3DS Ambassador Review: Phase 1

So now that us loyal, trustworthy, early 3DS adopters had over half a month to download and play the first 10 games of the Ambassador program, how about a review of Nintendo's choices?  Were they enough to keep us happy until the first AAA, non-remake, original 3DS game gets released?  Would I have purchased the games from the eShop if I didn't get them through this program?  Why am I asking more questions instead of answering them?  Breakdown after the jump!

Super Mario Bros. Starting off with the game that everyone should be familiar with (and if you're not, why aren't you?), this game pretty much defined the NES and had a place in everyone's collection, alone or packaged with Duck Hunt.  It's a quintessential classic that everyone needs to have in some form. Would I pay $5? If I didn't already have the NES cart, sure!

Balloon Fight   Here's an early NES game, and it shows.  Your only two objectives, depending on game mode, are to pop the enemy's balloons or to avoid sparks.  There really isn't much to this game, so unless you really want a high score, it's a game I don't see myself playing too often. Would I pay $5? No, this is a pass.  Not enough here.

Donkey Kong Jr. While I was playing this I could only wonder why Nintendo chose to include this particular game for inclusion in the Ambassador program over the original Donkey Kong.  Perhaps because Mario is the villain for once? Would I pay $5?  Nope, not here either.

Wrecking Crew This was actually my first encounter with the game, so I was very confused when I couldn't jump or kill the enemies with my hammer.  This game is more puzzle oriented, which was a pleasant surprise.  There's also a level editor that I didn't fool around with. Would I pay $5? If it was cheaper, perhaps, but I don't think I would play it enough to warrant a full-price purchase.

Yoshi I've never played any incarnation of this puzzle game before, but it was very easy to pick up and learn.  However, I quickly became frustrated when the falling enemies would conveniently not be the ones I needed.  This happened much too often. Would I pay $5? A pass as well, unsurprisingly.

Ice Climber Here's a game that I never heard of until the characters appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee since it was a launch title for the NES and I wasn't even born then.  I just find it hard to warrant paying full price for these early NES games as there's not much to them. Would I pay $5? Not my cup of (iced) tea.

NES Open Tournament Golf Prior to this 3DS release the only other NES golf game I knew about was plain old Golf.  This game has plenty of upgrades to the game engine and the gameplay should be very familiar to anyone who has played any modern golf video game. Would I pay $5? Not $5, though I would consider it at $3.

Metroid Ok, now we're getting into more games that are complete adventures rather than five-minute time wasters.  While Samus's first adventure can seem a bit archaic compared to Super Metroid, it still offers quite a bit of a challenge in terms of item collecting and navigating through Planet Zebes. Would I pay $5? Yes, since the 3DS's note-taking feature would actually be useful here.

The Legend of Zelda The game that started it all, you can pour several hours into both quests in this game burning random bushes to reveal hidden dungeons or a Moblin that will give you rupees (as long as you keep it a secret to everybody).  If you think some of the hidden locations are difficult, wait until you try the second quest. Would I pay $5? Yes, this is still worth every penny.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link Some people call this the black sheep of the Zelda games (aside from the CD-i atrocities).  I rather like it, perhaps in part that it was the first Zelda that I ever played.  Here you have to throw what you know about the series out the window and play it for what it is, lives, leveling up and all. Be prepared for some more "Guide, Dang It!" moments, especially towards the end. Would I pay $5? Yes, because the battery on my NES cart is likely dead.

So in all, I wouldn't have purchased most of these if I had to pay for them.  It's hard to find paying $5 for some of these games reasonable when there are plenty of $0.99 iPhone games that you can get equal or more enjoyment from.  I'm looking forward to the second batch of games, which look a bit more promising: Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, Inc., Mario vs. Donkey Kong, and five other Gameboy Advance games that have yet to be announced.

Closing this post with a fun little fact: When I heard about this, my mind was immediately blown.  Whether this was intended to give the huge overworld map of Hyrule in Zelda II a sense of scale or was simply a homage, a small section of the Death Mountain area in Zelda II bears a striking resemblance to the entire Hyrule overworld map of The Legend of Zelda.

Top: Small section of Zelda II. Bottom: The entirety of Zelda I's overworld (First Quest).