My Thoughts on the 4/17/13 Nintendo Direct

Nintendo announced some real whoppers yesterday, so I thought I'd take a look at what was shown and share my thoughts about a few of the announcements.  Yes, I'm still operating under the delusion that anyone would actually care about what I think.  At least it's better than only posting Dragons reviews for months on end...

Yoshi's Island 3DS:

I love Yoshi.  He's one of my favorite Mario characters.  I always find that Mario games are better when Yoshi is along for the ride and it's an extra special treat when Yoshi gets top billing, so I was pleased to see this announcement.  Visually, it does look good...though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed that, for the most part, it still looks exactly like the original Yoshi's Island.  Same kind of levels, same level gimmicks, and so on.  And they're STILL using those same voice clips from Yoshi's Story, sixteen years later.  After Yoshi's Island DS pretty thoroughly revisited everything from the original, maybe it's time to try and break away a little more for this one?  And am I the only one who thinks Yoshi's feet look a little too big?

I digress.  More Yoshi is never a bad thing, but after some of his more mediocre outings on the GBA and DS, I'm not certain this game is going to do much better.  For now, Yarn Yoshi still has me much more excited.  At the very least, though, it's nice to see the Yoshi art style getting mixed up again.

Mario Party 3DS:

I'm glad it's getting made, as Mario Party 9 did a good job of breathing new life into the series.  Looks like this game is going to continue the trend of mixing things up by not only not repeating the Mario Party 9 formula, but also not reverting to the old formula either.  The fact that each board will be dramatically different from each other is intriguing, given how previous games in the series have dabbled with that concept.  I'm sure it'll be a big hit, though I'd be more enthusiastic if I actually knew anybody else with a 3DS to play with.  Mario Party's no fun alone, and I assume that won't change.

Legend of Zelda 3DS:

In the interest of full disclosure I feel I should admit that I really don't like A Link to the Past.  I've tried to play it many times but, similarly to Ocarina of Time, while I can easily see why it's so beloved I just don't find it that enjoyable.  That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed Link's Awakening and Minish Cap, which both owe much of their existence to A Link to the Past, so another game in that style is okay by me!  The new trailer makes it look like this game will be great fun, and I really like the look of Link and the other characters.  It's been a long time since I was legitimately excited about a new Zelda game, but this definitely looks like one to watch!

DK Country Returns 3D Has New Modes and New Levels:

I really enjoyed DKC Returns on the Wii, though I did find it a little irritatingly frustrating at times.  (Rocket-barrel-bat-chase-level, I'm mostly looking in your direction.)  I'm glad to see they're easing up on the frustration factor a bit, as that should really make the game more fun.  I'm also glad to see that there will be a handful of new levels for old veterans to look forward too.  I'm still not entirely sure why they decided that, out of the whole Wii library, this was the one that should get a 3DS port, but it does look to be shaping up to be the definitive version!  And I'm impressed that the graphics don't appear to have been downgraded and appear to be pretty much unchanged from the Wii.  I'm looking forward to playing through DK again on the go!

More info on Mario Golf: World Tour and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team:

Mario & Luigi is certainly looking good.  The new visual style is very appealing and the game looks to be building on the foundation of the previous games nicely.  I prefer Paper Mario, but I really enjoyed Bowser's Inside Story, so I have high hopes for this one as well.

As for Mario Golf?  IT'S ABOUT TIME!  The last Mario Golf game was on the Game Boy Advance, for crying out loud!  How the heck did this series never show up on the Wii?  After the 3DS got a Mario Tennis game, I was really hoping that meant Golf was on the way.  Thank goodness I was right!  The new online modes sound promising, and visually it's an extremely bright and colorful game.  I know Mario Tennis was a little light on content, but Mario Golf: World Tour looks to be a fine successor to Toadstool Tour and Advance Tour.  This is one of my most anticipated releases!

Other Thoughts:

Even though Mario games are really my cup of tea, I was also glad to see some games announced that were previously thought to be Japanese exclusive, like Bravely Default.  It's nice to see that Nintendo fans probably won't have to be resorting to another Operation Rainfall in the near future.

I was also extremely glad to see how graphically diverse all the Mario games on show were, for the most part.  Mario Golf still looks to have a touch of New Super-itis to an extent, as does Mario Party, but it looks like the days of all Mario games having the same boring plastic look may soon be behind us!  And it looks like the 3DS will have some very strong additions to its library this year!  Zelda and Mario Golf, especially, looks very promising!