Top 10 games we'd like to see on 3DS

Every time a new portable gaming platform is introduced, someone on the Pocket Gamer team is set the task of cooking up a wish list of potential titles.

It seems I’ve drawn the short straw in being asked to do the Nintendo 3DS list.

Why do I say that? It’s not that Nintendo’s 3D wonder-system doesn’t appeal to me - it most certainly does.

But just take a look at the Nintendo 3DS game release list, including the heavily rumoured and all-but-confirmed titles. It already resembles at least a couple of Nintendo fanboy wishlists rolled together.

Quite simply, the first roadmap for 3DS releases is one of the most comprehensive we’ve seen on any system. Ever.

Fortunately, the addition of a 3D screen would put an intriguing spin on a number of classic titles. Here are few we thought of – do let us know what you’d like to see on the 3DS in the comments section below.

Boom Blox (EA)

iPhone and mobile gamers might know Boom Blox as a charming if fairly unspectacular 2D puzzler, but the Boom Blox I’m thinking of is the Wii original. That game (and its sequel) was a 3D physics-based playground that tasked you with knocking over various configurations of blocks.

Imagine an elaborate game of Jenga, in the middle of a domino rally, with dynamite and block-shaped monkeys running around. Got it? You’re half way there.

The game would sit beautifully on 3DS in every way. Technically, it would benefit from the console’s impressive grunt for handling the complex physics. The touchscreen would make pinging and pinching the blocks a delight. And finally, the 3D screen would lend the game a whole new sense of depth.

If EA implemented it properly, Boom Blox 3DS would be the definitive version, allowing you to judge trajectories and distances to a much finer degree than the Wii original.

Sin & Punishment (Treasure)

Originally released on the N64 to critical (if not commercial) acclaim, Sin & Punishment has since seen a heart-warming surge in interest thanks to a WiiWare revival, followed by an excellent sequel on the same waggly home console.

It’s an old skool shoot-‘em-up of sorts, but played from behind the main character as they run on into a hail of bullets and colossal robots. Think of the classic Space Harrier mixed with a little Star Fox (which is itself coming to 3DS).

The game’s already pronounced focus on depth and dragging you into the screen would translate beautifully to the 3DS. The only thing going against it would be the possible motion sickness issue – S&P is a fast-paced rollercoaster ride of a game.

We wouldn’t want to sacrifice too much of the game’s spectacle, even if it was in the cause of keeping our lunch down. Still, we’d have every faith in Treasure to produce.

Mario Tennis (Nintendo)

This is the one title we were surprised to see missing from the initial launch list. It was Mario Tennis, after all, that spearheaded Nintendo’s last attempt at a 3D portable games system, the Virtual Boy.

It’s easy to see why Mario’s Federer-bothering guise was chosen for the task before. No other sport emphasises perspective and depth of field better than tennis, with its court lines effectively framing the action and the protagonists.

The sport enables 3D effects to really pop out, and it’s worth noting that Mario Tennis on the largely derided VB was one of the better games available for it.

We’d love to see a full colour resurrection of Mario Tennis in 3D – preferably with some of the OTT fireworks of recent console versions toned down a little and the simple, knock about fun of the earlier titles restored.

Call of Duty (Activision)

Call of Duty’s exploits on DS have been surprisingly decent, given the platform’s limited graphical prowess and relatively poky screen. A lot of its success has been down to the console’s unique controls, which make for a generally solid FPS experience – something that hasn’t been achieved on a portable before (or arguably since).

We’d love to see a 3DS version, which would retain this strength while all but wiping out both handicaps thanks to the console’s greater power (believed to be in the region of the last generation of consoles) and larger, widescreen top display.

Even more than that, though, imagine the spectacle of a fully 3D Call of Duty. The series is renowned for its breathtaking set-pieces, so imagine a beach landing sequence with explosions popping out at you, or a diving Stuka swooping down overhead.

Call of Duty 3DS would certainly make a statement as to the console’s hardcore credentials.

Metroid Prime (Nintendo)

Nintendo is taking its cult Metroid series in a completely different direction on Wii, and away from the slow-burning pseudo-FPS charms of the Prime series which made its name on the GameCube.

We’d love to see the zoomed-in concept carried on with the 3DS. After all, the DS was home to its own Prime title, Metroid Prime: Hunters, which – while entertaining – felt like it had a lot of unfulfilled promise. It was an accomplished tech demo with a relatively threadbare game stuck on top.

With the 3DS, Nintendo could really let loose and make the pocket epic we always wanted from the series.

