• Format:3DS
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Nintendo
• Players: 1
• Site: http://www.nintendo.co.uk

Wii based Galaxy titles have introduced a new level of inventiveness to the Mario formula; so how have Nintendo kept a balance between traditional 2D Mario gameplay, Galaxy style gameplay, and the 3DS’ form factor? Well, they have gone back to their roots for the core DNA. There are no open 3D areas to explore here. Instead think streamlined experiences with the gameplay of traditional 2D games, yet in full 3D with a degree of flexibility to experiment with route and method. Indeed the best comparison is the often overlooked ‘pure platforming’ type levels which were a minor part (but the best sections) of Super Mario Sunshine back on the Gamecube.

This style of gameplay suits the screen size of the 3DS perfectly. With the 3D effect turned up, it’s like looking into a little box of Mario (hence making the Mario land in the title quite apt). The fact that the levels are clearly linear and constrained means it’s like having a little Mario play-set to run around in, there in the palm of your hand. It is rather beautiful in our opinion with bright hues and well rendered characters, platforms and backgrounds.

The gameplay and level variety do not disappoint. As with other franchises, such as Mario Kart, Nintendo seems to know how to add just enough to move the series on, without alienating seasoned veterans. You would have thought that when it comes to platforms we would have seen them all, from all angles; but Nintendo keeps finding new ways of making the old seem new. As with Galaxy, the levels are abstract, with settings such as underwater or firepits, with moving platforms with forward and backward triggers which Mario can control. There is a superb level which is based on old 8 bit, pixelated graphics which uses cannons to propel Mario between different faces and designs made out of these 8 bit blocks. You kinda have to see them to believe them.

Clearly inspired by its 2D bretheren but with added depth....

Some levels are very 2D in design, but rendered in 3D. However they are true 3D and you can move Mario to the foreground or background of the levels, often finding alternative horizontals paths, in a fashion similar to how story levels are constructed in LittleBigPlanet. Mario, though, controls much better than Sackboy and the addition of real 3D allows you to judge the depth much easier. However some levels are clearly influenced by games such as Galaxy, with different areas to progress to, free standing and floating in the air. Whichever level you are on though it is a linear playthrough from one end to another as there are no ‘get the star’ targets here. You start at one end and have to reach the flag at the other, just like with the 2D games we love so dearly.

Throughout the game, Mario will be able to slip on various suits which give the type of superpowers we have become accustomed to over the years such as fireballs, boomerangs – and for 3D Land we see the comeback of the Tanooki suit! The Tanooki suit allows the player to hover in the air for a bit (very useful for all this platforming) and kill enemies with a flick of Mario’s Tanooki tail. Beware, though, as this time the enemies get their own Tanooki suit to use against you! Two suits can be carried at once, and by touching an icon on the bottom screen you can easily switch between them.

The first eight worlds are great and they are super accessible. If you keep failing you’ll get given a super suit that essentially means you can’t be killed. Great for beginners and the experienced alike, to wean them onto the difficulty which kicks in once the main quest is over.

That’s right, the game keeps giving. Once the main quest is complete, another eight worlds appear, with a remix of levels made harder and not coming with any special ‘I can’t be killed’ suits to help you out. Each level comes with three gold coins which need collecting to unlock new levels (and also act as a reason to replay levels for the completists amongst us), whilst the spotpass feature means you end up competing on best times against other 3DS users you might have bumped into via other games such as Mario Kart 7. It’s a great shame Nintendo didn’t go the whole way and offer public leaderboards.

It’s also a shame the game doesn’t offer any multiplayer mode whatsoever. New Super Mario Bros on the DS had a quite compelling coin collecting competition going, and so did the DS remake of Mario 64. However 3D Land has nothing, when an online mode would have added even more replay value.

With the 3D turned up, this looks lovely.

Whilst we feel content to make suggestions regarding what is missing in this review, please don’t confuse that with our actual view on the title. It is excellent. It is better than New Super Mario Brothers on the DS, in that it offers a real difficulty curve for experienced players, and way more replay value. It looks lovely, and the levels delight in their ingenuity whilst the 3D makes a tangible difference to how you experience the game, with some simple puzzle elements being easier to solve with the 3D on rather than off. There is also a nice variety of special suits, as you would expect in a Mario game, which add a degree of strategy and gameplay variation to how you might approach different levels.

Nintendo has shown once again that a proper Mario title is not just a cynical way of printing money, but is a franchise that justifies its greatness time and time again with each release.

Get it now.

In an uncomfortable reminder of exactly how and why manufacturers of complicated electronic products enjoy such huge profit margins, here is a story which brings the word ‘suicide’ into the world of console manufacturing – again. If the word ‘Foxconn’ means anything to you at all, it will almost certainly be due to reports of workers on the Chinese company’s manufacturing lines committing suicide. This latest story, thankfully, did not result in any deaths.

