Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue

X
Feature

What Do Amiibos Do In What Games?

by Kyle Hilliard on Oct 04, 2015 at 12:10 PM

Nintendo still hasn't fully revealed exactly how amiibos will function across its many games, but we plan on keeping track of their compatibility in this feature.

Nintendo’s amiibos differ from comparable toys like Skylanders and Disney Infinity figures in they will work across a collection of games – even some third-party games. This is where you will find a continually updated compendium detailing what amiibos do and unlock in the games in which they are compatible.

Wii U

Taking advantage of amiibo functionality for Wii U games often involves finding the option in the menus and then touching the amiibo to the bottom left corner of the GamePad when prompted.

Amiibo Tap
The free eShop game uses amiibos to unlock short demos of SNES and NES games.

Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival
It's known that amiibo will be required to play the game, but exactly how they will function is not yet clear. Considering the game is a lot like Mario Party, however, it's probably safe to assume the games will function similarly.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
The Toad amiibo releases March 20 to coincide with the release of Mario Party 10. An update will also issue for Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker that day. Touching the Toad amiibo to the GamePad will hide a pixelated Toad in each level (seen above) that you must find.

Hyrule Warriors
Using a Link or Toon Link amiibo will allow players to unlock the spinner weapon from Twilight Princess. Using a Zelda amiibo will unlock a weapon rated three or more stars and can be done at least once a day.

All other amiibos are compatible, but will unlock weaker weapons that will only be rated at three or fewer stars.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse
Much like Hyrule Warriors, you can tap amiibos to your GamePad once a day to unlock power-ups in Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. Certain amiibos, however, unlock more specific power-ups and costumes.

With the Kirby amiibo, Kirby can star dash whenever he wants, something you can usually only do by collection 100 stars. Using the King Dedede amiibo awards Kirby a King Dedede hat and more health. Using the Meta Knight amiibo gives Kirby a Meta Knight hat better tap dashing speed.

Mario Kart 8
Touching an amiibo figure to your Wii U GamePad will unlock a special costume themed after that character.

Only Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Peach, Donkey Kong, Link, Kirby, Captain Falcon, Samus, and Fox McCloud amiibos are currently compatible.

Head to page two for amiibo compatibility details.

Mario Party 10
Six new amiibos are on the way to coincide with the release of Mario Party 10. You will see new amiibos with new poses for Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, and Bowser, as well as the release of a Toad amiibo. Those six will be compatible with Mario Party 10 as well as the Super Smash Bros. styled amiibos of the same characters, and Donkey Kong, Rosalina and Luma, and Wario.

Using an amiibo with Mario Party 10 unlocks Amiibo Party allowing players to use their pieces on game boards styled after specific characters. Mario's board has mushrooms which make characters grow and Luigi's board has a giant vacuum that will suck up others players' coins, for example. Using an amiibo player piece also allows you to assign an item to your amiibo.

Shovel Knight
The Shovel Knight amiibo unlocks the game's co-op mode on Wii U, as well as challenge stages and customizeable gear.

Splatoon
The amiibos in Splatoon will unlock special single-player challenges. Each of the amiibos will let you take different weapons into the campaign to tackle new challenegs and unlock new customizations.

Star Fox Wii U
Nintendo has not yet revealed how the new Star Fox will take advantage of amiibos, but it has confirmed intentions for compatibility.

Super Mario Maker
Touching an amiibo to the GamePad while creating allows you to insert a mushroom in your level that unlocks an 8-bit version of the amiibo character to play as, complete with special sound effects and a character-specific animation. The special 20th anniversary Mario amiibo also unlocks a special mega-mushroom and a cathode-ray TV effect to the game. You can see a bit of that here.

Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. is currently amiibo’s main source of compatibility. The designs are modeled after the characters’ appearance in Super Smash Bros., and the base even features a Super Smash Bros. logo.

With an amiibo, you can train and level up an A.I. version of a character in Smash Bros. to fight and train with you, fight your friend’s amiibos, or battle with A.I. fighters. Data can be transferred to your amiibo figure  after each fight, which means you can take your figure to a friend’s house to show off your amiibo’s sill and level.

Yoshi's Woolly World
In Yoshi's Woolly World, players will be able to use amiibos to unlock special outfits for Yoshi. So far Mario, Link, and Donkey Kong outfits have been revealed, but it seems like many more costumes will be available. We do know for sure, however, that the Pokémon and Toad amiibos will not be compatible. You can see the outfits in action in the trailer above.

Head to page three to read about 3DS amiibo compatibility.

Nintendo 3DS

Using amiibos with 3DS games will require the purchase of a special compatible base. The New 3DS will have amiibo functionality built in.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy Plus
Though full compatibility has not yet been revealed, we do know using an amiibo will unlock a special design for your jet based on the amiibo character.

Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer
Your amiibo figures aren't much use here, but the new amiibo cards can be used to invite special characters who otherwise wouldn't appear in the game to show up.

Chibi-Robo: Zip-Lash
Using the Chibi-Robo amiibo, players can unlock Super Chibi Robo and use a capsule machine to unlock the in-game figures. Other amiibo unlock in-game coins.

Code Name S.T.E.A.M.
Marth, Ike, Robin, and Lucina are playable characters in Code Name S.T.E.A.M. as long as you have their amiibos. This makes sense considering Code Name S.T.E.A.M.'s developer made a name for itself with the Fire Emblem series. You can also use the amiibos to revive your downed Fire Emblem fighters when they fall in battle.

Fire Emblem: Fates
Fire Emblem amiibos will unlock themsleves as combatants in the My Castle mode.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
It's not yet clear how amiibo will work in the game, but Nintendo has confirmed their compatibility.

One Piece: Super Grand Battle! X
Amiibos will be used to unlock character costumes. So far we know Luffy can wear Mario and Luigi outfits, Sanji can wear a Fox outfit, and Zoro can wear a Link outfit, though there may be more.

Shovel Knight
The Shovel Knight amiibo unlocks challenge stages and customizeable gear. The co-op mode is only available on Wii U.

Super Smash Bros.
Amiibo functionality on the 3DS version of Super Smash Bros. will work identically to the Wii U version. Players will be able to train and level up an A.I. fighter.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D
Using the Shulk amiibo, you can unlock in-game tokens that can be used to unlock music and animated 3D models of the game's characters.