Ace Attorney games in order: By release date

ACE ATTORNEY will see you take on different court cases, investigate them and then defend the alleged criminals in court as you take on the role of defence attorney Phoenix Wright.

Here, we will tell you about the main series of the Ace Attorney games – first released in Japan – and also about some spin-off games that were made.

Ace Attorney games release order

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android

This game was released on October 12, 2001, by Capcom and was first released for the Game Boy Advance before it went on to more modern consoles and devices.

The player is a rookie defence attorney called Phoenix Wright who must try and prove that his clients are not guilty of the crime they allegedly committed.

Phoenix’s boss is Mia Fey while her sister Maya is his assistant, and they must give their defences to prosecutor Miles Edgeworth.

In this game there are five cases:

1. The First Turnabout in which the attorney defends Larry Butz who is charged with the murder of his girlfriend.
2. Turnabout Sisters is about Mia getting murdered in the office and Maya is arrested shortly after.
3. Turnabout Samurai is when Phoenix defends actor Will Powers against accusations that he killed his co-star Jack Hammer.
4. Turnabout Goodbyes is about Edgeworth being arrested for the murder of attorney Robert Hammond.
5. Rise from the Ashes is about the head of the prosecutor’s office, Lana Skye, whose accused of murdering detective Bruce Goodman.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android

This game was released on October 18, 2002, and Phoenix once again must take on four cases and try to prove that his clients are not guilty.

The cases are:

1. The Lost Turnabout sees Phoenix suffer amnesia first after he is attacked by a fire extinguisher. Later in the game, he discovers that he should be defending Maggey Byrde, whose accused of murdering her boyfriend.
2. Reunion, and Turnabout sees Phoenix once again defending Maya after she is now accused of killing Dr Turner Grey after he performed a spirit channelling on him.
3. Turnabout Big Top sees circus magician Maximillion Galactica go to court on the accusation that he killed his employer Russell Berry during an argument they were having.
4. Farewell, My Turnabout Phoenix must win the acquittal for actor Matt Engarde, who was arrested for killing his rival Juan Corrida. If not, Maya will be in great danger of getting murdered by Engarde’s boss, Shelly de Killer.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android

In the game released on January 23, 2004, Phoenix and Maya must once again work together to solve cases and help their clients avoid harsh sentences.

What’s special about this game is, that the first case is set five years before the previous games’ timeline.

While at university, Phoenix is defended by Mia in a case which sees him being accused of his classmate Doug Swallow’s murder.

Throughout the investigations – which revealed that Phoenix’s girlfriend was the true culprit – Phoenix was inspired by Mia and changed majors to study and become an attorney.

There are then four more cases, which are defended by Phoenix himself.

These are:

• The Stolen Turnabout in which thief Ron DeLite is acquitted and later arrested once again for the murder of his ex-boss Kane Bullard.
• In Recipe for Turnabout, Phoenix learns that someone impersonated him and represented Maggey Byrde, accused of poising programmer Glen Elg. Phoenix managed to get a retrial.
• In Turnabout Beginning, we see Mia defending her first case, six years before the previous episodes. Together with Armando, she defends Terry Fawles, who is a suspect in murdering policewoman Valerie Hawthorne.
• Finally, Bridge to the Turnabout sees Phoenix get ill from falling into a river on a mountain retreat. That is why Edgeworth and Franziska must temporarily fill in as attorneys and help a nun called Iris to be found innocent.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

Platforms: Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, iOS, Android

The game released on April 12, 2007 takes place seven years after the previous edition.

This time Apollo Justice is the one proving people innocent and once the player gets through the opening level, they get to work in Phoenix Wright’s offices.

Apollo takes on several court cases while working alongside Phoenix, who now also had a daughter called Trucy.

Later on in the game, Phoenix discovers that Apollo and Trucy are half-siblings that share the same mother, Thalassa Gramarye.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies

Platforms: Nintendo 3DS, iOS, Android

Taking place a year after Phoenix discovered that his daughter had a half-brother, this game was released on July 25, 2013.

Phoenix Wright enters the legal scene again which now enters a dark era of false claims and fabricated evidence.

Apollo is still on board and Athena Cykes joined the team too.

The three of them are all involved in several cases and thanks to the teams blood, sweat and tears, the Dark Age is over.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice

Platforms: Nintendo 3DS, iOS, Android

The last game of the series was released on June 9, 2016 and it sees Phoenix travel to Khura’in – a very religious land where the art of channelling spirits was created in.

He visits Maya Fey there who is about to finish her full training in channelling spirits and become a master of the Kurain village.

In Khura’in, attorneys like Phoenix receive a lot of prejudice and there too he must put his skills to the test and prove everyone wrong once again.

What other Ace Attorney games are there?

Capcom released other Ace Attorney games which do not contribute to the timeline that the series has.

Here are some other games that you might want to play to fully experience the Ace Attorney court showdown.

• Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (2009)
• Ace Attorney Investigations 2 (2011)
• Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2012)
• The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures (2015)
• The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve (2017)