Tendo City

Right now I own one game, Ocarina of Time 3D. (I also downloaded the DSi Four Sword port.)

My first impressions? Well, the system is a bit hefty, and the positioning of the left stick and d-pad strain my wrist a bit. The 3D slider is simply an amazing addition, considering the limitations of the current 3D screen. That is, the 3D screen really does require a VERY specific angle to be visible at all in 3D mode. Considering how much they are pushing the motion sensing, this really is a problem. The good news is they took a page from Apple and really streamlined the interface. I can zoom out the icons into huge pages of applications. The store is far more usable too. All in all, the software side is much better done, though there is still room for growth. So far, there is one Super Gameboy game on the store, Donkey Kong. Considering that was the flag ship Super Gameboy compatible game, it's very disappointing that the game (from the previews in the store) only plays in black and white mode.

Ocarina of Time 3D is Ocarina of Time. The textures are all much sharper, and some ( but not all) of the character models have been updated. The sound is exactly the same. The gameplay is also identical, right down to little glitches like back flipping onto the Dodongo cavern as a kid to get that piece of heart early. The graphical additions are minor. Aside from a few updated models, better textures, and a few new model animations (animations which I'm of a mixed opinion on, since some of them seem worse to me), the graphics are barely touched. This is hardly a massive overhaul, and FAR shy of what the 3DS is capable of as games like Mario Land 3D, Super Street Fighter 4, and the upcoming Luigi's Mansion demonstrate. They did add Master Quest, with the small change of also mirroring the world in that mode now and doubling enemy damage. There's also a boss marathon mode, which could be a bit of a challenge. All in all, they haven't added much of anything, certainly no bonus dungeons or quest lines as in the LTTP release on GBA or the LA release on GBC.

One addition is the Sheikaih Stones. These are huge versions of the stones of truth hidden in the original version (those are still in the game of course). They have gaping mouths you can crawl into to get what amounts to walkthrough videos of parts of the game you are at. I tested this with a throwaway save file. All in all they can be safely ignored if you want the original challenge. Their presence does seem unnecessary to me, but they are there for people struggling with a puzzle I suppose so I guess it's not a problem either. What I hope this means is they have no excuse to dumb down any of the puzzles, but I can say for sure once I reach the Water Temple.

One thing I've noticed is the addition of these pictures and charts all over the place in the game now. They appear to be giving hints and explanations of all sorts of future puzzles. I find that to be an annoying trend, and considering the walkthrough videos, wholly superfluous.

All in all, it's Ocarina of Time plus the Master Quest. It's a classic, slightly enhanced, but it certainly could have been far more improved than this. If you've got the bonus disk for the Gamecube, you can safely skip this. Otherwise, get it for Master Quest. If you've never played Ocarina of Time (who do I think I'm addressing here?), certainly get it. Well, I've heard that among newer gamers this hasn't aged as well. They're comparing it to later Zelda games most likely, which all evolved on this one.

I intend on playing this one through and then finally jumping into Skyward Sword.

ok

Nice contribution Diane.

I don't have one, but have used it some. The slide pad is certainly far better than that horrible PSP analog nub at least... you're right that the d-pad is certainly uncomfortably located though. I'm not sure what more they could have done, but still.

As for DK'94, yes, I entirely agree that it's absurd that they didn't bother to program an SGB emulator. It could have worked and would have been great; there's already a bordered mode (which uses a slight 3d effect), but that's still B&W. There's absolutely no excuse for why SGB games don't have SGB support on the 3DS. Coming from the company that never got around to programming memory card or rumble support into their Wii N64 emulator I am far from surprised, but disappointed just the same.

Dark Jaguar Wrote:Right now I own one game, Ocarina of Time 3D. (I also downloaded the DSi Four Sword port.)

My first impressions? Well, the system is a bit hefty, and the positioning of the left stick and d-pad strain my wrist a bit. The 3D slider is simply an amazing addition, considering the limitations of the current 3D screen. That is, the 3D screen really does require a VERY specific angle to be visible at all in 3D mode. Considering how much they are pushing the motion sensing, this really is a problem. The good news is they took a page from Apple and really streamlined the interface. I can zoom out the icons into huge pages of applications. The store is far more usable too. All in all, the software side is much better done, though there is still room for growth. So far, there is one Super Gameboy game on the store, Donkey Kong. Considering that was the flag ship Super Gameboy compatible game, it's very disappointing that the game (from the previews in the store) only plays in black and white mode.

Ocarina of Time 3D is Ocarina of Time. The textures are all much sharper, and some ( but not all) of the character models have been updated. The sound is exactly the same. The gameplay is also identical, right down to little glitches like back flipping onto the Dodongo cavern as a kid to get that piece of heart early. The graphical additions are minor. Aside from a few updated models, better textures, and a few new model animations (animations which I'm of a mixed opinion on, since some of them seem worse to me), the graphics are barely touched. This is hardly a massive overhaul, and FAR shy of what the 3DS is capable of as games like Mario Land 3D, Super Street Fighter 4, and the upcoming Luigi's Mansion demonstrate. They did add Master Quest, with the small change of also mirroring the world in that mode now and doubling enemy damage. There's also a boss marathon mode, which could be a bit of a challenge. All in all, they haven't added much of anything, certainly no bonus dungeons or quest lines as in the LTTP release on GBA or the LA release on GBC.

