Gamernode: Previews - Nintendo DS Showcase

Nintendo DS Showcase

Nintendo is a powerhouse in the handheld gaming market, and since the release of the Game Boy they have been the unreachable pinnacle of achievement; unmatched by any competitor. Their latest outing in the handheld market, the Nintendo DS, has been lighting up the sales chart both in Japan and North America since launch - and why wouldn't it? With an unmatched number of original titles and games taking full advantage of the bottom touch screen the DS is truly a gamer's handheld. At this year's E3, Nintendo devoted a very large percentage of their floor space to the DS; even in the midst of all the excitement focused around the Wii. Using the new and very sexy DS Lite, soon to be released in North America (already available in Japan), Nintendo showcased a horde of new titles, and was one of the hot topics around the show floor. 

The first, and most notable game available was Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. Following the trend of a new handheld Castlevania game every year, Portrait of Ruin features similar gameplay to that found in Dawn of Sorrow. The graphics look phenomenal on the DS Lite's back lit LCD screen and the animations are insanely smooth. The controls were easy to learn and require hardly any learning curve; anyone that has played an action game in the past will be able to leap right in and be whipping skeletons in no time. The enemies are varied, and very seldom will the same enemy appear more than a few times. After taking out another wave of mindless undead, the focus switches towards a different, more challenging opponent. Too bad the same can't be said of the weapons; through my entire time with the demo, there was never any weapon other than the whip that was available, and quite frankly that's not acceptable. At any time during game play there is a partner to assist you, this partner will help to quickly vanquish foes and make quick work of any thing in the way. This feature seemed to oversimplify things a bit, but there may be moments where it could certainly help out. The demo level ended with a rather large boss battle. While fighting a giant jellyfish while hunting the Count Dracula himself may seem odd to you, it was actually a frequent occurrence back in the day; and you'd be best not to question it. In all seriousness though, the boss moved gracefully and the fight required a little bit of thinking on my part (and that is not easy for me). Overall the game was a very enjoyable experience and will be something to watch out for once released in 2007.

The next big game in the lineup is Final Fantasy III, re-released with a graphical overhaul and new combat system. The new 3D visuals of the game are very nice and push the DS to the limits of what it can produce. While roaming the overworld now, the game switches the camera from a top down perspective to an isometric camera showcasing the overhauled graphics engine. This camera is changeable and can either be close to the character or have a little more distance. Controlling the characters movements in the overworld feel a tad bit stiff; maybe I'm just used to using an analog, but they felt off. Once a random battle is encountered, the infamous Final Fantasy battle sequence begins. The battle system is almost identical to Final Fantasy VII's (not that it's a bad thing) and there is the standard selection of magical and physical attacks to choose from. For any DS owner that hasn't played Final Fantasy III (which was never released here in the States) this game should be at that must buy list.

Also making an appearance on the show floor was Mega Man ZX. As a spin off of the popular Mega Man Zero series; the game takes place in the same time period. There are two characters to play as in ZX, a young boy named Vent, and a girl named Aile. What makes Mega Man ZX unique from the other two-hundred Mega Man games is an intuitive and new customizable armor selection which makes gameplay more strategic by figuring out what is needed at any particular time. At any time you can hit a button to make the character change between one of several collected suits. This allows for the possibility to not wear any armor, making things such as crouching and sneaking possible. These suits give you separate weapons for whichever one currently selected, and include the armor of both Mega Man X and Zero. When overwhelmed, these two suits can be combined to create the powerful ZX suit. Capcom had pretty much squeezed every once of life out of the Mega Man franchise, but with Mega Man ZX, they may have given the series the much needed shot of adrenaline that fans have been hoping for.

Other games included Madden NFL 07, which featured the same old gameplay mechanics as last years edition, while fixing up some of the horrendous control issues. The visuals are also a little sharper in 07, but as far as portable football goes, you still may be better off with a piece of paper and using your fingers as the goal posts. Superman Returns was playable, and featured horrendous controls along with some unimpressive graphics to match; don't expect too much out of that title.

It was a good year for the Nintendo DS, with massive amounts of third party support and first party games (which weren't explored here) that can't be touched; things are looking up for Nintendo's handheld. With stiff competition from Sony's PSP on the horizon the DS is standing stronger than ever and will be a tough challenger in the upcoming battle.

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