Amongst the various co-op games available at Eurogamer Expo 2011 I was able to grab a few minutes with some upcoming single player experiences. This Beyond Co-op preview will take a quick gander at Nintendo’s line up at the show, Joe Danger: The Movie, Ridge Racer Unbound and some Retro action.
A Link With the Past
Nintendo
A visit to a games conference would not be complete without a trip to the house of the red plumber. With my co-op hat on I could not justify spending too much time with Nintendo, but did bag some hands on with Mario Kart 7, Super Mario 3D Land, Resident Evil Revelation and Zelda Skyward Sword.
I’m not an owner of a 3DS so playing on one is still a novelty. However, novelty soon wears off and what really matters its quality games. Therefore, in Mario Kart, Mario Land and Resident Evil owners of 3DSs everywhere can look forward to some great, if familiar, games coming over the next few months.
Both Mario titles were of the high quality you would expect from the series. Kart was especially impressive in 3D and had the best graphics yet in the series; far better than the Wii. Land was also very impressive, mixing the traditional side scrolling Mario action with the duel plane gameplay seen in the Paper Mario series. Both games have the basics down brilliantly, the 3D should only add to their appeal.
The biggest surprise to me came in the form of Resident Evil: Revelations – it’s looked amazing. The controls work well, even with only one joystick Capcom have made the movement flow. Revelations feels like a full RE experience shrunk down onto the 3DS. To the point were I soon ran out of ammo and was eaten by a group of zombies. Some things never change.
My final Nintendo experience was on the upcoming Wii Motion + Zelda: Skyward Sword. Although the Wii is looking its age now, Zelda is a series that should be able to overcome a lack of graphical fidelity. From the two slices of gameplay I tried the game looks like a traditional Zelda experience, but controlled with the Wii Motion +. The dungeon proved more difficult than earlier controller based games, but practice should make the Motion + feel more natural. It was in the bird flying level that felt more natural to me; flying around using the Wiimote. The game should sate Zelda fans, but is motion control really the future of this series?