PAX 2011: What Nintendo and Capcom had at their booths
Matt Hawkins Last weekend in Seattle, I got some hands on time with a few of hottest upcoming offerings from everyone’s favorite powerhouse Japanese publishers. So do the houses that Mario and Mega Man built still have it?
My very first stop at PAX this year was the Nintendo booth. As a diehard Zelda fanboy, I simply had to get my hands on Skyward Sword. Too bad the place was filled with them; despite getting their Charlie on the spot, each station had a line about 30 people thick. So next I tried heading over to the 3DS station, to give either Super Mario 3DS or Mario Kart 7 a spin. No dice on that either.
Wasn’t until Sunday until I got my chance to give anything a go. But it the end, it was worth the wait…
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
The demo was only 10 minutes long, but it was a jam-packed 10 minutes. Three modes were offered, and I decided to split my time between two. First was had you going head to head with the main bad guy in the game, I think. There were story bits that I fast-forwarded due to the clock ticking.
Combat was the one thing I was most interested in, to see how the Wii Motion Plus would mix things up. In the end, it’s not the true 1:1 degree of motion that many had envisioned (or was promised), but you’re not just waving your arms in the air around with no real rhyme or reason either.
Sword fighting was somewhat awkward at first. But once you get in the groove, it’s really something else. The position in which you hold the Wii remote actually matters and is more or less reflected on screen. Basically you have to make sure Link’s sword is in the right position/alignment before you can start swinging it. Same with the shield; I found myself holding it way out, to make sure I would receive what was coming towards me. Me thinks if I handled a real shield, my body language would be similar.
But yeah, the end result was combat that was far more visceral. Unfortunately, because I was so mindful of the position of my sword and shield, to make sure I could do the actions I wanted that followed, I had a hard time keeping track of my target. Z-targeting wasn’t as smooth as in past Zelda’s, but perhaps I just overwhelmed by all the new stuff. Though I was never frustrated, which is key.
Yet because I was having so much fun, I totally lost track of time and hardly had any time for the second segment, which involved flying that big winged bird everyone’s seen in the trailer. Basically one has to hold the Wii remote like a paper airplane to guide its movement. Similar to some mini games in WarioWare. Not bad, just not as fun as all the sword fighting I just went through.
Super Mario 3DS
Many feel that Nintendo should have maybe waited till this game was ready before launch, and I have to agree. If you’re a fan of the old school Mario games, especially Mario 3, then you’re going to love this one. Hence why there’s not much else to say; just imagine the airship sequence from that same game, but in three dimensions.
Though I will say that it was an excellent showcase of Nintendo’s excellent design sensibilities. All throughout were excellent uses of visual trickery, to remind you “hey, the game is in 3D!” But not once is it annoying or too obvious. Even little things like elongating the coin block is just so simple yet so effective.
Mario Kart 7
For whatever reason, I came super late to the Mario Kart party. Didn’t give a rat’s ass about the SNES game, only partook in the N64 version with pals in college, and never bothered with either the GameCube or Wii versions. But I got the DS installment before heading west and can’t stop playing it. Hence why one pals comments of “gee, another Mario Kart” immediately after playing it fell on deaf ears.
Yup, it’s another Mario Kart all right. But in glorious 3D!!! Though the biggest change is how you now have wings; throughout the course are super steep drops, which is where your glider like wings pop out from the back of the vehicle. So you’re both driving and flying, and I have no idea what it’s so insanely awesome, yet it is.
… All three is due later this fall. Hopefully the rumored 3DS hardware redesign comes out not long after! Anyway, moving on, Sunday was also my first chance to check out some games at long last at the Capcom booth. I made up my mind that there was simply no chance in hell that I’d get my hands on Ultimately Marvel vs Capcom 3, though Asura’s Wrath was also constantly occupied the entire weekend, and that was a bummer.
Operation Raccoon City was only on-hand for one day, which meant an extra long line for that, though I did get to watch folks play and it looks hella fun. Don’t recall seeing the new Devil May Cry at all. Though I did get some hands on time with…
Dead Rising 2: Off The Record
Got the chance to check out the new sandbox mode for the DR2 remix that puts Frank West back in the driver’s seat, where he belongs. Again, not much else to say here; you get to run around, killing hordes of zombies, without any stupid time limit to drag you down. Oh, and for whatever reason, the Frank I was controlling was completely decked out in leather, and I couldn’t stop staring at his gigantic package.
Street Fighter X Tekken
Yes, I managed to give the redheaded stepchild of the Street Fighter Versus series a go. Which, not surprisingly, wasn’t nearly as popular as Ultimate MvC3. Sorry, but as a Tekken fan, I personally was excited by the announcement, whereas everyone else sorta just went “okay.” Unfortunately, despite liking fighting games, I still suck at them and didn’t last long. But at least I got to control the bear, and that was fun.
I also haven’t done my homework, but the Tekken folks I was handling controlled exactly like Street Fighters. That’s good news to some, but not me. Perhaps there’s a mode to switch control schemes mid-fight, or perhaps it’s a mode chosen beforehand, I don’t know. Unfortunately, trying to figure things out in the middle of a versus match in a fighting game just doesn’t work.
Though the haters are right about one thing; the whole thing just kinda fugly; I’m hoping for Tekken X Street Fighter, if there is one, for a more toned down, less garish, and skewed towards Namco-ish look.
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