One addition is the Sheikaih Stones. These are huge versions of the stones of truth hidden in the original version (those are still in the game of course). They have gaping mouths you can crawl into to get what amounts to walkthrough videos of parts of the game you are at. I tested this with a throwaway save file. All in all they can be safely ignored if you want the original challenge. Their presence does seem unnecessary to me, but they are there for people struggling with a puzzle I suppose so I guess it's not a problem either. What I hope this means is they have no excuse to dumb down any of the puzzles, but I can say for sure once I reach the Water Temple.

One thing I've noticed is the addition of these pictures and charts all over the place in the game now. They appear to be giving hints and explanations of all sorts of future puzzles. I find that to be an annoying trend, and considering the walkthrough videos, wholly superfluous.

All in all, it's Ocarina of Time plus the Master Quest. It's a classic, slightly enhanced, but it certainly could have been far more improved than this. If you've got the bonus disk for the Gamecube, you can safely skip this. Otherwise, get it for Master Quest. If you've never played Ocarina of Time (who do I think I'm addressing here?), certainly get it. Well, I've heard that among newer gamers this hasn't aged as well. They're comparing it to later Zelda games most likely, which all evolved on this one.

I intend on playing this one through and then finally jumping into Skyward Sword.

Input friend code -- I'm lonely..

For the record, when it comes to SGB support, I couldn't care less about the borders. Emulating the color modes on SGB games can scrap the custom borders completely, as the game code never once paid attention to that except for the occasional signal for the SGB to change the border in some games. Heck, they could "emulate" that without even showing it if some game somewhere actually is coded badly enough to depend on the border being rendered to function. Really, the only game that would have trouble would be Space Invaders, but considering they could simply put the SNES version on the store instead (same thing), it's not really a problem.

Anyway, I just bought Freaky Forms from the online store and it's an addictive little weird game. You draw creatures and it uses procedural code to figure out how the creature should get around in the game world. It's like a 2D version of the first section of Spore.

I can say one thing, Nintendo finally ditched "Wii Points" on this thing. Purchases are done with actual legal tender, such as dollars. Further, while there are still "buy this big chunk of non-refundable cash" buttons for suckers, tucked under those is an "add needed funds for purchase" button, which simply adds the EXACT amount that's needed to buy whatever you are buying. Sony has had this for some time, except for amounts under $5 (as a result on Sony's store I just wait until there's enough things I want to add up to at least $5 so I can avoid anything more than what's needed in a shopping cart purchase). I'll check later if a "shopping cart" combined purchase is possible on the 3DS now.

One other addition is that downloads now take place in the background on the main menu, in a similar way to modern phone OS systems (the icon is in a "downloading" state until it's finished, and there it is, though with the need to "open" it like a present first, which is an odd choice but hardly a huge inconvenience since unlike Sony there's no "install" operation needed). Further, if you want, you can "delay" the downloads until you close the lid if you want to save bandwidth or something.

All in all, a huge step forward from "watch Mario gather coins for the next half hour, then you can do something with your Wii again".

Nintendo if you are reading, a suggestion. Please redesign the Wii store to take advantage of the changes you've made to the 3DS. First and foremost, use dollars. Convert existing "Wii Points" into the wallet dollar amount, and combine those wallets across systems into one. Further, allow me to "delay" downloads on the Wii in the same way with an up to 10 download queue. Also, I would suggest one thing, unify games that are identical on both systems. For example, for all those virtual console games that will inevitably be ported back and forth (let's say Super Mario Bros.), it shouldn't matter which system I purchase it on, I should be able to download and play it on both systems.

The Wii U will likely be incorporating these things anyway, but it seems like a pretty simple thing to unify the Wii U and Wii store interface too.

So they've got the 3DS version of Pictochat now, and it's called Swap Note. This time you can send photos and videos and the messages can be drawn in 3D. More importantly, the messages can be sent online instead of just to anyone within wifi distance.

In fact, the whole "interact with your friends" feature is far improved. Much like a modern phone, every program with such a feature first requests permission to use "Spotpass". This will communicate not just with random passersby, but with anyone in your friends list via the online interface, thus making up for the fact that very few people in America have a subway or bus system they can take. It's all combined too. When you turn on your 3DS, you'll see phone style "toast" messages from any program with an update. Protip: Turn off spotpass for Nintendo Video. That thing's basically just a string of commercials and it'll ALWAYS have a toast up when you pop on your system. It's just an annoyance so spare yourself.

Oh yes, the system allows "hotswapping" game cards, so long as the game isn't currently being played.