On January 2nd, as reported at Kotaku, three hundred employees stood on the roof of the Foxconn Xbox 360 manufacturing plant in Wuhan, threatening to jump to their deaths. The workers had asked for a raise; the factory’s response was to tell them to keep their jobs at the same pay rate, or leave with compensation. The majority chose to leave; but when their bosses reneged on the deal and refused to hand out compensation of any kind, the rooftop protest began. After intervention from the mayor of Wuhan, the group finally came down, unharmed, the evening of the following day. Microsoft issued this statement to Kotaku regarding the latest incident:

“Microsoft takes working conditions in the factories that manufacture its products very seriously, and we are currently investigating this issue. We have a stringent Vendor Code of Conduct that spells out our expectations, and we monitor working conditions closely on an ongoing basis and address issues as they emerge. Microsoft is committed to the fair treatment and safety of workers employed by our vendors, and to ensuring conformance with Microsoft policy.”

Foxconn’s Wikipedia entry includes a fairly brief but fully supported list of the best known criticisms and fatal incidents. Foxconn  (which has been forced to install anti-suicide nets at multiple sites) also manufactures the Wii, the PlayStation 3, the iPhone, the Kindle, motherboards, and much more.

This image has threatened traditional gaming since around November 2006.

It’s been a year of worry for the traditional gamer. Whilst gaming might seem to be an ever growing past-time, some of the traditional elements which make up the industry have seemed fragile. Publishers have been busy shutting down traditional developers, especially those famed for 3D racers, but beyond too.

We have seen shops such as Gamestop starting to seriously invest in alternative delivery platforms such as their own tablet and streaming services, fearing a fast-arriving dead end to their current business model. Indeed in the UK, where GAME have been less aggressive in moving into new areas of the business, we are witnessing the start of what will be a contraction of its street presence over the next five years. HMV, too, are struggling and are being quite open about the idea that they might not be around in the next 2-5 years in any shape or form.

Alongside this we have seen traditional hardware providers, such as Microsoft and Sony, in effect pour cold water on the idea of an early start to the ‘next generation’ as it is only really now that they are generating real profit dollars from their investment in current hardware and software. Whilst they might feel the urge to produce something new in the face of the soon to be released Wii U, both companies will resist in the knowledge that they have healthy, steadily improving install bases and technology which still won’t look outdated, even compared to the Wii U. I suspect they have noticed that the current generation of hardware is actually perceived to be cutting edge by many consumers today, despite being very behind suped up PCs. Hence there is little demand to bring a new, expensive console solution to the market in these difficult economic times.

Look, look I got some new plastic! But no games or applications to use with it!

Nintendo’s own year has been a difficult one, until the final quarter came around with the upturn witnessed in the holiday season. The launch of the 3DS was undermined by a range of mistakes. A high price, which did not actually put off day one early adoption but which did kill day two, three and further afield purchases. This drop in sales and consumer relevance was then compounded by the device having no actual new software (quality or otherwise) for months after release! It was almost as if Nintendo itself was surprised by the release of the console. One suspects that this observation might be closer to the truth than some might realise. Could it be that Iwata suddenly panicked when he saw the drop off in DS hardware and software sales in late 2010 and early 2011, and thought a hardware launch, which was due for November 2011, should be brought forward? Could it be that he actioned this change of timeline, forgetting that the software development teams couldn’t speed up, pro-rata?

This would explain the lack of software, both in terms of game titles and the also slightly unfinished operating system, which is still having parts of its online functionality added by firmware to this day; but which the software team have admitted were due to be there from day one.

Indeed Nintendo have taken a bashing on behalf of traditional gamers everywhere. Analysts the world over have decided that Nintendo could be the RIM (the makers of Blackberry products) of the games industry. Everyone likes to be the one who can call the end of the world (just ask the Mayans) and analysts are as human as the next guy (really they are) and Nintendo was their punching bag in 2011. The narrative went like this – people are moving from dedicated gaming devices to iPads and smartphones. Why spend £30 on a game, when you can get freeware or £1 software? The logic was sound, but too simple. People will always buy something they want, you just need to give them something they actually want, and come the end of the year Nintendo seemed to be achieving this. The 3DS sales are now running ahead of all predictions and confidence is not only building in the platform, but in the traditional games market in general. What started as a bad story for Nintendo and the industry as a whole has started to evolve into a success story.

Of course the area of growth which has probably received the most headlines, is the continued march of the social and casual gaming market. This encompasses everything from the Just Dance franchise, to the exponential growth of the Farmville type experience. There is no question that the online ‘Sim’ style of gameplay is not only hugely compelling but ideal for multi-platform, cloud play. Users can switch from the PC to their tablets, and in theory continue on the Sony Vita, as many of these games start being released in the platform agnostic HTML5 coding language. Indeed as televisions become ‘smarter’ with their own implementation of Kinect-like experiences, merged with an appstore, we can expect to see continued growth in the use of such genres. For hardcore gamers, this can be seen as a threat, as it potentially pulls funding from the type of projects they would traditionally welcome. Indeed if one looks, as an example, at Disney Interactive, it is moving evermore into this social and casual space and further away from traditional AAA game titles.