One of the core strengths of the Metroid Prime series was its immersiveness – it really made you feel like you were Samus Aran, power-suited bounty hunter extraordinaire. 3DS could take that to the next level – we can picture Samus’s famous HUD displays popping up in the foreground while the action continues behind.

Less subtly, perhaps, we can also imagine the whopping great screen-filling bosses that the series is renowned for being particularly terrifying in full 3D.

Punch-Out (Nintendo)

Nintendo’s quirky beat-‘em-up series is another to have seen a recent resurgence on the Wii. It would fit the 3DS like a boxing glove. The reason for this is the perspective – rather than a typical side-on view, Punch-Out places you behind your fighter, staring out at your (often bigger) opponent. Gameplay is based on learning your opponent’s style of play and counter attacking accordingly.

It’s already an immersive experience, with the punches raining in seemingly towards you. Add a little 3D magic and you’d doubtless be diving out of the way of the blows.

Interestingly enough, Nintendo already has experience at creating such a portable 3D fighter. Teleroboxer was a Virtual Boy game made by the Punch-Out team, and it played very similarly indeed.

WarioWare (Nintendo)

Another title we were surprised to see missing from the initial line-up was WarioWare. It’s become a major player on all Nintendo systems, and has become synonymous with every portable Ninty device since the GBA.

Producer Yoshio Sakamoto has confirmed that he intends to give serious thought to WarioWare on 3DS, so it should be a case of when rather than if.

Really, the 3DS has everything going for it to make its version of WarioWare the ultimate one. It has the touch-screen to replicate WarioWare: Touched’s success, the in-built gyroscope to allow for WarioWare:Twisted-like gameplay and the camera for WarioWare: Snapped levels of tomfoolery.

Put simply, Mr Sakamoto doesn’t really need to over-think things – a greatest hits package would be just perfect.

Of course, Nintendo being Nintendo, they’ll probably come up with something delightfully warped and wholly original, doubtless taking advantage of the third dimension.

F-Zero (Nintendo)

Mario Kart has been confirmed for the 3DS, but much as we love Nintendo’s flagship racer it’s not the one we think will make best use of the third dimension.

That honour must surely fall to F-Zero – the big N’s oft-overlooked futuristic racing series. Each iteration, from SNES through to GameCube (via GBA, of course) is known for being face-meltingly fast and impossibly slick.

The first F-Zero on the SNES made excellent use of the console’s Mode 7 capabilities, which permitted a background layer to be rotated and scaled. We can imagine a similarly dizzying effect being employed on Nintendo’s forthcoming handheld courtesy of a little 3D magic.

You wouldn’t want to overdo it – 3D and fast motion can be a recipe for headaches and nausea – but used thoughtfully it could make F-Zero 3DS a uniquely engrossing racer. Either way, it’s time we had a new F-Zero.

Kirby (Nintendo)

In all the excitement surrounding the return of Kid Icarus and PilotWings, everybody seems to have forgotten one of Nintendo’s other neglected stars.

The giant pink puffball known as Kirby is no Mario, but his unique traits could suit the 3DS down to the ground.

One of the stated strengths of 3D and the 3DS in particular is its ability to make jumping in 3D platformers easy to judge. Kirby’s early 2D-based ability to puff himself up and soar into the air must be tricky to replicate in 3D (the old kind), where judging landing spots is often a bit of a gamble.

We can just imagine a dizzyingly vertiginous true-3D platformer, starring Kirby, where progress is more about the up and down than the forward, back, left, and right. Where the chubby pink ball gets pinged miles into the air, Super Mario Galaxy style – only this time the landing is all down to you.

Blast Corps (Rare)

Rare’s 1997 N64 demolish-‘em-up Blast Corps has a pretty fanatical (if not particularly large) fan base. We’ve been yearning for a sequel ever since, and in the 3DS we think Nintendo has the perfect platform for the task.

The name of the game is destruction. You must take control of a variety of demolition vehicles and clear a path for slow-moving truck carrying a couple of dodgy nuclear devices.

One of the demolition vehicles – the jetpac-wearing J-Bomb – gets the job done by slamming down on top of targeted buildings. As mentioned previously, the 3DS should make such pinpoint 3D landings an absolute joy given the added sense of depth.

The general objective of manoeuvring nimbly around (and through) 3D objects makes the prospect (however remote) of a 3DS sequel a compelling once. We know Rare’s a little tied up with Microsoft right now, but hey: they were allowed off the hook to make Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise for DS. We live in hope.