3DS Launch Party Demo impressions.

Last night I was lucky enough to attend the launch party for the long awaited 3DS - and what a night it was! Me and my mate Ashley got to the Thames side venue quite early and were fortunate to be lining up on correct side of the building. (Literally hundreds of people were stood at the front by the VIP Red carpet and noone told them for at least an hour - that they were waiting there in vain!) After some time in the cold - our QR code phone tickets were scanned in and we were handed wrist straps for entry. This was it! Finally time to play some new games on this thing! (I recieved my 3DS with SSFIV earlier that same afternoon) The games I really wanted to try out were - Pilotwings, Ridge Racer and Nintendogs + cats. We walked through the doors and the adventure began!

Pilotwings ^-^

Approached the nearest 3DS booth and we were surprised to find Pilotwings right in front of us. I noticed the 3D was set to OFF - so I cranked it up to full and the depth was immediately apparent. The horizon stretched into distance and the plane I was controlling with the slide pad looked to be hovering inside the screen rather that on it. I played around with the rocket man and the hand glider and found them all enjoyable - but the 3D had to be dialed down to just above ON otherwise I could just see double images. This will probably differ from person to person but the 3D effect was ultra strong compared to the other 3DS games I would play later. The controls for the game were simple, experience was super smooth and the charm of Miis should not be underestimated. My only gripe is the game seemed slow and laborious. I don't think I could see myself playing this when I have other more exciting and engaging games to play. Maybe one for the bargain bins?

Riiiiidge Raceeeer!

It may sound strange but I have never really played a Ridge Racer game. I tried out the PSone original back in the day and dabbled in the arcade versions but never really liked it till I played Ridge Racer 4 on a demo disc at a friends house...The first thing that struck me was the quality of the 3D while choosing a vehicle. You have the ability to rotate around your choice of racer and zoom in and out. I was shocked. I felt like the screen had been taken out and I was looking at the car through a hole in the 3DS screen! I felt like sticking my hand in a pulling it out! On the road this thing was fast. The sense of speed is accentuated really well by the 3D and the jagged edges, quite simple polygonal graphics and dodgy textures are hidden well by the 3D effect. It was quite a lot of fun once I got the hang of it and I was able to improve my drifting corner after corner. Ash still beat me though. I was super hyped after playing and I was about 99 per cent sure that this would be my third title to compliment SSFIV and Pro Evo 3D. However another game I had not even considered made me have second thoughts...Big time. In terms of 3D It made Ridge Racer, Pilotwings and SSFIV look like they had 'fake' 3D...

Rayman 2 - The Great Escape

To my knowledge there was only one 3DS booth running this game - which is a great shame as this was pretty much the only demonstration of how well the 3D could enhance a third person camera controlled action game. 10 years ago I struggled to get this game to run on my PC and pretty much forgot it existed till the original DS port showed how Ubisoft could take a critically acclaimed title and make it awful...Fast forward to 2011 and Ubi is at it again - but this time they may have done a better job. I say may - as I have only experienced the demo, which was colourful, fantastical and made me feel incredibly immersed. Just moving Rayman around was a joy I hadn't felt since first guiding Mario around in Super Mario 64. Finally i got the first sense of how Ocarina of Time may feel in this new fangled 3D world that Nintendo has unleashed upon the world - and boy it was AWESOME! MORE PLEASE. The only thing stopping me from buying Rayman 2 are the claims of it being archaic in design and plagued with frame rate issues...The jury is still out on this one. But I think I would rather have an adventure rather than an arcade racer at this point. Last word about Rayman - Jumping off a cliff and hovering down below on to a swarm of glowing Lum Lums was simply breathtaking.

Resident Evil: Mercenaries.

First off 3D was not very apparent as you walked around the environment - the graphics were great though and probably the best showcase of what the machine can do. Once you pulled the sights of your weapon up though the 3D effect in first person mode gave a real sense of the proximity from your characters eyes and the barrel of the gun. The shotgun in particular felt like it was hovering out of the screen and ending deep in to the 3DS pointing at the well animated infected village inhabitants. An explosion threw me off guard and I physically moved my head backwards as the devastation flew out of the screen like something out of CAPTAIN EO. The controls on the other hand seemed to take me back to the days of RE4 on the Gamecube, which is a shame because it feels like a step back from the Wii version of RE4, which was so accurate, fast and comfortable to play. Being a score attack game - it's not really my cup of tea, so I guess I will wait till Resident Evil Revelations hits the 3DS in the future.

Nintendogs + cats

It seemed like it was Nintendogs in 3D. The fur effects combined with the new fluid animations really take the game to another level. The room in which your pet plays in actually feels like a real space. The only shame was that the demo got stuck on the part where it forced you to name your pup - but with loud music blaring around the venue it was impossible to progress from that point onwards...Tapping the screen and seeing a dog run towards you and stick its head OUT of the 3DS was pretty magical. May hold out a bit longer till I get this one.

Kid Icarus Uprising

Pit's long awaited return packs a mean punch. The game looks amazing and moves at a blistering frame rate with some crazy 3D effects that will make your face do this :O. The camera also sways and rotates 360 degrees around Pit as he zooms in and out of the screen - the sense of scale and space is conveyed very well. The controls are the only thing that let me down. As a right handed user you would probably be fine - using the touch screen to guide the cursor around and using your left hand to control pit directly. However I am left handed and Nintendo havent implemented an ambidextrous game set up like Mario 64 DS and Metroid Prime Hunters. This is highly annoying as I thought I wouldn't enjoy this game - but came away wanting to play more. The core game is so much fun that even playing with my right hand, in an awkward fashion was enough to sell me. Uprising does not release till the summer so lets hope that Nintendo make the necessary changes for us lefties!

I played a few other games which I will just touch upon quickly.

Super Monkey Ball 3DS

The 3D did nothing to the game and although it played well and was smooth to play - the graphics were offensively simple and the game seemed far easier and less engaging than Super Monkey Ball on Gamecube. The series seems to be hollow and losing its way with every iteration.

Raving Rabbids 3DS

Another 2D game with 3D depth which really doesen't work in my opinion. Seemed a mix between Little Big Planet and some other generic 2D platformer. The assistants nearby kept calling the 3D lame...LOL. Seemed like a DS game up ported.

Pro Evo 3DS

I have already ordered this game, but it seemed a little slow. But then again maybe that is just how Pro Evo is. I was told by the internets that this game was harking back to old school PS2 Pro evo - which I remember to be fast, fluid and responsive. This was slow and hard to control. Which is weird considering it should control at least like Pro Evo on PSP. Shall see if the fact that I played Ridge Racer just before hand effected my view on the pace. Should receive my copy this week.

Thats a Wrap

So that's about it - I didn't get to play Steel Diver - which looked somewhat interesting and unfortunately Splinter Cell 3DS was not available to play. All in all it seems the future of 3DS is bright. Ocarina of time is around the corner and Nintendo is readying Mario to appear in 3D version of Mario Kart, Paper Mario and another 3D adventure. A remake of Lylat wars 64/ Starfox64 is in the works along with Animal Crossing 3DS. Another hope is that more AR cards/games are released as they are some the most innovative and surprising uses of the technology. For now I'm happy to be part of the 3D movement and can not wait to see what other tricks Nintendo and other developers have up their sleeves.