Other than that, any new card based game you get will input it's data into the system via your SD card so those spotpass features will work even when the game isn't on or even plugged in. The toasts for the game will instantly appear on it's icon the moment you plug in the game, like just now when I plugged in Mario Kart 7 (more on THAT in a moment). Again, you need to give permission for it to work, so it isn't an invasion of privacy. Befriending someone is a bit easier this time around. If your friends have 3DSs with them in the same room, just "share" and you'll all link up automatically. No need to punch in a code there. Further, you can input a nickname. The one advantage of a number based identity tag is that two people can use the same nickname. That said, there are still some notable problems. The system still doesn't have ubiquitous OS based voice chat, "parties" one can bring across games, or even something as simple as allowing me to befriend people I've played with during matchmaking. Nintendo still seems concerned about exposing kids to the trash of the internet, as has been noted just recently when Miyamoto talked about the 3DS version of Flipnote and said he was afraid of crude content being exposed to children. Personally I think a well implemented system of parental controls would handle that, complete with some sort of large note handed out with all of them recommending parents buying this as a gift open it up beforehand and set up the parental controls before the kid even has a chance with the system. All the same, bit by bit they are improving their online support. Credit has to go to that. Speaking of which...

Mario Kart 7 now allows the creation of a "community" (think a clan). They've upped the ante here. While there's no voice chat present, there's still a lot of nice little features. The spotpass will show community data, downloaded "ghost" data, and other little things. If you want to send an invite to play a game, you're better off sending a message because your friend won't see the invite unless they actually have the game plugged in (that's one thing they could fix, putting cartridge based game toasts on the menu in some fashion). This brings me to the game in general. Mario Kart 7 brings together features from the entire franchise of games in one great combination. It's got the coins from the very first game for steadily increasing your speed, the "hop" from 64 (which is needed on some of the new tracks), the always-nice mini-turbos from power sliding (with a selection between "automatic" and "manual", the advantage in manual being that the boosts are more powerful). The items are from across the series, with a few new ones like the raccoon leaf. There are a host of brand new levels, but there are also old levels from across the series, much like in Mario Kart DS, but this time the Double Dash and Wii levels have their graphics intact. The karts can now be modified a bit, and rather than something like the motorcycle as in Wii, instead the kart changes into different styles in different situations. Underwater, it'll control more like a speed boat, and when you get huge air, you can deploy a hang glider and control it like that for a bit. All in all, they've really outdone themselves with this one. That's not a surprise though, apparently Retro Studios played a big part in this game.

The 3DS is really starting to win me over. There are issues that need to be worked out and added for the online multiplayer, but they've done pretty well so far.

Super Mario 3D Land is awesome!

It's 8 worlds of amazing (or is it?), and for those who think the Tanooki suit doesn't work as it should, just wait. Juuuust wait. Seriously, this game has been my obsession the last couple of days.

I have to add one thing. Several levels in, there's a Boomerang Flower added to the mix. That's right, you can become a Boomerang Brother here.

So what do I mean by the 8 worlds thing? I'll give you a cryptic hint. Tell them Japanese announcer lady!

JAL: 日のこのヒントは次のとおりである: Dan Halen

Yes, well... do whatever you can with that I guess.

I have ended Super Mario 3D Land. Amazing... Play it.

On the other hand... <img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/dark1x/dk.jpg">

That is indeed really stupid.

Just as awful, of course, is the fact that 3DS VC games don't have multiplayer support, so all of those GB games on there with link cable modes can't be played against others now, even though they could on the original system. That's probably even worse than the missing SGB support, really, given that it affects more games.

Dark Jaguar Wrote:I have ended Super Mario 3D Land. Amazing... Play it.

On the other hand...

Wow! It's not even in color? That's ultra retro!

I was talking about it earlier in the thread. The Gameboy emulation for old titles is very limited. One can't customize colors (except between black and white and that greenish tint the original model used, which is an odd thing to specifically code in). Further, the Super Gameboy isn't emulated, so games like Donkey Kong GB (pictured above) which were coded specifically for the SGB are simply played in their black and white modes. It's really disappointing, because Donkey Kong GB in particular had especially well done color design.

ABF makes a good point though in that the lack of multiplayer is a bigger issue. The easiest way to handle it would be emulating it via a wireless ad-hoc multiplayer system. Get a friend, start the game, and before the game actually starts a "lobby" appears to handle linking the two systems up. The emulator takes over from there. One could go further. In any game that supported the GB printer, any attempt to send data to the printer instead spools it to an image creator which renders and then saves the resulting image as a .png file on the SD card. The SGB emulation would be the hardest to achieve, but considering that emulation of that mode has worked successfully in home grown emulators for over a decade now, it really shouldn't be too much work for Nintendo. Why should they bother? That's why I posted that image. That is the ONLY thing consumers are going to see. A hacked PSP can play Nintendo's old classics better than the 3DS, and for free. It pays to go the extra mile for the consumer.