The other day I took a quick peak at my playing stats on the 3DS, and I was surprised to discover that the StreetPass Mii Plaza was right up there in second place in terms of hours played. It turns out I’ve spent and inordinate amount of time gathering Miis via StreetPass and then *ahem* playing with them.

I bought the four extra Mii Plaza StreetPass games around a year ago, so including the three original ones (Puzzle Swap and StreetPass Quest I and II), there are seven games in total. Living in London, I tend to gather Miis via StreetPass fairly regularly, and it’s always a pleasure to see that green light blinking on top of my 3DS. But the StreetPass games are a definite mixed bag… Here are my thoughts on which ones are worth buying.

StreetPass Squad (Mii Force in US)

This is a genuinely fun little shoot ’em up in which the variously coloured Miis act as different power ups. The graphics look great in 3D, and it’s an accomplished, if simple, shooter. But having said that, it was also the first one I stopped playing, mostly because when I finished all the levels, I never really felt the need to go back to it. You can head back in to improve your high score or gather more treasure, but eventually it gets a little repetitive. Also, each level takes a while to play, so it’s probably the most time-consuming of the games, which isn’t ideal when you’ve got half a dozen StreetPass games to play through – these are meant to be bite-sized gaming chunks, after all. It’s worth a purchase then, just don’t expect to be playing it in a year’s time.

StreetPass Garden (Flower Town in US)

In this game, you grow plants and cross-pollinate them with those of the Miis you meet to create new varieties. Surprisingly for such a dull-sounding concept, this is a brilliant and well-layered game, and it’s probably my favourite of the bunch. There’s a satisfying thrill to creating a new breed – especially the rare ones, which look like cakes and Easter eggs – and there’s more depth than you’d expect to the breeding mechanics. Plus there are tons of ‘quests’ on offer if you get bored of the main game, and plenty of ways to decorate and photograph your various gardens. A must buy.

StreetPass Battle (Warrior’s Way in US)

This is simply scissors-paper-stone but with soldiers. And that’s it. The game never really strays beyond that level of simplicity, and it quickly becomes incredibly dull. I lost interest fairly early on, but I stuck it out to the end just to see what happened. Nothing much, it turns out. Avoid.

StreetPass Mansion (Monster Manor in US)

I wasn’t sure what to make of this one at first, but it ended up becoming one of my favourites, just behind StreetPass Garden. It’s sort of an RPG where you gather, combine and level up weapons, with the aim being to reach the top of a haunted mansion. Each Mii that arrives gives you a ‘room’ that you can place in the mansion – fit two rooms of the same colour together and they make a bigger room with more loot in it. Trying to make the biggest room possible becomes addictive, and the mix of puzzles and fighting is a great recipe. The only downside is the disappointment of gathering a host of Miis in colours you don’t ‘need’, which can be frustrating. Otherwise though, a worthy purchase.