route
Candle Route
Face Pilot: Fly With Your Nintendo DSi Camera!
Face Pilot: Fly With Your Nintendo DSi Camera!
Rabi Laby
Rabi Laby
AquaSpace
AquaSpace
DodoGo!
DodoGo!
The Magic Obelisk
The Magic Obelisk
Escape Trick: Convenience Store
Escape Trick: Convenience Store
Hard-Hat Domo
Hard-Hat Domo
Gaia's Moon
Gaia's Moon
A Topsy Turvy Life: The Turvys Strike Back
A Topsy Turvy Life: The Turvys Strike Back
B3 Game Expo For Bees
B3 Game Expo For Bees
Critter Round-Up
Critter Round-Up
Eco Shooter: Plant 530
Eco Shooter: Plant 530
Kemonomix+
Kemonomix+
Maestro! Green Groove
Maestro! Green Groove
Discipline: Teikoku no Tanjou
Discipline: Teikoku no Tanjou
Evasive Space
Evasive Space
Fantastic Tambourine
Fantastic Tambourine
My Zoo
My Zoo
Nintendoji
Nintendoji
Cosmos X2
Cosmos X2
Flowerworks
Flowerworks
Divergent Shift
Divergent Shift
EctoPlaza
EctoPlaza
Galaxy Saver
Galaxy Saver
Lucentek: Activate
Lucentek: Activate
Pokémon Fushigi no Dungeon: Ikuzo! Arashi/Mezase! Hikari/Susume! Honoo no Boukendan
Pokémon Fushigi no Dungeon: Ikuzo! Arashi/Mezase! Hikari/Susume! Honoo no Boukendan

10 Comments


3 months ago

Not played many of these, but I recommend Pro Jumper, Box Boy, Automaton Lung, and Metal Torrent are worth playing (Metal Torrent to the least degree, though). I love Dr. Mario so I don't not recommend those, but you'd be better off just getting Miracle Curse, there's no real reason to play Express or Dr. Luigi if you've got Miracle Cure.

3 months ago

Worth mentioning that Jett Rocket has a sequel on the 3DS.

3 months ago

@electrode
Thanks for the reccs! I had no idea myself what most of these games were like, since I've only played a very select few of them. I picked the list mostly on what looked interesting, so it's nice to know that some of these are actually solid (although I might have thrown in an interesting trainwreck like Lucentek Activate),
For me my picks would be Chibi Robo! Photo Finder, Mario & Donkey Kong Tipping Stars, Pushmo/Crashmo (all the -MO's), Crimson Shroud, and Attack of the Friday Monsters are really good even though technically only the English version is an Eshop exclusive with the Guild01 Compilation getting a physical release as a 3DS game in Japan. Harmoknight is awesome too.

Anyhoo, thanks, I'll check out those now!

3 months ago

I also thought of throwing some Gameloft games in here, like Castle of Magic, because of fond memories of them but I have no clue how they hold up.

3 months ago

I'm sure there are more you'd probably find interesting than just these. In fact, I have one in particular, I just can't remember the name of it lol. Hope you enjoy these, a lot are very overlooked.

3 months ago

liberation maiden hell yeah. despite its short length its prob the best eshop game i bought

3 months ago

@imshitting420 There was a lot of heavy-hitters like Liberation Maiden that are gone to the wind now sadly (except for H-sho- woops, I mean preservation efforts.) I agree, I'm getting more into Suda51's projects since I've been playing Flower, Sun and Rain recently.

3 months ago

^I also recommend BoxBoy if you want a good puzzler! I haven’t finished Nintendoji but it’s really cool, but EXTREMELY wordy with no English patch atm.

3 months ago

@qbbyamiibo I honestly haven't played BoxBoy despite hearing a lot about it, just realized your username is named after the main character of that game, didn't even realize that! I'm putting it on my want-to-play list and will probably get to it soon!
About Nintendoji, it seems really cool but I'll have to wait until we are graced by a translation or I'll stick it out/learn japanese. The amount of interesting Japan-only games without translations is a ton, and it's hard work to translate them, so I'm glad we get any of them really. I like the (ancient Japan?) vibes of Nintendoji.

3 months ago

Haha yeah, I maaaay be a bit biased towards those games! But they're short and sweet, you could probably finish the main game in one sitting if you really wanted. Let me know your thoughts if/when you play!
Nintendoji is really cool! It's kinda hard to talk about without going on a huge tangent, but like, I see why it was a JP exclusive but it's also a bit sad as I really enjoy what I played so far. Since it was a DSiWare game made specifically for the 3DS, the visuals are really good but still have that DS crunch. It kind of gives me Majora's Mask vibes.


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