E3 2013 – My Thoughts on the E3 Nintendo Direct

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD – That “stealth” thing I mentioned earlier? That’s why I never finished the original. I could have had my wife do it for me, but a foolish sense of pride meant that either I did it myself, or not at all.

I’ve mellowed out on that since, and missing it may have been to my benefit, as it looks like this will be the version to play… with my wife.

The Wonderful 101 – Played it, loved it, bring it out already. You can really sense the same sort of vibe from this that led pre-Platinum to create Viewtiful Joe.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze – Criminy, already? I just finished Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D late last week and still need to review it. And that took a lot out of me! I hope this one follows the Nintendo 3DS version more than the Wii’s, and has a little more mercy at that, though it looks like the way DK moves is the same as before.

I’m glad Dixie is back, and though there are still no Kremlings (if they ever come back, it will be huge), I like these viking penguins and such– awesome idea. Ninjas and pirates hog all the glory, so it’s cool to see vikings get their time to shine. Swimming returns, too, and the whole trailer just has a really nice remix I’d like to listen to again and again.

I am curious as to how much Dixie differs from Diddy, and how she’ll be implemented– three-player? Doesn’t look that way, according to the fact sheet. Too bad she and Diddy won’t be playable on their own in single-player, if this holds true to the previous game’s form.

Incidentally, I’m thanking whatever higher power was involved for not naming this “Donkey Kong Country Returns 2.” The “New” in “New Super Mario Bros.” is practically a punchline for most people these days, so I’m glad they aren’t sticking to that for this one.

As an aside: Was anyone expecting some sort of Donkey Kong Country/Pikmin crossover when they saw the junky rocket fall at the start of the trailer? And while watching it, all the new camera angles have me wondering if we’ll see a Nintendo 3DS version, as the original’s worked so well there.

Overall, this looks incredible, and I hope it’s as creative as the first game was.

Bayonetta 2 – Huh. She got a haircut… wouldn’t that be bad for her?

Still Unnamed Monolith Soft “X” Game – Looks awesome, but I guess I’m a sucker for the giant mechs as much as anything.

Super Smash Bros. – I cannot wait to get my hands on these games, both the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS versions. Villager looks neat (and seems to have some sort of Balloon Fight homage move!), Wii Fit Trainer is amusing (if overhyped earlier), but best of all?

MEGA MAN.

Mario has long been my main in Super Smash Bros., though I’d dabble in others like Pit, and it pleases me greatly to see that F.L.U.D.D. is currently nowhere in sight (nothing against it in general, but it only made playing as Mario worse in Super Smash Bros. Brawl). But with Mega Man? I have a feeling I’ll be using him a lot.

Mega Man, his moves, and his stage all look great. His appearance has me especially excited, as Capcom’s done little to update the character (other iterations like X notwithstanding), especially where 3D is concerned. Part of me wonders how much input Capcom had in this, if perhaps this is a clue as to where they might be taking the Blue Bomber. And the mechanical transformations of the Mega Buster for each weapon are nothing short of amazing.

I just have to hope Sonic is still in (along with R.O.B. and others), because how great would it be to have Mario, Sonic, and Mega Man all in the same place? Heck, with Mega Man and Sonic, that would be a great tie-in to the current “Worlds Collide” story arc in the respective comic books.

Like Mario Kart 8, I hope Nintendo allows for this game to have DLC for new characters and maybe some classic stages that might not fit on the disc (remember, Super Smash Bros. Brawl filled out a double-layer disc before). I’d like to see the classic 8-bit Mushroom Kingdom, among others, return.

The stages that are here look great. Link’s train from Spirit Tracks almost looks like the new Big Blue, and I’m really digging the special Super Smash Bros. wrestling arena. And of course, Dr. Wily’s castle looks phenomenal– and it’s at night! It’s like they made that one for me.

The Yellow Devil also puts in an appearance, and makes me wonder/hope we get a good Adventure Mode this time out. I liked “The Subspace Emissary” somewhat, more for its cutscenes and fun narrative, but I hope they keep that while allowing for stages to feel more like they’re of the game worlds from which the characters hail; that’s one thing that Super Smash Bros. Melee‘s storyless Adventure Mode got right.

Oh, and fingers are crossed that the online matches don’t chug along in this one… and that we see the return of the daily Smash Bros. Dojo updates.

Nintendo E3 Booth Tour – Oh, how I wish I was there. All the cool props and photo set-ups! I really need to find something that pays enough for me to go more regularly.

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So that was the Nintendo Direct for E3 2013. Technically speaking, only one new game was revealed throughout the entire broadcast, that being Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze from Retro, whose secret project some people had hoped would be something like a new Metroid or even a StarTropics remake (I was one of the latter). They do have plenty of other games being shown in their booth at E3, including Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Yoshi’s New Island, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, though it’s all stuff we’ve seen before.

One thing which is clear is that Nintendo didn’t really come to compete with the new console announcements of Microsoft and Sony. Instead, it seems they were happy to have most of their thunder come of their own terms in previous Nintendo Directs, which were like mini-E3s in themselves. The whole concept of “winning” E3 is kind of silly to begin with, as all these companies are businesses, and as long as they make money and stay in business, everyone wins (though we’ll see how much luck Microsoft has on that front later this year).

That said, I don’t think Nintendo really “won” E3, so to speak– Sony’s press conference was undoubtedly the most impressive. However, with that said… I’ll be honest, it’s Nintendo’s lineup which has left me the most pleased.

David Oxford

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

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