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Definitely got a NiGHTS vibe from Icarus, it looks really exciting. Flight, barrel rolls, and combat are always a great combination.
I go over a few select 3DS trailers I saw at the 3DS booth at E3.
Like Nintendo said, for those of you at home, you'll honestly have to take our words for it. 3D is better. I saw trailers for a few titles, including Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, and Kid Icarus, and found myself Thoroughly impressed.
Footage from Mario Kart included new, unique stages, including a run through what seemed to be Wuhu Island, impressively enough. Mario and Luigi were the featured races this time around, and the speed and rendering in the videos used were crisp and clean, with only the karts, though not the racers, looking a little bit blocky. Like most of the other 3DS videos shown, the option to move the camera a teeny bit to look around was available, and at this point, is nearly taken for granted. I don't recall seeing any weapons in action, but my memory could be pretty faulty due to all the show's commotion. The main points to take from this is that Mario Kart, or potentially other racing titles, look outstanding on the Wii.
Animal Crossing needs very little coverage. The truth is, it's very much alike the Animal Crossing we know. I asked the person standing near the demo about new features, and the most that was said was that the game would be wifi compatible so you can visit others' towns and play with them, like the most recent versions. Again, 3D looked great, but honestly, was a bit less overwhelming in this case. Unlike most other videos, camera rotation wasn't possible, though! *Gasp!*
Kid Icarus, though, seems to be incredible and vastly superior to anything I was expecting. Personally, I'd liken much of what's shown of the game to be like StarFox, particularly the flying parts of the game. Nick suggested Sin and Punishment may be a closer, more similar title to compare the game with, though. I'd say ground-based combat does resemble S&P, with roll-dodges, sword attacks, and long-range arrows. Enemies currently seem a little less detailed than Pit, who looks to be the stunning image of his Smash Bros. self, but in action, the game, Pit, and enemies are all fluid, rendered sharply in 3D. Flight, however, seems absolutely incredible. Control seems reminiscent of StarFox, as I said before, but it's very possible to have some kind of free-range control over player travel. Likewise, air-based combat looked very fun, from what we could see. There's a reason why Kid Icarus was mentioned during Nintendo's Press conference, and that's because it seems that it could become a stunning epic of a title upon release.
Look for impressions of StarFox 64 3DS from me tomorrow, but for now, it's late, and I need sleep. Nick, Chris, and Chessa will have their take on select 3DS games and trailers at some point, but there's been so much to cover it might take some time, so allow my brief coverage to tie you over until then, Zap.
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