I am Lewis. Also known as Speller, or online as Dyson. 22 years old, now working at GAME. Blogging since October 2008.Nintendocore
On Wednesday the 20th of July I went to London to play Nintendo’s biggest upcoming games. Here are my views on the games I played. Apologies for the blurry photos..
Ok, wow. If you have a 3DS, you guys will all be buying Super Mario 3DS when it comes out. The game is incredible. In each level you have to get from start to finish whilst collecting coins in typical classic Mario fashion, but the game is in 3D, Mario 64 style. Think New Super Mario Bros style gameplay, but in the 3rd dimension. I was really impressed by the subtle 3D on the game, too, making it a lot easier to judge distance. One problem I had was Mario feeling a bit slippery at times, and grabbing the flagpole was a particularly tricky feat, but I got there in the end. I loved it.
Unfortunately Luigi’s Mansion 2 was a huge let down and almost unplayable as it seemed to run at 15 frames per second, with clunky controls to boot. The demo we played didn’t really give us much direction or hints as to what to do and as such the game fell flat on its face. Total disappointment. Unless there is a lot of work being done on this game between now and release, I worry that this simply won’t perform well enough to achieve solid sales.
Mario Kart 3DS was brilliant, with your Karts turning in to gliders as you take off from a large jump, and this allows for some really cool timesaving shortcuts if you manage to make it - but potentially turn in to pitfalls if you mess them up. The customization looks to shake up the way Mario Kart is played, with the player being able to choose from different Kart types, wheels and accessories before the race begins. It felt more like Diddy Kong Racing, which for me is a great thing. I also didn’t see any blue shells, so either I got very lucky and didn’t get any sent my way or my prayers have been answered and they’re making it a bit more skill based! :D
Kid Icarus looks to be a great game. You control the movement of Pit with the Circle Pad and aim/fire with the touch screen, which is an interesting control method but is fatally flawed in one area: it’s not suitable for left handers like myself. You use the circle pad and the stylus at the same time meaning you’re forced to use the stylus with the right hand, or use your thumb.. but when you’re trying to aim with precision this becomes very difficult. I asked the attendant and he said that there wasn’t currently a left handed mode implemented, and unless they consider it, it’s just going to be a completely awkward and not fun experience for us lefties (which is a shame because the parts I did struggle through were brilliant, the on-rails flying sequences felt like Starfox and felt a lot more solid than the on foot sections, which were still fun despite grappling with frustrating righty only controls.)
Resident Evil: Revelations was extremely impressive, providing probably the best visuals I’ve seen on the 3DS so far. The controls felt great and the atmosphere was well constructed, still making me want to turn my character around and run away when a zombie comes running towards me. This looks like it’ll be a success and something to look forward to for any Resident Evil fans as they look to have kept things like ammo conservation and weapon choice key choices for the player. I wish I’d spent a bit more time with this game but it was the first one I got to and my mind was telling me to hurry it up so as not to miss out on Skyward Sword and Super Mario!
Starfox 64 3D was brilliant. I really enjoyed it, it’s been my most anticipated game on the 3DS since I heard of its unveiling and it did not disappoint. The circle pad and the gyro sensors work in unison to bring fantastic precise shooting which builds tenfold on the old analogue stick from the Nintendo 64. The 3D effect was great, similar to Pilotwings, and really added an extra layer of immersion to the game. At times I thought the enemies bullets were going to come out of the screen and hit me, which was impressive. This should sell well to anyone looking for a great, accessible game on the system.
Probably the most surprising game appearance at the event was that of Sonic Generations 3DS, which featured Classic Sonic gameplay, Modern Sonic gameplay and a boss fight which I didn’t do. To my surprise I actually preferred the Modern Sonic level to that of the Classic Sonic - Modern Sonic felt a lot like Sonic Rush gameplay, with a building boost bar and homing attacks and a great sense of speed that built up as you went along, but for some reason Classic Sonic felt – like Mario - a little bit slippery. I’m starting to think I don’t get on with the Circle Pad on the 3DS. The 3D wasn’t as effective as it could have been, but the gameplay and level design felt solid and will be a great platformer for 3DS owners.
