4cr @ E3: DS Impressions

Although the Wii got a lot of attention, the DS deservedly stole some of the show at e3. There were tons of games present to try out on those shiny new DS lites, and boy did they impress. Here are some 4cr impressions of the little white wonder’s second generation of titles.

Yoshi’s Island 2 – Media

Yoshi’s Island is my favorite Nintendo 2d platformer by far. The game had imaginative level design, amazing graphics, and tons of those “holy crap” moments that classic games possess. So when Yoshi’s Island 2 was announced for the DS at the Nintendo Press Conference, I was excited… but a bit apprehensive. I mean, how do you follow up platforming nirvana?

I’m happy to report that Nintendo, somehow improved an already, near-perfect formula with Yoshi’s Island 2. Graphically, you can tell that the game is a bit early in development, but the general art direction stays true to the original with some nice improvements in animation and framerate.

Gameplay-wise is the same story, anyone who is familiar with Yoshi’s Island will be instantly comfortable with the DS controls… and those used to platforming genius will find no surprises either. An interesting twist on the formula this time is the inclusion of more than one baby for our Yoshi friends to carry.

At specific points along a level a “Stork Stop” sign will be present. When Yoshi stands in front of this sign, that famous stork comes along with none other than a different baby. It seems that different babies will give Yoshi different abilities… Baby Peach for example opens up her parasol whenever Yoshi does his flutter kick, allowing Yoshi to hover longer and to be swept away by strategically placed winds. Mario’s power seems to be simply bonking enemies on the head, as when Peach is hitching a ride… Yoshi bounced on enemies heads in vain.

The DS’s screens are basically used as one large screen, and the action switches from the top to the bottom fairly seamlessly. The scoring system also makes a return, with flowers, red coins, and stars to collect in each level. Overall as a Yoshi’s Island fanatic I was thoroughly impressed and excited by the prospect of a new Yoshi’s Island… it looks like the title is going to very easily fill the bright red shoes of its predecessor. - Benny

Really, all you had to say is “Yoshi’s Island 2″ and I’d be there in a heartbeat. Add dual screen gameplay and the addition of baby Peach and DK and I’d sell my own child for this game. The original Yoshi’s Island is the finest platforming game ever and if this game lives up to the original’s pedigree the whole entire world will be a better, happier place. - Nick

Elite Beat Agents – Media

I am fanatical about music games. My library of video games, is composed largely of music based games. From Samba de Amigo to Guitar Hero to Donkey Konga… I’ve played tons of ‘em. So when I say that Elite Beat Agents is a great and unique music game, you know I’ve got some background to support it.

In EBA players use the touch screen as your instrument. By touching a series of dots on the bottom screen you play along with the music. The mechanics are simple and easy to understand, but offer up a surprising challenge. Keeping the “beat” is vital as the game is ruthless with how it punishes you for dropped notes, and the dots are placed in such a way that you cannot get by without some serious reflexes.

So controls are great, but any music game lives and dies by its soundtrack (see Donkey Konga 2), and EBA has a great one. I played only a couple of songs, but they are already stuck in my head. The songs were seriously that great, and I can only assume that the two songs I played with are just a taste of the variety and head thumping music we’ll hear in the final product.

Finally, and perhaps most surprisingly was the story of EBA. Told during various parts of a song on the top screen, EBA’s storyline is manic and hilarious. The easier option in the e3 demo had the heroes of the game helping a babysitter get a date with a star football player, and the harder option has a dog trying to find his way home. They both had me literally laughing out loud at the kiosk. Like the solid music, I have a feeling the storyline of EBA will not disappoint.

This is one e3 game I’m itching the most to play… it’s addicting, it’s hilarious, and it’s catchy. I’ve never been a fan of importing games… and although I had heard great things about Ouendan… the screen shots looked a little manic for my tastes, after playing EBA (a spiritual successor to Ouendan) I’m importing Ouendan as we speak. EBA is something all gamers, especially music game fans need to keep an eye out for. - Benny

Mario Hoops 3-on-3 – Media

The first in what is sure to be a long line of the “Mario Sports” titles for the DS, Mario Hoops 3×3 does not disappoint. Honestly, I normally hate sports games”¦ but the Mario Sports line usually has some inspired designs and play mechanics and Mario Hoops in no different.

The touch screen is used extensively in Mario Hoops, and it’s no gimmick. Basically all your ball handling, from shooting to dribbling, to passing, and even defense is done using motions on the bottom touch screen, while the action is shown on the top screen. The thing you’ll be doing most on offense turns out to be the most rewarding.