Should we as traditional gamers be worried by this? Probably not. Firstly the world is not black and white (even though according to my dad, when he was a boy it used to be – just look at old films back from when he was a youngster he tells me) and hence some of us also play those social games (maybe less so the dance titles). After all they are really very similar to RPGs, but often the character is the ‘farm’ or ‘restaurant’. However it also means that those AAA titles that are released get an increase in funding, and hence we should see an ongoing rise in production values and overall quality. The end of year titles released in 2011 are probably the best evidence for this. The range of software in your local GAME or Gamestop is reducing, but who can dispute the quality of Batman Arkham City, Skyrim, Uncharted 3 and the top shooters, MW3 and BF3?

Let us not forget the great games that have come out on XBLA, PSN, Android/iOS and recently on the 3DS, which is starting to have some quality digital titles. If you are a dedicated gamer, and not just someone who dives in to kill some time, you have never really had it so good.

What will 2012 bring to the story? For sure, we will see the ongoing decline of brick and mortar shops. Boxed product will still exist, and we will probably continue to see the ongoing investment into ‘limited edition’ versions which will help to prolong the life of this boxed product. However for many they will only order via online, postal only services. Shops will simply start to close or become trading and part exchange locations.

Game of the Year 2012?

The year ahead, when it comes to software, is going to be a very exciting year. Max Payne 3, Grand Theft Auto 5, MW3 map packs and BioShock Infinite (have Take 2 already sewn up 2012?) are already in our consciousness. The 3DS has some superb first and third party exclusives arriving in early 2012 too, and the industry will have the US and European launch of the Vita to look forward to.

The Wii U will release. Nintendo will see this as a slow burner, as the Wii at its new price is still selling strongly. However for those wanting to upgrade it could spoil the party for the current levels of PS3 growth and Xbox steady sale projections. Why? Because for those who already have a Wii (and only a Wii) and are considering what to step up to then if the Wii U ticks a number of boxes, it’ll be the natural platform to choose. What are those boxes?

• If the Wii U has the same range of ‘adult’ software as the 360 and PS3 in addition to being 100% backwards compatible with all their Wii content.
• If it allows them to play all the new Mario titles, along with new Nintendo only IP. Expect Nintendo to make a push to position the Wii U as the first console to take MMOs seriously with a controller designed for them.

The ultimate home based tablet and server solution?

If the above happens, then who would not buy the Wii U over one of its HD counterparts? Those of us already with a Wii and 360, or PS3 will probably fail to become early adopters. That’ll be fine by Nintendo though, as once the new inevitable Mario games and Pikmin are released, and once the hardware does eventually drop in price, they know we will still invest.

What Nintendo decides to do with its online provision for the Wii U though is very exciting. Nothing is really known, but all the rumours suggest a very open online service, perhaps with multiple portals such as EA’s Origin and Steam. However, if they could be linked with a single Wii U identity (not a friend code!) it suggests a range of delivery services, offers and perhaps even streaming services being offered through the platform, alongside its own propriety content.

2012 could be Take 2's year, at least when it comes to Metacritic scores. Sales will surely follow.

As the economy continues to stumble, the games industry will clearly find that growth and expansion is stunted by the social and economic factors around them. Yet if any leisure industry will succeed in these tough times, it’ll be ours; and 2012 will be another step forward.

Character and plot details of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, are starting to appear ahead of the Wii game’s November 18 European release next month. The game appears to be an origin story and prequel to Ocarina of Time. It will explore staple elements of the series that have been in place for 25 years, such as the creation of the Master Sword.

The game starts in Skyloft, an island town suspended in the sky, on the eve of a bird-flying competition in which a young Link is set to compete. The winner of this contest earns the honour to participate in a special ceremony with Zelda, who is not a princess this time around, but a childhood friend of Link. Events in the new game will add more depth to their friendship and the special bond they share.

An early antagonist in the game comes in the form of Groose, Link’s nemesis from school who sets out to sabotage Link’s chances in the flying competition. His intentions are unknown at this point but Nintendo hints they could be fuelled by a jealousy of Link and Zelda’s relationship.

Link’s persistent guide throughout this latest instalment appears to be Fi, the spirit of the powerful Goddess Sword. Another potential source of information might be Gaepora, Zelda’s father who is also the headmaster of Link’s school. He is very knowledgeable about the legends and history of Skyloft.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is the first in the series to take advantage of the Wii’s motion plus controls and the extra precision it allows. A limited edition version of the game comes with a gold-coloured motion plus controller that bears the Hylian Crest, as well as an orchestral CD with selected arrangements from The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony.

Skyward Sword is just over five weeks away from its European release. In that time, Nintendo has promised to reveal more select details about the game to keep mental appetites and speculation fed. Look for more details coming soon.

