Nintendo stumbles with 3DS Classics ports

The addition of extra dimensions may give games for Nintendo’s 3DS an interesting visual edge, but the change has given platform holder Nintendo an unexpected headache.

Speaking in the latest Iwata asks, Nintendo developer Takao Nakano outlined the unexpected complications.

We based the 3D version [of Namco Bandai shooter Xevious] on the arcade game,” he explained. With a 2D screen, players had to use their imagination for Solvalou flying above the ground, but on the Nintendo 3DS system, we thought we might be able to recreate it using stereoscopic graphics so it looked like it was really floating.

In the original version, the game unfolds on a flat surface. The moment we made Solvalou float in midair, all sorts of discrepancies arose.

For example, when an enemy on the ground fired at Solvalou in the original, everything was on the same plane, so it didn’t seem unusual if the bomb appeared at the same altitude as Solvalou the moment it was fired and then hit Solvalou right away.”
There were all kinds of discrepancies like that. It was a big challenge making something that would satisfy fans of the original and provide a fresh surprise on the Nintendo 3DS system.”

In all Nintendo says that in some cases porting a retro game to 3D could potentially take ten times longer than a straight port would, drawing into question the scale of Nintendo’s 3DS Classics ambitions.