3DS Sneak Peek: Mario & Luigi: Dream Team and Professor Layton and the Azran Legacies

Nintendo 3DS and 3DS XL gamers have gotten a whole lot of love in the last month or two, with new releases including Fire Emblem Awakening, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon – Gates to Infinity and announcements of new entries in the Mario Golf, Mario & Luigi series of Super Mario games, as well as an upcoming Professor Layton game. With all of that, it’s sure to be a big year for Nintendo’s handheld. Here’s what we know about two of the biggest 3DS releases of this year:

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

Luigi has already had one starring role this year in Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, but Nintendo is giving him another chance to shine in the latest entry in the Mario & Luigi RPG series. As you can guess from the title, a good portion of the game takes place inside Luigi’s dreams. Players will interact with Luigi’s face on the touchscreen in order to manipulate his dreams, while Mario explores Luigi’s mind – a mind in which Luigi is the hero.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has confirmed that Luigi is not necessarily the cowardly younger brother in his dreams, but is a brave warrior. In the dream world, which features a sidescrolling perspective, Mario can be assisted by multiple Luigi clones. Screenshots have shown such attacks as a mob of Luigis plowing through enemies.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team will be released this summer.

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacies

The latest, and possibly final, entry in the Professor Layton series released in Japan on February 28th, but there’s been no word of a release elsewhere.

The game takes place in the middle of the franchise’s timeline – before Curious Village and after The Miracle Mask, and has been confirmed to be the last game starring Layton himself. The story revolves around Layton, his assistant Emmy Altava, and his apprentice Luke as they investigate rumors of a living mummy in a snowy city. Their investigation eventually takes them around the world as they seek out the mysteries of the ancient Azran civilization and its hidden treasure.

Besides the world-traveling aspect of the gameplay, in typical Layton form, players will be solving brain teasers and using the stylus to explore environments on the touchscreen. And there are a lot of puzzles – over 500, which are sure to test the prowess of even the most seasoned Layton fans.

No word yet on when Azran Legacies will be released outside of Japan, but considering recent history, look for a possible autumn release.

It’s shaping up to be a big year for Nintendo’s little (or big, depending on if you have an XL!) handheld. But what games are YOU looking forward to the most?

Information for this article provided by Nintendo UK.