For more information and videos about The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword visit http://www.nintendo.co.uk/skywardsword

For more information about The Legend of Zelda™ visit http://www.thelegendofzelda.co.uk

For more information on The Legend of Zelda 25thAnniversary visit http://www.zelda25th.co.uk

Resident Evil Revelations is a return to the pace and style of earlier entries in Capcom’s successful, survival horror series, and it feels just right running on the 3DS. The visuals are sharp, the lighting impressive and the 3D subtle, making for a surprisingly atmospheric, portable experience.

The TGS demo followed series stalwart Jill Valentine – the master of unlocking – through the dimly lit corridors of an antiquated cruise ship that looks to be an intriguing place to explore. The game is seen from an over-the-shoulder perspective, much like in RE 4 and 5, allowing you to take in most of your surroundings whilst retaining some vital blind spots to keep you guessing. The impressive visuals and eerie sound effects create a chilling atmosphere, as fog hugs the floor of an abandoned dining hall and unseen creatures scratch away behind locked doors. The more social of these monstrosities were humanoid in nature, yet a far cry from your standard zombie, and could take a pounding before crumpling to the floor in a bloody heap. Fortunately, they were rather slow footed, but once within striking distance they became quite a handful.

Ammunition and health pick-ups were at a premium throughout. On more than one occasion I resorted to fleeing confrontation as I found myself out of ammo, forced to drag my ailing body in the other direction in search of a precious herb. I could barely contain my excitement when I stumbled upon a shotgun, though predictably it came with only a precious few shells. If the stage in question is anything to go by, then Revelations will demand sensible rationing and the ability to wield a knife as effectively as a firearm.

The controls are familiar, despite being on a portable, and although the demo did not require it, the final version will support the additional, circle pad peripheral. Revelations retains some of the stiffness of movement from previous games, which serves to make every enemy encounter that much more intense, whilst not being too clunky or reliant on sharp, right angled movement. However, I did struggle to get accustomed to the switch to a first person view point when aiming a weapon – a shift that did not appear to be optional during the demo. It felt slightly disjointed from the rest of the game, and did not offer the accuracy or responsiveness that you would usually equate with first person shooting.

Resident Evil Revelations is shaping-up to be the survival horror experience that Mercenaries had no intention of being, with exploration and puzzle solving front and centre. This return to vintage was apparent from the opening moments, when I had to drain a bath full of sludge to reveal a missing key and tackle a fuse-box puzzle. Expect plenty of creaky floorboards, crank puzzles and grotesque creatures when Revelations drops in 2012, exclusively for the 3DS.

Gunpei Yokoi had the golden touch. In three decades with Nintendo he worked on classics such as Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., Kid Icarus and Metroid; games which came to define the Kyoto based company and ensured global success. Yokoi was also an accomplished inventor, creating the Game & Watch which would go on to sell over 43 million units worldwide (this, and all subsequent figures are taken from Wikipedia).

Legend has it that in 1979, whilst riding the Bullet Train, he took note of a businessman amusing himself by playing with an LCD calculator. This chance encounter was the genesis of the Game & Watch, as Yokoi went about designing a handheld game ideal for killing time and saving salarymen from having to spell BOOBLESS on a calculator to keep themselves amused.

From the Game & Watch was born another of Yokoi’s inventions – the Nintendo Game Boy – one of the most influential and best-selling consoles of all time. Released in 1989, the 8-bit handheld was a phenomenon, outselling and outliving a number of technically superior products. Between the original model and the later Game Boy Colour, it shifted almost 120 million units worldwide.

Gunpei Yokoi would leave Nintendo in 1996. Moving to Bandai, he developed the WonderSwan – a Japan only handheld – but he was tragically killed in a car accident a year later, aged 56. He left an unmatched legacy of innovation and flair for designing products with mass appeal. While the Game Boy may have been the most memorable of his creations, his final contribution at Nintendo, The Virtual Boy, would prove disastrous; and became the biggest failure in their illustrious history.

The first gaming console capable of 3D graphics “straight out of the box”, the Virtual Boy was a portable in only the very loosest sense of the word. Consisting of a head-set, stand and controller, it required a flat surface to play comfortably and leaves the player oblivious to what is going on in their peripheries. The VB was most definitely not designed for playing on the train.

The VB achieved its 3D effect with a distinctive palette of monochromatic reds, after it was discovered that full colour visuals would create a double-vision effect, as opposed to a sensation of depth. Powered by six AAA batteries, it was as ugly as it was unwieldy, sharing none of the ergonomic design of the Game Boy.

Gunpei Yokoi

Unveiled in November 1994, it tapped into the Virtual Reality craze – one that would be rather short lived – and generated a great deal of interest from consumers unsure of how the 3D effect would be displayed. Japanese gamers discovered for themselves on July 21 1995 for the sum of ¥15,000, and America would get it three weeks later, priced at $180. Mario’s Tennis, Red Alarm, Galactic Pinball and Teleroboxer constituted a decent launch selection, but it would be slim pickings the rest of the way for VB owners.

