Mickeymac, the wisest giant robot I've ever known.

Good, good game.

@BulbasaurusRex: He was saying that because Nicalis acted as a middleman, the only information Nigoro was getting was through those Skype meetings. They had to "believe" (put their trust in) in Nicalis alone to take care of things instead of being able to be on top of the requirements themselves. That seems to be why the cancellation came so late and as a surprise even to Nigoro.

Not that difficult to get. The sentence structure and the separation of clauses through the use of em dashes made it pretty clear he was referring to believing in Nicalis, not believing in lot-checks. Watch thine own understanding of the language before thou criticizeth another's.

Some of those guys look like Pokemon...

The Jason Rohrer Anthology might be my favorite thing on my 3DS. I didn't even know this existed, but with that description and that name and that title, I'm hyped now.

Super Mario 3D Land embraced the 3 in its name and ran with the Tanooki theme. New Super Mario Bros. 2 should do the same and embrace the 2. No stomp-kills, unless (maybe) they maintain Mario's mid-air butt stomp.

This reminds me of when Last Story was first teased. Just the 30-second background music loop on the teaser site was enough to get me hyped for the game. Lather, rinse, repeat.

"Nicalis says the game will come to the 3DS eShop first, but it's hoping to have the Wii U version ready in time for the system's launch later this year."

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

Am I the only one who's kind of bothered by the completely flat, unconvincing audience members and background characters in an otherwise impressively stylized 3D game? They're just jarring and once I notice them, I can't see anything but how horribly they clash with the rest of the game.

Aw... come on, guys! Don't keep using flat crowd members in the background... it clashes so much and just looks cheap and awful..

Wow, that looks good.

@Nintendoftw: They won't disappoint Nintendo fans as long as Nintendo fans aren't disappointed. And so far, they don't seem to be. As far as the capabilities of the console, the Wii U is very innovative. Innovation isn't related to being "better" than the competition at what the competition does. Innovation involves doing something the competitions DOESN'T do. And so far, that's exactly what they're doing. And it's not garbage, nor is is a generation behind. It's a generation ahead and when it launches, it will be the most technologically advanced videogame system ever produced. And given that Sony and Microsoft have no announced plans for a follow-up to their current endeavors, it will be another year before those two catch up to Nintendo.

I'm not saying you should be praising Nintendo, by any means. No one needs to do that. But do think through your opinions before blasting them in caps lock. It just makes the site as a whole a friendlier place for everyone when we are all being thoughtful.

Everyone else has said the capabilities are above the current market. So they are. This is so early and it's a developer that, while respected, doesn't inspire awe, so I think we'll see a LOT more than current generation graphics before all's said. Starting next year, when more and more developers are designing exclusive Wii U games, rather than just porting across 3 consoles, we'll get the best looking games. Just have patience.

I believe the deck for this should read: Now that's a video game name name name name.

I'm sure this will never be seen by the staff under this pile of comments, but one of you guys (James, Corbie, Thomas... any newswriter) needs to interview someone about WHY games are suddenly being pulled off the shop faster than their being put up. I'd do the interview, myself, if I have the clout as a game journalist that you do.

But why is this happening? Are they paring down the shop so they can re-upload them during the Wii U's life? It can't be licensing issues since Sonic is owned by Sega entirely. Is there a cost to just having a game sit up there?

Until now, this hasn't bothered me except on a matter of principle. But these Sonic games are ones I would have downloaded eventually. So I feel like people really want to know why things like this are coming down.

This still looks great (it's Fire Emblem, of course it's great), but it's certainly more Japanese than previous installments have been.

Not that that's a bad thing just an observation. #1 on my Most Wanted list for obvious reasons (namely, FE being the best Nintendo series of all time).

I can only imagine he's just thinking that nothing can last forever and one day Nintendo will fall out of the video game market. It seems like he's banking his whole career on being able to say ,"I called it."

It looks like to ensure that happening, he's just going to "predict" their doom at every turn and when it finally happens he'll be the first to tell you all about how he was the only one who knew it all along.

@ThomasBW84: I have a journalism background, so I understand completely your need to post his opinions, especially when running counter to the statements of the majority. I'm wondering, though, WHY does he have the position and industry respect he does? He must have at some point proven some great insight into the gaming industry, but I haven't the foggiest idea when that might have been and I'm genuinely curious.

I just honestly want to know what this guy has ever been right about. I'm seriously not criticizing him or anything... I just have never read any of his predictions that came out correct. Yet he's an analyst that's constantly reported on, so there must be some reason why. I'm wondering what that reason is. Can anybody tell me?

With Galaxy's signature spin-attack, Pikmin would have worked just fine, I'd think...

Using a touch-screen device for a point-and-shoot takes all the fun, skill, excitement and... positive qualities out of a game.

Source: http://www.metacritic.com/game/ds/touch-the-dead

Considering you'd go from staring at the TV to moving your head all the way down to glance at the controller and HOPE your eyes hit the "sweet spot," 3D would be a HORRIBLE idea...

Systems don't sell 500 million units when they launch, people. I'm as in love with the 3DS as any of you, but give the Vita time to sink into the market and it will do just fine. It's capitalism and it gives consumers options to have one, the other or the best of both worlds.

What I find most interesting in that is the comparison to DS... not 3DS. Does that mean the screen is pressure sensitive like the 3DS' should have been?