Dribbling is done by simply tapping on the screen as you move with you character with the d-pad. The cool thing about dribbling is that you have complete control over it, where you tap on the touch screen determines where you character dribbles”¦ this makes is easy to defend against swats and steals by keeping the ball away from defenders.

Passing is done with a quick swipe left or right, and shooting is accomplished with a swipe up while you are near your basket. To dunk, you simply shoot closer to the hoop. On defense you simply slash the screen while you are close to an opponent to steal the ball. It’s really simple and intuitive.

This control scheme is really rewarding, as you really feel like you’ve got control over ball handling. The game is “Marioized” by the inclusion of question mark boxes on the floor of the basketball court. When you dribble on these boxes coins or Mario Kart style items come out.

Items can be used offensively and defensively and coins can be collected and added to your score when a shot is successfully made. I really didn’t get a complete grasp on how exactly scoring worked, but it was def. not “standard” as my first shot netted me about 120 points.

Not all is great on the Mushroom Kingdom court though. AI was absolutely horrendous”¦ WAY to easy. Not only did my digital opponents not score a shot on me, but they never even got a shot off”¦ I stole every ball from them. Hopefully this will be fixed before the game releases, as the core mechanics are really satisfying. - Benny

I’ve never been a big sports fan, but I’ve always been a Mario Sports fan. So when I saw that Mario Hoops was playable, I rushed to play it. The graphics were pretty good, Mario 64 DS quality, and the controls were great. But like Benny said, the AI was horrendous, the computers wouldn’t move once they had the ball. As for scoring, from what I understood, you had a certain amount of points for scoring + your number of coins.

This game still needs some polishing AI wise, but should be a great game once it’s out. - Edgar

Chibi Robo: Park Patrol – Media

Chibi Robo was the one DS game I kept on coming back to through e3. I’m not exactly sure what was so compelling about it, but it kept me coming back for more throughout my 3 days on the show floor. The game was ridiculously simple, and seemed translate very well to the portable experience. The player basically guided Chibi around a park environment making flowers grow in order to get happy points.

Chibi’s water squirter was selectable from the bottom screen, and when selected, the handle portion of the squirter would appear on the bottom screen. Moving this handle would squirt water on any nearby buds (even auto-locking on nearby buds to make it easier). But it takes more than water to make a flower bloom… but what? The power of Chibi Robo Dance!!!

Once the buds were watered, Chibi would have to pull out his trusty 80′s style Chibi Boombox and jam in order to make flowers grow. When selected, a DJ style turntable would show up on the bottom screen. As far as I could tell, you had to rotate the record around with a steady beat in order to help Chibi Robo bust some of the coolest moves outside of “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.”

This was the quirkiest mechanic to play in the demo. Mainly because of the sheer amount of moves Chibi seemed to possess, everything from disco dancing to the Robot seemed to be in Chibi’s repertoire. Sadly, the moves seemed to be random… with no way to control them. At the end of Chibi’s performance, Chibi is given a ranking, rank too low and the flowers will not bloom. It seems everyone is a critic.

As fun as the flower growing mechanic was, it got old… luckily more exploration eventually netted a Chibi Bike and a Chibi Beach Buggy. Both vehicles seemed to provide the same amount of speed, and like the water squirter and boombox, were controlled with the bottom screen. Biking was accomplished by “pedaling” in a circular motion on the bottom screen and moving with the d-pad, while driving was with a steering wheel. Biking was a bit more fun than the buggy, but both were pretty cool ways to get around the environment.

Overall I came away really impressed with the lil’ robot guy. The game was obviously pretty early, but the touch-screen mechanics already present point to some really great, compelling gaming. As long as Nintendo adds a larger variety of touchscreen activities, it seems like gamers who loved the quirkiness of the original will get great experience. - Benny

When I saw Chibi Robo for the DS, I was really happy, since I love the GameCube version, but I have no time to sit in front of the TV and play it. The only time I seem to have are small DS gaming sessions, so this is great news. The game played great, and looked great. I didn’t get as far as Benny did, I just did some watering and dancing but the play mechanics and the use of the DS screen is really fun. Can’t wait to get this game in my DS. - Edgar

Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass – Media

When I walked up to the Phantom Hourglass kiosk, I expected the classic Zelda formula tweaked with small additions from the touchscreen. What I didn’t expect was no response from the d-pad or buttons on the DS.

Yeah, this Zelda adventure is controlled ENTIRELY with the stylus. You move, fight, and solve puzzles entirely with the touchscreen. After getting over the initial shock of not being able to directly control Link, I settled into a typical Zelda-style dungeon. Pots were thrown, switches were hit, enemies were vanquished, and treasure chests were found. All this seemed very familiar, but the simple touch-driven change added an air of freshness to the Zelda formula.