Due to its short lifespan and Nintendo’s reluctance to support third party development for fear of a dip in software quality, only 22 individual games were ever released (Japan had the choice of 19 titles, North America 14), making it one of the most under-supported platforms in gaming history. 3D Tetris proved to be the system’s swansong, and Virtual Boy Wario Land is widely regarded as the high watermark for the failed piece of kit.

It was an unequivocal flop, shipping only 800,000 units worldwide before being discontinued in Japan within a year of release. Units were reportedly available for as little as ¥980 once the VB had been officially discontinued, which is surprising considering its current status as an expensive collector’s item.

The VB’s failure cannot be narrowed down to one single cause, but rather a number of factors which had it doomed from the word go. Consumers were unconvinced by the 3D effect, something which couldn’t be conveyed through screenshots. This remains a problem sixteen years later, as the 3DS struggles to get off the ground. Without trying the VB first hand, potential customers couldn’t experience the revolutionary display, and magazine screenshots conveyed only simple, red and black monochromatic images which were a disservice to the product.

With the coming of the fifth generation, and the impressive leap in visuals offered by the Saturn and PlayStation, the high retail price of the VB was not palatable. Due to its clumsy, unportable design, the VB was compared not to its true portable competitors, as Nintendo had intended, but to the new era of home consoles instead. That was not a battle Nintendo could win, nor one it wished to fight.

Rumours circulated that the VB had a detrimental effect on long-term vision and that it could cause epileptic fits. Though these claims were largely false, Nintendo couldn’t deny that users were complaining of headaches and eye strain after extended sessions, and their own health warnings perpetuated the belief that the VB was dangerous. After every 15-30 minutes of play, a menu appears on-screen asking the player if they would like to take a break. Game and console manuals were littered with alarming health warnings, such as the following:

“This product MUST NOT be used by children under the age of seven years. Artificial stereo vision displays may not be safe for such children and may cause serious, permanent damage to their vision”

“Failure to follow all instructions could injure you and cause serious damage to your vision or hearing”

These statements didn’t imbue consumers with confidence and it is difficult to comprehend why such a product, largely aimed at children, would be considered fit for release. I own a Virtual Boy and can attest that, on the few occasions that I have played it for more than 10 minutes, I have been left feeling slightly nauseous, with a red, goggle-shaped imprint left around the eyes!

Trust me, this is 3D

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but the VB was clearly destined for failure and one must wonder why Nintendo, a company with a track record of quality products, would have released it in the first place and how, more specifically, a Yokoi project could be so spectacularly flawed. It has been suggested by some, including David Sheff in Game Over, that Yokoi never expected the console to be released in its present form and was pressed into finishing it prematurely, so that Nintendo could focus on the Nintendo 64 and its forthcoming battle with SEGA and Sony.

Yokoi left Nintendo soon after. Some claim he was forced out, his reputation tarnished by the colossal failure, whereas others are adamant that it was always his intention to depart Nintendo once the development of the VB was complete. Whatever the case, it was a sad end to a very profitable relationship and the end of an era for both the inventor and for Nintendo, who would continue to lose market share until hitting back with the Wii a decade later. It would tragically be Yokoi’s last major contribution to the industry he worked so hard to champion.

The VB is a strange piece of kit. The idea of a dedicated, 3D console was a novel one and is being explored again this generation with the 3DS, which has thus far been met with consumer apathy. There was, and continues to be, a certain amount of indifference to 3D gaming, and no matter how well the Virtual Boy had been designed, it would still likely have failed.

The simplistic visuals of the Game Boy were less of a hurdle than those of the VB, as they were outweighed by the quality of the software and the compact nature and low cost of the hardware. Afforded none of these luxuries, the VB’s primitive looking graphics made it appear antiquated at the start of the fifth generation, and not the first step towards the future of gaming as Nintendo had hoped.

If the future of gaming lies in true 3D (consider me sceptical), then we may come to look at the VB in a more favourable light; a forward looking console that went all in with the 3D fad when previous consoles had only dared dabble. But that would ignore the simple fact that it was, and remains, a badly designed and ill-conceived mistake by a company and creator who had rarely put a foot wrong. Still, it does make for an interesting conversation piece, collecting dust on my living room shelves.

Nintendo discovered the mainstream casual market but for some reason missed the fact that this audience had migrated to phones and tablets. Evidence: launching with Nintendodogs; a game which is no longer relevant to the typical dedicated gaming handheld consumer.

It says something when the best reason to switch on a games console is to see if that firmware update you have been waiting for has actually been released yet. Normally this level of excitement might be associated with a never quite on schedule Blackberry release, or possibly the once a year Xbox Live update. However, my first few months of owning a 3DS was spent waiting for it to become functional.

Without wanting to pre-empt the whole article, I should add that it is now functional, and it is all the better for being so. Yet, it seems strange that a company as wise and rich as Nintendo would bring a product to market which would turn its own ‘early adopters’ into its worst possible ‘word of mouth’ marketing team. I am yet to read an article, or meet a fellow owner, who was not full of dismay and scorn at the device resulting in them questioning whether the 3DS represented Nintendo’s first great marketing misstep since the birth of the Gamecube.

