3DS Ambassador Games

[TheStarFoxMaster64]

September is gonna be a pretty awesome month for my 3DS. While Star Fox 64 3D is just around the corner (two more days!), I'm also qualified in Nintendo's 3DS Ambassador program: that means I started out the month with 10 free NES games!

I just thought I'd share my opinions on each of these games, as they all vary from "awesome" to "god-awful" (in my humble opinion). Also, besides Super Mario Bros. and Balloon Fight, I've had no experience with these games prior.

In general, I just really like how the Virtual Console let's you leave the game at any time and come back to where you left off - these were my first VC games, and I wasn't sure this feature would be carried on by the 3DS. This is especially useful in Metroid and Super Mario Bros.

Metroid: By far my favorite game! Loving every second of it. I'll admit the difficulty is brutally harsh (like those bugs that come out of pipes and ZOOM right towards you?), but I can overlook this. Graphics are great (for an NES game, that is), sound is awesome, BGM is cool to hear in 8-bit (since most Metroid-related games -- i.e. Super Smash Bros. -- have made remixes of these, its fun to hear the original) and the gameplay is addicting. The only thing I could knock this game on is controls, but that's probably a 'learning curb' more than anything else - especially getting used to the jumping mechanics.

Super Mario Bros.: Not much to say here, as I already knew what to expect. Thanks to the 3DS' idle mode though, I have a new goal: to beat the game w/o those cheap pipes in World 1-2 and 4-2.

Donkey Kong Jr.: At first, I thought it was just going to be the educational math game on Animal Crossing (fun, nonetheless), but I was pleasantly surprised. Basically, the game's a giant role-reversal: 'Mario' kidnaps D.K. and you gotta save him. While it takes some time to get used to D.K. Jr. obviously massive weight (he can't even jump from vines and cover more than 2 inches before dying from a 2 foot drop), you get used to it and learn patterns for every stage. Fun, but couldn't play it religously.

Zelda (1 and 2): I can't say a lot about these two yet, as I've chosen to plow through Metroid before devoting to another large-scale game (except Star Fox 64 3D). Both look fun, and I look forward to playing them in the future.

Yoshi: Honestly, I didn't see this one coming. I didn't even know Yoshi existed back in the NES days, let alone have something as bewildering as a puzzle game! Works sorta like Tetris in the fact you have several modes and music options. Its pretty fun, but unless I discover there's additional content by getting higher scores, its just a novelty for when I'm bored.

Balloon Fight: Had so much fun playing this with my sister on Animal Crossing. So much fun, its hard to play it on single player, or the even-more desolate Endurance map. W/o the multiplayer, I just seems empty for me. By no means does this merit it 'unplayable', it just doesn't feel right w/o the awesome, competitive 2 player for me.

Wrecking Crew: Yoshi making egg-sandwiches w/ bloopers, goombas and piranha plants - okay, I can dig that. Mario rushing around construction sites pummeling ladders and exploding bombs all while being chased by eggplants and yarn-people? Ehhh... Weird, but fun, especially with the 100 levels to choose from (the last being the unholy grail of asshole-ish programming and cheap level design)

Some Golf Game I've Forgotten the Name of Already: Its golf... It looks pretty in-depth for a NES golf sim: you can make money in tournaments to buy equipment, practice, etc. I tried it once, but I've never been fond of 'realistic' sports games. This particular title: let's just say I won't be able to rate this game in the eShop...

Ice Climbers: I was actually pretty excited for this one: ever since SSBM, I've wanted to see the game those pesky grab-spammers originated from. Brawl's 1 minute and 30 second demo wasn't enough for me (if only I'd learned my lesson then). Now, I have the entire game at my disposal, and... God, is it awful. Jumping, your essential means of transportation is broken beyond comprehension: you just shoot up like a rocket ship, make an archmcovering another 2 pixels and, half the time, land where you jumped in the first place. And don't even try platforming on bonus stages: its hopeless. Jumping onto stationary platforms is tough-enough, but MOVING ones? Fat chance! I've yet to complete LEVEL 1'S bonus stage! Also, hit detection is off: either I miss the monsters thanks to the goofy and misleading attack-animation, or he somehow touches me when I'm clearly out of range. Bottom line: everything about this game is frustrating: controls, enemies, spawn-times, game-play, and the list could go on, and on. Really disappointing.

And, just think: surely other games deserve the slot this piece is taking up. Wario's Woods, maybe some classic Capcom games (if licensing isn't an issue, but I'm guessing there is because of the lack-of Castlevania and Mega-Man), ANYTHING but Ice Climbers!

So, those are my personal opinions. What about you guys: favorite game, least-favorite game, why -- that sorta stuff. (I'm not even exactly sure how many 3DS Ambassadors are on this site, so all this rambling could have been in vein...)

[Guest Mr. N]

I think it would be nice if the classic 'Ninja Gaiden' trilogy was added to the 3DS. (Although I'm certain nobody including me would ever beat the game due to it's very brutal and harsh difficulty.)

Most favorite game so far on VC: Super Mario Bros.

Reason: I'm going to be honest, back when I had the NES, I always hated when there was a power outage or I had to go to bed because SMB at that time didn't have the save feature for resuming your game and the fact if you restarted the game...you always had to start over from world 1-1 with 3 lives. I never liked that but now on the 3DS... I won't now have to start all over again to the beginning and I could play it on-the-go or whenever!! It's sorta like Nintendo has fixed my all time favorite NES game into a new hand-held.

Least favorite/worst game: NES Open tournament golf

Reason: I guess I can say this was a prototype version of Mario Golf before it was released on N64. There's...kinda no point into playing this golf game unless you like Mario combined with sports because I really hate the controls on the times I had to swing my club to get the ball flying. I always managed to either make the ball fly left or right, it was never straight, there was no wind and...I did my swing-timing near great. Oh well, I guess physics really hates you when you play golf on the NES... (You'll probably enjoy Mario Golf 64 more than this game.)