Fishing Resort
Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love
Thanks in no small part to the lack of western developed games for the 3DS, the handheld has become a treasure trove for Japanese games that would've been seen as too niche in the past. Titles like Bravely Default and Fire Emblem: Awakening are pulling in bigger sales than their genre counterparts on consoles, signaling that just about any obscure titles has a chance on Nintendo's handheld. And if the New 3DS opens the door to more Wii ports, why not give one of Japan's most obscure franchises another shot at western success by porting Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love?
Sakura Wars earned a following in Japan by mixing hardcore strategy elements with dating sim mechanics and a steampunk ethos, becoming one of the best-selling franchises on the Sega Saturn. After a dozen Sakura games went unlocalized, non-Japanese players finally got their first taste of the series on Wii, but the peculiar mix of robot battles and dating Broadway actresses was lost on system owners (crazy, right?). Now that the New 3DS has Wii level power, and a niche audience that's grown accustomed to weird things from Japan, maybe Sakura Wars will get a second chance to make a first impression.
MadWorld
Platinum Games' blood-soaked brawler didn't have nearly enough fanfare on the Wii. Its pulpy, black-and-white visuals were a stark departure from the rest of the Wii library, and the hyperviolent executions Jack doled out to his foes were more than worthy of an M rating. As captivating as the Sin City-style aesthetic was, there were times when the backdrop would blend into a monochromatic blur. You know what would change all that? Depth perception.
The gory insanity of the DeathWatch gameshow would leap off the screen in 3D, making Jefferson Island's gritty streets as visually mesmerizing as the over-the-top character designs. Plus, watching Jack plunge his chainsaw into a baddie's midsection as viscera splatters against the screen would kick the already-absurd levels of bloodshed up a notch. As long as you could ignore the horrified expressions of onlookers on the train/plane/bus, MadWorld 3DS would make for one hell of a handheld beat-'em-up.
Klonoa
The PSOne era moved away from cute mascots and sidescrollers, and Namcos Klonoa was guilty of being both. The odd blue rabitty things undeniable adorability might have turned off some PlayStation gamers, but the melancholy platformer earned a cult fan base. And Namco felt that the game deserved a full-fledged remake on the Wii, where it was likely even more overlooked the second time around.
Both the original and the remake of Klonoa had 2D gameplay in a 3D world that was mostly just suggested through camera angles and simple polygons. Klonoas 2.5D world would be much livelier in stereoscopic 3D, and classic platformers are already thriving on the 3DS. At some point Klonoa is going to run out of second chances, but we hope Namco gives the little guy one more shot at stardom.
Sin and Punishment: Star Successor
Nintendo took a real risk on green-lighting Sin and Punishment: Star Successor, let alone localizing it in the west. Created by underrated developer Treasure, it was a sequel to an N64 game that didnt leave Japan until it came to Wiis Virtual Console in 2009. On top of that, it was the type of auto-scrolling shooter that Wiis grandmotherly audience cant be that enticed by. But Treasure still delivered a great game to the few players that noticed.
The Sin and Punishment series has always had more than a little in common with the Star Fox series, and S&P would likely profit from a 3D conversion like the one Star Fox 64 enjoyed. And S&Ps controls could be adjusted to work with the little-used second analogue stick, or it could replicate the input of Kid Icarus: Uprising. Wed miss seeing the action on our TV, but the fast pace of the action is better for a handheld anyway.
Punch-Out!!
As the NES and SNES iterations of Punch-Out!! proved, waggle controls are not at all necessary to craft a fantastic boxing game. Less about actual punches and more about your adaptation to a set of patterns, the Punch-Out!! reboot on the Wii showed that Little Mac clearly had some fight left in him. Why not let him go a few rounds in the portable ring? Better yet, why not give King Hippo and Bear Hugger some three-dimensional girth that really pops off the screen?
Colorful visuals have a way of keeping their appeal even when shrunken down, and Punch-Out's cartoony style would likely follow the trend. The behind-the-back camera perspective would look nifty in 3D, and the sensation of seeing a punch actually coming at you would make it that much more apparent that it's time to dodge. A sideways Wii Remote was our preferred method of control for the original--a control scheme that would transition effortlessly to the 3DS. Simply put, we're shocked this port doesn't exist yet. Maybe Doc Louis has a thing against handhelds.
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
This combat-centric sidescroller is already one of the most beautiful games ever made, depicting the demons and ogres of Japanese myth with the fluid, painterly style that only Vanillaware can create. But close your eyes and try to imagine what these already-gorgeous visuals would look like after a trip through the 3D machine. The parallax layers of the background, mixed with the striking character designs, would make Muramasa look like an exquisitely detailed diorama come to life.
We already know that the game can work on a handheld system--Muramasa Rebirth is already available on the PlayStation Vita. So why not spend a little extra moolah and give the 3DS its own version? The more people who experience the journey of Kisuke and Momohime, the better. If Vanillaware was feeling extra generous, they could tweak Musou mode to be even more accessible, akin to the beginner-friendly nature of Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D's New Mode.
Deadly Creatures
You dont need to imagine some fantasy world or sci-fi future to find a great setting for a game. You just have to think small and watch a few nature documentaries. There youll find a world of insects that is as brutal and stark as anything in God of War, and Deadly Creatures dropped players into such a world with a common spider and scorpion as the main characters. It was an incredibly unique game that no one played.
But its creative approach to third person action isnt the only reason it deserves a new start on the 3DS. The world of insects was composed of underground tunnels, and the nooks and crannies of mundane homes. The levels were designed to feel alien. The look of those areas would only get stronger with the inclusion of a third dimension of depth. We just need to find who ended up with the rights after THQ closed, add a handful of touch controls, and were good to go.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Given that Link's adventures are pretty much a free money machine for Nintendo, there's really no reason not to make his darker escapade go portable. Unlike Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess would do just fine without motion controls (see: the GameCube version). The darker hues of its ethereal realm would look stunning in 3D, and the thought of seeing bristling fur on Link's wolf form fills us with a geeky glee. We'd also be able to fulfill our lifelong dream of carrying around Midna in our pockets.
Like Xenoblade Chronicles, this one might be trickier to pull off given the space capabilities of a cart versus a disk. But even if the textures were slightly downgraded, that's a price we'd gladly play to relive Twilight Princess in a new dimension. At this point, we're looking for any excuse to play through this majestic, multi-dimensional quest one more time.
Lost in Shadow
One of the last games released by Hudson before the developer disappeared into Konami, Lost in Shadow had a simplistically novel approach to platforming. Platforms were constructed out of the shadows cast by structures in a derelict structure, and you explore that world as a boy reduced to a silhouette. It took 2D sidescrolling in a clever direction, but now the 3DS seems like it would have been the better venue for the game.
Lost in Shadow is all about the foreground and background elements working together to form a stage, but the flat standard definition of the Wii didnt communicate it as well as stereoscopic 3D could. It saddened us that the game flopped on the Wii, but Konami could give this shadow a new lease on life as a high profile eShop download.