The 3DS launched with a lot of razzle and dazzle, with celebrities and events globally. The official magazines, and not so official magazines along with websites had previews of exciting first and third party games which, although not PS3 level of graphics, still looked great and would arrive within weeks of launch. As the launch approached, retailers started changing the launch line-up as games (the ones people might want to actually play) were delayed. The machine launched with very few good games, very few good games that justified £35 a pop, in a world where PS3/Xbox games retail soon after launch at £40 and apps for the iphone and ipad are £1. The good games were Ridge Racer (no online racing mind you), Street Fighter 4 and, er, yeah….

Months later Dead or Alive arrived, (superb) and a remastered and repackaged Ocarina of Time (amazing), followed by Resident Evil Mercenaries (great but way overpriced) and then another vacuum.

This might have made a great E-Store launch title. However, who ever thought it would justify £20-£35?

Now, perhaps Nintendo have realised that charging too much for 3DS games will cancel out the issue that there are actually very few worth buying. The few that are worth having can just about claim to be worth £35, at a push, so owners might buy one every two months. To be honest though, they probably won’t, not if the experience is so limited such as it is with Resident Evil Mercenaries. 3DS owners want and expect handheld versions of full console games, and this is what the publishers and developers need to bring to the party. Of course we live in a digital age, the age of the download and of the stream, and Nintendo had supposedly taken this on board with the 3DS, which was going to be made super E-Friendly. The way in which they best demonstrated this level of E-Friendlyness was to launch the system with no Browser or E-store, saying it’ll be along in a couple of months, maybe, perhaps, possibly – if you close one eye whilst standing on one leg singing the French national anthem backwards.

May came, and the store arrived. As app stores go, this is very well designed and easy to use. The store makes good use of the fact the 3DS has 2 screens, and it’s easy to navigate using the buttons on the 3DS or the touch screen using your finger. In fact as an aside, many people criticise the 3DS for still using a stylus. This criticism is not fair as the resolution of the bottom screen is much higher than that of the original DS which most of the time, results in you not needing a stylus as it is very responsive. Anyway, back to that E-Store…..

It’s easy to find what you want and there are a nice number of trailers appearing adding the idea that it’s not just an E-Store but a general content delivery system for trailers and everything Nintendo. You would think that with the time Nintendo had available to it whilst arranging the release of the E-Store it would arrive full of games and videos from the get-go. Hell no; it launched with one free game, that being a remastered version of ExciteBike, a couple of Gameboy games (including the amazing Super Mario Land) and then a best of DSi highlights. Strangely the DSi games seem much more appealing on this system, not least because you can have quite a few of them installed without running out of memory.

Yet Nintendo have missed a trick here. If they are willing to allow us to have new 3DS-only titles saved onto our SD card, then why not the DSi games too? Having to copy and move games from one storage medium to another is absurd in this ‘click now and play in 30 seconds’ lifestyle we live in. Even if you do have the patience for such stupidity, it results in your save data being lost. This in turn results in you never buying another DSi game, once you have reached your storage limit, if you don’t want either inconvenience. For new 3DS-only games though, there is no such trouble. Save away onto your SD card, and all will be well. The store is an Xbox Live experience in that it also offers regularly updated trailers and channels and hence encourages you to visit regularly to see what else is new.

Whilst I appreciate Nintendo do not want their E-Store reaching saturation point with an ios level of apps and games, they are still too far the other extreme. They should be adding many more games to the store, and certainly more 3DS exclusive games. These don’t all have to be major releases, and could even include free downloads with paid DLC as on ios, which can offer longer lasting revenue streams for certain types of games.

A game which really does justify the investment into the console. More remakes or original titles to this standard must hit the shelves month after month.

So, where now for the 3DS? At last it seems the pieces are in place and the technology works. The release list for major games though still looks brittle and is worrying, but if the promised first party games are delivered on schedule they should drive sales and create a community attractive enough for third party support. I have a sneaking suspicion that in a year’s time, when the PS Vita is out, Nintendo might be regretting not putting a second analogue slider on the device, where there is already space for one. Yet if they can get the price down to £150 or even closer to £120 within a year (quite possible) I think it’ll be a device that can overcome its troubled start and carve out a space for itself in a very congested portable technology landscape.

Editor’s note: This article was originally submitted mere hours before Nintendo announced they were reducing the trade price of the 3DS by about a third, so Steven actually pre-empted this. Honest.

• Format: 3DS
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Nintendo/Grezzo
• Players: 1
• Site: http://zelda.com/ocarina3d/#/home

Lots and lots of games were released between 1998 and now. Likeable gems, piles of fuming rubbish, lauded classics, and all manner of titles saw the light of day — but then there’s The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Even the most soulless gamers agreed that it was something special. This 3DS remake of the game holds up alarmingly well and possesses every grain of magic it was remembered for back on the old Nintendo 64. Toss aside both your 3D and rose-tinted glasses, for you’ll need neither pair to enjoy this classic among classics.

