Nintendo 3DS Review & Game Impressions

We finally had a chance to get our hands on the Nintendo 3DS. The line wrapped all the way around the Nintendo booth and took about an hour and a half to get through. It was all worth it though. The 3DS pulls off great 3D effects without the need for glasses.

The 3DS section of Nintendo's booth is separate from the rest of the Nintendo games and you are only allowed 20 minutes to see/play about twenty five different games. Most of the games are only video demos that demonstrate the 3D effects but a few of the games actually allowed some actual gameplay.

One problem with reviewing 3DS games is pictures and videos will not show up in 3D. So you really need to play the games to fully appreciate the 3D effects. Hopefully Nintendo has tons of demo stations available before the new system launches.

Resident Evil

Resident Evil was just a video, but the game easily had the best visuals. An EA developer told us Nintendo brought Resident Evil around to other publishers prior to E3 as an example of type of graphics developers should be shooting for. The video didn't reveal much about the story or gameplay, it was just a teaser. Nobody at the booth was able to tell us if the game would play like the original Resident Evil's with a fixed camera in each room or more like Resident Evil 4 with an over the shoulder style camera.

Nintendogs + cats

Nintendogs + cats is very similar to the original Nintendogs games for the DS but in 3D and with cats. 3D really helped bring the dogs alive though. The dog would jump onto the screen and hand you a Frisbee. It really felt like they were giving you something.

Paper Mario

Paper Mario is a perfect game for 3D. Enemies shoot items at you during battles, or parts of them shoot off the screen after you stomp on them. The layered effect Paper Mario has used since its creation really come alive with the addition of 3D.

PilotWings Resort

Revisit Wuho island from Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit in a series of flying games. The game will be very similar to the N64 and SNES PilotWings games, but the 3D really makes it feel like you are flying. The plane feels like it is outside the screen and flying into it. Targets start coming out of the screen as you approach them.

Animal Crossing 3DS

The exact same game we have seen since the original Animal Crossing on Gamecube. The town is just 3D instead. If you've played one of these games already, you probably won't need to play the next one unless the game is entirely redesigned before launch.