A high-definition version of the first three Ace Attorney games, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy HD,[d] was released for iOS and Android in Japan on February 7, 2012, and for iOS in the West on May 30, 2013.[2][3][4] This legacy mobile version has since been delisted, being replaced by the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy release on iOS and Android on June 10, 2022.[5]
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy,[c] was first released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan on April 17, 2014,[6][7][8][9][10] in North America on December 9, 2014, and in Europe on December 11, 2014.[11] It was also released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on February 21, 2019 in Japan, and on April 9, 2019 internationally; a Windows version was released internationally on the same date.[12][13]
The Ace Attorney Trilogy home console releases were first announced in an interview with news website Jiji in 2017, Capcom's COO, Haruhiro Tsujimoto, said that the Ace Attorney series was going to receive support on the Nintendo Switch, with a mainline entry, and two compilations, one of the original trilogy and one including games 4 through 6 in the series.[14]
The game was later revealed at the Ace Attorney panel at Tokyo Games Show 2018.[15] The trailer used in the convention was later uploaded in English on September 22, 2018,[16] and a pre-order was made available for the game on Nintendo Switch in January 2017 exclusively in Japan,[17] and a Steam pre-order was later made available on February 28, 2019.[18]
Prior to its English release, a listing for the game was put up on the Australian Nintendo Switch eShop, the content of which made people believe the game was going to be releasing in English-speaking territories on April 9, 2019,[19] which ended up being 5 days off.
The original mobile versions of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy included the first two cases, "The First Turnabout" and "Turnabout Sisters", for free. The remaining cases must have been purchased separately.[23]
For the PlayStation 4 release of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy, two sets of user profile pictures were purchasable for $1.99, one named the Phoenix Set[24] and one named the Edgeworth Set.[25]
On February 21, 2019, a music album titled Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy - Turnabout Tunes was released on Steam[26] which included some of the music used in the game and some original tracks created specifically for the album. The album was also included in the Japanese collector's edition of the game.[27]
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy was met with positive reviews from critics, receiving scores through 78 to 81 on review aggregator Metacritic.[28][29][30][31][32][33]
The game's graphics were heavily praised for being HD[52] while the legacy mobile releases were heavily criticized for poor graphics and low frame rate.[53]IGN criticized the latest releases graphics were polished to "the point of being overly sterile", citing that evidence sometimes lacks more details than the original releases.[20]
Cara Ellison of Eurogamer called the Trilogy HD port "perfunctory", saying the animations are slow at times, the high-definition graphics take away from the charm of the pixel art in earlier versions, and there is a delay after button presses.[37]
US Gamer's Bob Mackey appreciated how the games were mostly left untouched, while given minor improvements, such as the player being able to read the text at their own pace and not waiting for it to crawl across the screen. He said the game's graphical upgrades were hit or miss, with certain characters, including Phoenix and Edgeworth, looking great. Elements that originally had less definition, such as the judge's beard, however, were "a little wonky".[50] Thomas Whitehead of Nintendo Life said that Capcom had done a "solid job" with the port. He appreciated the stereoscopic 3D effect and the game's faithfulness to the original; he felt, however, that the lack of an orchestral soundtrack similar to that in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies was a minor disappointment.[54]Hardcore Gamer's Geoff Thew called the updated art gorgeous, noting it did not have the same animation-related problems as the Trilogy HD on iOS. He appreciated the 3D effect, which he said worked well most of the time. However, the window frame in the detention center was not rendered on its own layer. While this was not a huge problem, Thew said it was distracting as the player often visits that area. He also commented on the lack of a remastered soundtrack, calling it a letdown.[41]
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy was the 139th best selling game of the year in Japan in 2014, with 46,819 copies sold.[56] The PC version of the collection was among the best-selling new releases of the month on Steam.[57][f]
On June 13, 2020, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy was the 23rd most-sold digital-only game on the Nintendo Switch in North America.[59] The game outperformed its sales goals by 150% in the first month of its release.[60]