Most of us know the fabled quest by now: a boy from a mystical forest of peace is pulled into a grand adventure of heroism with the ultimate goal of saving the fair Princess Zelda and defeating Ganondorf the black-hearted villain. The plot hasn’t changed a bit and that’s nothing to complain about; it’s a strong story that offers more than a few memorable characters and poignant moments as it leads you from dungeon to dungeon.

That, after all, is the meat of the game: solving the puzzling dungeons and overthrowing the bosses that lurk within. Aside from the Water Temple (which now has colour-coded doors to keep your addled brains from falling out), the structure hasn’t been fiddled with much. You’ll still target skeletons and duel them to the death (or undeath as the case may be), hit switches to activate moving platforms, and find keys that open locked doors. Some conventions are starting to feel aged (notably the inflexible camera), but the complex yet perfectly ordered rooms and hallways are brilliantly designed, ensuring a satisfying flow of cognitive stimulation and killing things.

You think a measly rock will take down the Hero of Time? Boulder-dash! (Heh heh.)

Of course, life outside these perilous caves is just as rewarding. Hyrule is a huge place, positively stuffed to the brim with secrets. You might discover a hidden route to the Lost Woods while bombing rocks in the Goron city, which in turn could lead you to a fairy fountain– but you don’t have anything with which to catch one of the healing sprites! This won’t do, and so a crusade to find an empty bottle begins. It’s this sense of joyful exploration that makes Ocarina of Time so enthralling, even if you’ve already explored every nook and cranny before.

The world becomes even bigger when Link is transported seven years in the future and finds himself to be a strapping young man. Hyrule changes along with him and reacts to events caused in the past, allowing you to swap between the two forms at will. All of this legwork and fabric-of-the-universe-tearing can wear you out now and then, but a swift horse, a teleporting ocarina, and a new hint system do wonders to keep things moving.

It’s a beautiful place, this Hyrule, and it’s been completely redone with the utmost care. Link’s newly-constructed character model looks fantastic in a world of sharpened textures and brightened colours. Some areas have been so drastically upgraded that you’ll hardly recognise them, even if the blocky roots and minor glitches still remain. The visuals are taken to the next level with the addition of a brand new dimension: the third one. Now Death Mountain appears to truly loom high above and the Forest Temple’s twisting hallways have depth to them. In fact, the 3D is so effective that it’s jarring to switch back to the ordinary, flat world. Anti-aliasing and frame rate do take a hit with it turned on, but the result is well worth the trouble, whether you crank the slider all the way up or nudge it to a subtler setting.

It's hard to believe this place used to look like a Kokiri prison cell.

But we’re not simply talking about a new coat of paint: love it or hate it (we tend to do both), the wacky controller of the Nintendo 64 days is gone, replaced with the elegant 3DS. Not only are the face buttons and circle pad up to the task of providing a smooth ride, but most menus and HUD elements have been moved to the bottom screen. That means the ocarina, map, gear, and item screens can all be accessed with the tap of a button– even the iron boots, which again eases the Water Temple’s potential pain and nausea. Anything with a first-person perspective, such as the slingshot, can optionally be controlled by physically moving the 3DS, which is more accurate and immersive than you might imagine. Doing so can interfere with the 3D, but keeping it aligned with your face isn’t tough. Despite this quirk, the new setup makes for a faster, far more convenient interface, nixing one of Ocarina of Time’s few problems.

It’s worth pointing out that the soundtrack is largely unaltered in all its MIDI charm. Although expertly composed, the music does seem aged next to the spiffy graphics, so a remastered version would hardly go amiss. The ability to choose between old and new graphics would have been nice as well, but it’s hard to complain about a presentation this good.

Dense with polished content, you can dump hours into the game without even realising it, and the captivating setting will keep you from leaving. But don’t worry: when the journey finally comes to a close, you can replay any boss encounter at will or start a new Master Quest file. You’ll find radically altered dungeons rife with difficult riddles and monstrous monsters to overcome in this beefier version of the game, complete with a mirrored world to confuse you further. There’s almost no end to the adventure, and that’s something to be grateful for.

How one game can have so many unforgettable music themes is quite beyond us.

Ocarina of Time stands tall as one of the greatest videogames ever produced, going so far as to best most of today’s finest, and this quality remake only makes it better. Whether you have an encyclopedic knowledge concerning Lake Hylia’s population of fish or you’ve never touched a Zelda game in your life, this is something worthy of owning. There’s no better way to jump into the series and, nostalgia or not, you’ll be hard pressed to find a game more memorable, wondrous, and downright fun than Ocarina of Time 3D.