While it may sound like all touch-screen control would screw with the formula, it actually feels like a natural extension. Attacking by tapping on the enemies still has that satisfying clash of conflict, and it’s especially awesome to be able to direct exactly where your boomerang will go.

Another subtle, but cool addition is the ability to write on the dungeon map. The map, which is displayed on the top screen at all times can be brought down to write notes on. This would especially be great if you (god forbid) left Zelda unplayed for a while and came back into a dungeon you didn’t remember.

Graphically, the Wind Waker style works very well on the DS. Although the DS obviously doesn’t pack the graphical punch of it’s purple big brother, the Cel-da style works well scaled down. Everything looked nice and clean in the demo, and animation looked close to the GCN version… which is a huge compliment.

I only got the play the “dungeon” portion of the demo but what I played seemed pretty promising. Right now it feels like the beginnings of Zelda built around the DS’ unique features, as opposed to Zelda on the DS simply because it’s a portable console. When Miyamoto said that Twilight Princess was going to be the last “Zelda as we knew it,” I think games like Phantom Hourglass are what he meant. New ways to play a classic franchise… are great in my book, and Phantom Hourglass is looking to be worthy of the Zelda name. - Benny

I got my hands on the multiplayer aspect of the game. You played against another player in a maze like dungeon. One player was red Link and the other one was blue Link, each had there own side (left and right).

The middle of the dungeon had rupees of different sizes, so each player took their time to get the rupees from the middle and bring them to your own side. So if you were the one playing Link you had to walk your way through the maze to the middle to get a rupee and bring it back to your base, but be careful once you get that rupee in your hands you will appear on the map of your foe (player 2) he’s controlling 3 monster moving them by drawing lines from them to the place you want them to go on the map. So player 2 will try to corner you once he sees you, I’m sure he doesn’t want you to score more points then him. When he kills you the gameplay switches around, you are now the enemy and he’s Link. I hope that the final game has more mazes to play in. - Edgar

Magnetica – Media

Magnetica was a game I was very curious to try on the DS. I know a ton of casual gamers who absolutely love Zuma and would certainly love a portable version of that game. Apparently, Magnetica came way before Zuma, but the two are very similar.

I played Magnetica for about 20 minutes and came away confident that my casual game friends will love it. The concept, if you don’t know, is to shoot a colored ball into the row of colored balls to stop their progression. The balls constantly move forward in their track until you either clear them and beat the level or they reach the center and you fail. Shooting a ball of a matching color into a pile of balls makes it disappear if there are more than 3 of the same color touching.

The touchscreen control on the game worked flawlessly and was very much like the standard Zuma mouse control. Sound effect’s seemed good from what I could hear and the graphics were vibrant and clear. The demo started off slowly to ease you into the game, but it quickly progressed in difficulty. As long as there are enough levels and play modes, this will be a sure fire hit among puzzle fans. - Nick

A Few Good Sequels – Kirby DS | DK: King of Swing DS | Mario vs Donkey Kong 2

And to wrap up our DS coverage I wanted to touch on three sequels. Mario vs Dokey Kong 2, Kirby DS and DK: King of Swing 2 are all sequels to very recent games. Kirby DS was a little shocking. Not because we are getting a new Kirby game for the DS, but because it goes back to the GBA Kirby games for it’s look and control scheme as opposed to the wonderful Kirby Canvas Curse. I didn’t put a lot of time into this one on the show floor, but I have to honestly say I’m a bit dissapointed that this isn’t Canvas Curse 2.

Another slight dissapointment for me was seeing the new DK: King of Swing. I loved the first King of Swing and it’s hand-drawn look. To see the new game take on a Donkey Kong Country pre-rendered look was a little shocking. However, in terms of gameplay this one felt great as it used the same great controls of the original. Having a second screen for even more viewing space and puzzles is defintely cool. If this game turns out to be as fun as the original I’ll be there to grab it.

Finally, I was defintely not expecting to see a new Mario vs Donkey Kong so soon. The original Donkey Kong game on the original GameBoy continues to be one of my favorite portable games ever. Mario vs Donkey Kong for the GBA didn’t quiet match the caliber of that classic, but it was fun and charming nonetheless. This new game has you controlling the oh-so-cute Mini-Mario toys in a small toy world. While the game doesn’t use the second screen for more puzzle space as I had hoped, there is a really cool new feautre; a level editor. The game allows you to create your own levels using a map editor and then upload them via the Wifi Connection and share them with others. While I hope the single player game is more balanced that the first Mario vs DK, the level editor should allow for endless fun and challenges against other players.- Nick