And then there was Metal Gear Solid 3D, which suffered from a few frame rate issues and a case of far too many loading screens, but the gameplay felt identical to that in the PS2 version, albeit with slightly fiddlier controls. Despite the great 3D, it wasn’t quite as impressive as I was hoping due to the awkward controls, and I was left slightly disappointed by the game. I have a feeling it’s the sort of game that doesn’t lend itself well to a demo environment, you need to spend some time getting used to the controls in your own time. This said, it is Metal Gear Solid 3 which almost sells itself.
On the Wii side of things, the moment I saw the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword demo area I ran over to find a demo unit free and instantly jumped in. The first demo was a flying section that demonstrated the power of Motion Plus – requiring you to aim the remote in the way you wanted to fly whilst also flapping to gain speed. It was a fun little minigame, but nothing too special. The second area was more like it – classic Zelda gameplay in taking on a Dungeon. This is where the real meat of the game lies.
You use the Wii Remote to unsheathe and swing your sword – and with Motion Plus it comes alive as the directions of your Remote swinging directly corresponds to where Link swings the sword in game. This made for an interesting fight against an enemy in which he would defend high, so I’d attack low. You can swing, stab, uppercut, and if you raise the nunchuck you pull your shield up. It felt natural and fluid and ultimately – fun. The graphical style of the game is amazing, falling half way between cel-shaded (Wind Waker) and the gritty style portrayed in Twilight Princess. It gives the game a really unique feel, and you can tell the game is a labor of love for Nintendo. Zelda fans are going to absolutely love it. I certainly did – the dungeon even had me stumped for a short while so the challenge is most definitely there!
Just Dance 3 was a surprisingly great experience, as me and Mike from Camberley battled it out to Party Rock by LMFAO. The controls felt like they worked and despite only using the Wii Remote (not Motion Plus enabled) felt solid. Simply put, fans of Just Dance will love Just Dance 3. And I’m most definitely pleased to report that I beat Mike.
Mario and Sonic at the London Olympics was another game that Mike and I played against each other in 5 events (and which I won 3-2 – representing Guildford!) and the game was fun, if not a little outdated. Relying on simple controls, things like horse-riding and canoeing are mini-games that take about 2 minutes to complete, and are great fun when played competitively, but it doesn’t bring anything new to the Wii. Again, I expect this game to sell well to people who have played the Mario and Sonic games but also those who have yet to try it since it’s based in London, which gives it a nice local feel.
Last but by no means least, my absolute favorite game of the event, Kirby Wii. I cannot stress enough how much I loved this game. Anyone who’s played the old-school Kirby games from the SNES days will know how addictive the gameplay is - using the copy ability to steal the power of enemies and using said power to solve puzzles, find hidden objects and levels and bonus areas. There hasn’t been anything that’s come close to this sort of fun since then (although Epic Yarn was a fantastic game, it wasn’t classic Kirby) until now.
The game has been given a makeover to 2.5D for the Wii, meaning it is brought kicking and screaming right in to the modern day, but retaining the feel of the old games. As Kirby, you have to get to the end of the level by sucking in enemies and taking their power. This’ll allow you to perform a multitude of new moves, some of which can be used to open certain doors or kill certain enemies that block your way. The game is quite challenging for a platformer, but not overly so. I lost a couple of lives through the course of the 2 level demo but neither of which felt cheap or lame.
The next thing I knew, I was joined by 3 other players as I was playing the level – the game has 4-player drop in/out co-op. Whilst the co-op partners don’t enjoy the copy ability of Kirby and definitely play a secondary role (Kirby is the only one with a life counter, and the only one who can choose which door to take for example.) to the pink puffball, the guys that joined me for the gameplay demo had a blast. You can pick each other up, inhale them and use them as weapons, ride on their backs and all sorts. It was just gaming bliss and the best game experience I’ve had on the Wii. If I didn’t already have a Wii, I’d buy one for this game. I cannot emphasize how much fun it was.
All in all, it was a great day. The staff were friendly and the games were great fun, with all of the attendees walking away with a lot of new experiences to share. And the fact that our Guildford store beat Camberley in both the multiplayer games we played just adds that extra edge to it all. Mike won’t be forgetting about that any time soon.