• Format: 3DS (version reviewed)
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Capcom
• Developer: Capcom
• Players: 1-2
• Site: http://www.residentevil.com/mercs/

Saved. That’s the single word statement you will see when you load up this game for the first time. Though the controversy over Capcom’s conscious decision to allow only a single save file which can never be reset or overwritten is the talking point for most people, what really matters is whether Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D warrants a purchase to begin with.

There is no plot here to lay out before you. The Mercenaries began as an extra mode unlocked in Resident Evil 4, placing a character of your choice from the main game in a confined area taken from it with unlimited spawning enemies and a pre-set selection of weapons. Tasked with racking up as high a score as possible within an extendable time limit, the player was left to make use of their surroundings and keep themselves going with supplies dropped from fallen enemies.

When the mode returned in Resident Evil 5, co-operative functionality was added to fit with the game’s theme of having a partner; and through DLC it was also expanded into adversarial game types competing for kills or scores against one another while also fighting off the spawning enemies. It was addictive – to a point.

We feel it’s important to make a point of being specific about the many changes made to (essentially) the mini-game in Resident Evil 5, because this 3DS outing falls somewhere behind it and Resident Evil 4 in terms of both execution and features.

Taking areas and enemies from both games, The Mercenaries 3D provides the player with half a dozen or so condensed levels. Just how small some areas were surprised us – with the perfect example being the ‘Public Assembly’ taken from RE5. The version of it presented here is more comparable to the moment from the main campaign where fences blocked off most sections leaving you a very small area to survive in.

Just why that is is debatable. Is it space on the cart or the results of a rushed job? Another area that created those kinds of questions for us was in the character selection. There are eight characters in total with only two being new to the game (Rebecca and Claire) and only one alternate costume for each of them. Noticeable absences include numerous characters who were in the other versions of The Mercenaries such as Ada, Sheva or Leon. Whether this is because characters were held back to become DLC remains to be seen.

The music is also sparse and largely lifted from the previous titles, and the only real voice work you’ll hear is the pre-mission banter about killing enemies and building up points.

Gameplay has transitioned well onto the 3DS which is an area to credit. The game is easy to control and even builds on the traditional enclosed movement present in Resident Evil games by allowing the player to move while reloading or aiming. The latter is a little hard to work though since if you do want to move while aiming, you lose the ability to change the direction you are aiming in – as it locks shifting the cross-hair around to allow strafing.

To try and add longevity to the game there is an in-built award system for achieving certain things like finishing a stage with 100% accuracy (or killing… a chicken) and also a progressive skill system which really makes no noticeable difference for the most part.

The graphics are to a high standard – at least close up. At distance enemy textures turn to horrible flickering 8-bit messes. While the 3D effect in other games had noticeable adverse reactions on us during longer play sessions, nothing like that happened here. The 3D is not particularly ‘deep’ and this may be the reason, though either way it makes no difference to the actual gameplay.

Getting to the end credits of The Mercenaries 3D can be done in a single night. Stages are separated across five ranks of three to five stages each (though 8 EX stages also unlock when you finish the game), but ridiculously the game spends the first two and a half ranks worth of stages holding your hand and slowly unlocking things like an overzealous tutorial. During these ranks enemies can literally stand in front of you for ten seconds without trying to attack. The ability to combo enemies (killing them in quick succession to build up a high final score) doesn’t appear nearly soon enough either.

The final large flaw lies within the game’s greatest strength – online play. Playing with one other player you can tackle any stage you have unlocked as a duo. Playing together with a friend (or a stranger – assuming they don’t steal all your melee kills) is probably where you will have the most fun and any longevity will come from this. The big negative is not being able to just pick a stage to go at it against enemies of your choice – you have to pick a mission out of the ranked selection. This also means there are no alternate game types either.

The Mercenaries 3D feels like exactly what it is: a mini-game. Though to put it more negatively ‘rushed’ or ‘unfinished’ could also be used here. This would be reasonable to a point, from a bit of mindless fun once in a while point of view, but for a full retail release that you’ll have forever there just isn’t enough substance here.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is widely agreed to be one of the greatest videogames of all time. That’s certainly the opinion of almost everybody at CG, and it’s easy to see why Nintendo gave the game some spit, polish, and 3D shiny magic for the 3DS. It allows a whole new generation of gamers to enjoy this classic!

Presuming that generation didn’t get hold of a secondhand N64 with a copy of the game. Or a GameCube with The Wind Waker, which came with a bonus disc carrying Ocarina of Time. Or just the bonus disc, which will work in the Wii. Or, er, the WiiWare download. Anyway.

Unsurprisingly, the game sold very well, debuting at number two in the UK all formats chart. It probably doesn’t hurt that the 3DS has recently been spotted on these shores for prices as low as the Dsi XL’s RRP. That said however the game slid down to sixth place this week, and is looking rather lonely; being as it is the only 3DS exclusive in the top twenty (as reported in MCV). We’ve now seen proof that 3DS games can smash into the charts; why isn’t it happening more often? Fingers crossed that Nintendo take note of how successful their ‘hardcore’ games can still be.