Upcoming 3DS Games: My Impressions

[Fryguy64]

So, today I attended the IGN UK 100th Podcast party, where loads of future 3DS games were available to play. I thought I'd jot down a few of my impressions for you.

Mario Kart 7
While the name is confusing (why start numbering them now? And does this mean the arcade games are "non-canon" Mario Kart titles?! Does anyone want to even get into that?), the game is Mario Kart. The controls are much the same as the DS version, which is good news for everyone. In fact, the whole thing seemed very reminiscent of the DS game. The item use has been toned back to focus on half-decent racing tracks, and while they've rebalanced the Blue Sparks, they work great.

Super Mario 3D Land
What I can't understand is this: after doing an astounding job bringing Mario into 3D in 1996, refining and perfecting it in Super Mario Galaxy, and then recombining that with 2D in SMG2, why has Nintendo completely reinvented the controls?

This doesn't play like a 3D Mario game. It plays like a 2D Mario game stretched into a 3D space. The dash button is there (I'm sure that's what analogue control is for) and it felt odd. It didn't feel much like a Mario game, even though it looked like one.

Nevertheless, I aced the four demo levels quickly. They're really short, and I hope they're not indicative of the level length of the final game, as that would be very disappointing.

Luigi's Mansion 2
Played the GameCube original? Then I have more bad news. Once again, the controls have been shafted. Button prompts have been introduced, you are forced to aim the Poltergust with the tilt controls - especially tricky with a tethered system, but still a pain thanks to losing the 3D effect.

I'm sorry to say, but I actually stopped playing this demo halfway through, as I found the controls were too big an obstacle. Nintendo needs to stop being afraid of using that touch screen!

Kid Icarus: Uprising
OK, this is another one with odd controls, but once I figured them out they actually worked quite nicely. In the air. I challenged myself to the Hewdraw stage (the hard stage). The game is stunning, and the flight controls actually work very well. Move with the stick, shoot with L and aim with the touch screen.

Then I hit the ground, and I had no idea what the controls were. The camera always faced in one direction, even if Pit encountered obstacles. I don't know why this happened... and I tried every button and could only centre it behind Pit temporarily (with R, the wrong button with stick + touch screen control) until changing direction again...

Star Fox 64 3D
Totally forgot to play this, but it's out soon.

I also didn't play the other games, but I got a crapton of StreetPass people! Unfortunately I didn't progress past the room I'm stuck on in StreetPass Quest... Stupid armoured ghosts in dark room... I did complete three panels in Puzzle Swap though! Hoorah!

I must say I'm a little deflated. Nintendo pioneered breakthroughs in 3D game control over the last 15 years, but they don't seem content to stick with what works, always rebuilding from scratch. System on the verge of failure is not a great place to experiment, guys!

[nocturnal YL]

Aww, being able to play all those before 3DS barely has any games must be awesome.

Let's see there...

- Mario Kart NT 6.1 looks too much like the DS one. This is unfortunate; the whole Mario Kart series was never big on graphics, save for Double Dash. I'm not convinced that the ability to glide or swim would mean much.

- Mario 3D Land is not even 3D Mario in gameplay terms, I can feel that. I've seen videos on the demo levels, and I bet it's going to be like New SMB with a new visual dimension.

- What? Just when I thought LM2 would fix most problems 1 had...

- I'd imagine Uprising would be like Sin and Punishment. From your comment, it looks much less awkward than S&P1 though.

- I'm going to get Star Fox anyway, because otherwise I'll have nothing to play with.


Places showing games are always great for collecting StreetPass stuff. I don't have such priviledge over here though. In the course of more than a month of 3DS, I've got only 20 Miis from StreetPass and have completed only 1 panel. Can't say I want more now though, since I'm at the dark room too. I've set my own Mii to wear white; hopefully that helps anyone who will meet my 3DS in the future.

Nintendo sure looks not as competent in 2011. Guess what: I'd have wanted Mario 64 remade again for this system (perhaps double the number of levels) since that would look like a perfect match. And I think Nintendo should actually reuse stuff again and again if it's concerning the gameplay.

[Da Robot]

When playing the ground sections of Kid Icarius, to move the camera your supposed to flick the touch screen (like a spinning a globe) in the direction you want it to change.

[Koopaul]

Kid Icarus might not work for me considering I'm left-handed. You aim with the touch screen right? But to move and shoot requires the left side of the 3DS. How am I possibly going to achieve this?

[Arcadenik]

I was thinking the same thing, Koopaul. I am left-handed, too. Did Sakurai forget that there are left-handed gamers, too? Come on, Sakurai... and you're saying that SSB4 is gonna be based off Uprising? That doesn't sound like good news to me as a left-hander gamer.

[Fryguy64]

The touch screen was used for aiming though. You flick it? Like a Smash Attack? For the camera?!

As for left/right handed issues, that was one of my first thoughts when I saw the 3DS control layout. And the Wii U for that matter. Both the DS and Wii became truly ambidextrous, letting players choose which hand was right for them. But all that's gone out the window now.

But I guess it's not like writing... You're just sliding frantically across a screen. That can be achieved with either hand

[Shadrio]

Thanks for the insight there, Fry. It's nice to have an idea of what to expect. It's kind of sad to hear Luigi's Mansion 2 is coming out unsatisfactory, being such a fan of the GCN original, I guess I'll wait for a few reviews before giving it a priority.

As for the Mario games, I'm going to buy them regardless, the question is when to buy them. Mario Kart, if as dull as MKDS (what? someone who finds MKDS dull? Call the exorcist!), then I'm going to give it a low priority. As for Mario Land 3D Super whatever, mind going into a bit more detail? I've heard short, easy, and short so far, but not much detail (or maybe I'm just too lazy to look good enough).

Kid Icarus has always been a game on my spotlight, since it always looked interesting and the dialogue always made me chuckle more than I expected it would. I just hope the controls are improved for the ground, as I've heard some smack-talk on the ground controls.

And derp, Star Fox 64 3D. I wonder if I'll buy that here... I should get a job. Of course, there's the problems with the Transportation now... DAMN THIS COUNTRY

[Da Robot]

Have you played this ground section (start at 4:20) of KI Fry? (It's chapter 1) It explains some of the on ground controls.

[nocturnal YL]

Aug 24, 2011 18:47:05 GMT -5 Fryguy64 said:

Both the DS and Wii became truly ambidextrous, letting players choose which hand was right for them. But all that's gone out the window now.

I think this justifies the need of two analog sticks now.

[Koopaul]

You need to move the shooting cursor accurately with the touch screen so it does require more than frantic sliding.