Awesome. One more game I won't have to spend my money to buy.

Well YEAH. Didn't they say they were going to start work on the next as soon as Skyward Sword was done? So it was finished and then they dealt with all the technicalities of a release and had a little bit to relax and now it's time to get back to work. Honestly, it could be either the Wii U or 3DS Zelda. There's no telling. If they are smart, it's the Wii U version to help move systems at the end of the year/start of next. But we'll see.

I've never played one of these games, but this sounds great... I'll be giving this a good look sooner or later.

Considering Nintendo didn't make this, I wouldn't count on a Club Nintendo download, guys.

I'll be picking this up, me thinks, when I snag a bundle of eShop games sometime late January.

A trotting game, huh? That sounds exhilarating.
GET ON IT, NINTENDOLIFE!

Disappointed.

I mean, it makes sense... but what bothers me with this is that the "Link dies" branch is more of a "what if?" scenario than one that actually happened. The games ending is Link defeating Ganon and being sent back in time, obviously causing a split timeline. The third, by the game's ending never actually occured, and only in a quantum mechanics parallel multiverse sort of way does that ever "happen" and the other games follow. I guess I just hoped Nintendo wouldn't resort to that and would stick to a story of Hyrule's ACTUAL history, not its theoretical or "potentially alternate" history.

Does Link ever "fail" or cease to exist in any timeline in Ocarina of Time, though? It seems to me more like he was just locked away for 7 years... not that he failed and left in one timeline while in another he came back and defeated Ganondorf. Maybe in an existential "every possible decision you make creates separate parallel but distinct universes, resulting in an infinite multiverse" scenario, sure, but I don't think it makes sense to have 3 branches in the strict time travelling conundrum sense.

Well this makes less sense than Metal Gear Solid.

It's not pulling up the USBs for me... Sad day.

I'd love to see Zelda get a western eye just to see what they could bring to it. I think a lot of good for the franchise could come out of that.

Shouldn't stars be worth more than coins?

If I'd had my druthers, I'd have picked the first Fire Emblem over Sacred Stones... but I still love the hell out of Sacred Stones, and am Stoked to play Minish Cap and Wario Land 4, so... WOOOHEEE!

Not a bad game in the bunch and a MUCH better pack all around than the NES Ambassador games (I'm looking at you, Donkey Kong Jr., Open Tournament Golf, and Yoshi).

Colors! 3D
VVVVVV
NightSky
Dillon’s Rolling Western
Mutant Mudds
Mighty Switch Force
Zen Pinball

I'll be downloading all of the above... and probably several more if reviews are good. This could get expensive.

Sounds like it would play like a more bitter version of Chibi-Robo. Do tasks. Set things up. Things happen around you. People change. Keep doing your thing, applying a little more forethought to the consequences as you go. You win.

@Mullen: No, it cannot be. The 3DS has 3D cameras, yes, but on the outside. For the other user to see you in 3D, you'd have to hold the back of the system to your face, meaning you couldn't see them. I won't understand why Nintendo didn't make it with two inward-facing cameras instead of just one, but maybe they'll fix that along with a built in second slider on the 3DS Lite or 3DS Plus or whatever they are going to call their inevitable updated model.

"Are these features making 3DS a truly ‘next-gen’ console?"

No. The 3DS is a current product widely available to consumers. It is a current generation handheld. The PSP and the DS family are last generation. The Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 are current generation consoles. A "next-generation" console or handheld would be the Wii U, PS4, Xbox 720, PlayStation Vita (although, seeing as how that will be in competition with the 3DS, it would more likely fall into the same handheld generation as the 3DS) or Nintendo's follow-up to the 3DS which we'll call for now the 4DS (for lack of a better term). Semantics, probably, but still the truth. An existing system will never be a future system, one of my biggest pet peeves with Sony and Microsoft marketing.

Sold.

Skyward Sword was the most like Link I've ever felt. I don't want him to talk. It's part of the charm. I wouldn't find anything wrong with voice acting for everyone else, though.

I was going to make a "nice bloobs" joke, but, given the review, that probably wouldn't be fitting, would it?

I'd just like to be the guy to say, "No, our patience has not been 'rewarded.'" We're getting the game, yes. But is that really a reward for waiting months after everyone else gets it? No word on special editions, extra content, preorder bonuses... and only one of the three marquee games we're missing, wanting and requesting. Even then, that one major game we're getting won't even be widely available. I won't be able to find it at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target or anywhere else from which I am known to buy games. I hardly consider that "reward." And it hardly has a thing to do with "patience," I might add. It has to do with Nintendo deciding to release it in the Western Hemisphere when they felt like it. Unfortunately, try as we might, Americans played no part in "earning" the ability to play the game.

Maybe I'm just cynical. Maybe I'm just spoiled. I'm super excited to finally play the game, of course. But I also want The Last Story. I want Pandora's Tower. I want people to recognize that it's rather asinine for Nintendo to hold off on a major demographic, give them nothing more than the barebones product and expect widespread praise flung at Nintendo figureheads for their mercy and magnanimity.

It's not a reward when you get what everyone else has. It's just catching up. It feels good, yeah, but it's nothing special.

/rant. That said, I'm off to go preorder it and will keep eagerly awaiting the day I get my hands on that blue and green box.

I'm selling my black one for this.

@lalalalalalal: Why can't they do both??

Probably just the screenshot there.... but it looks like a 64 game... :/

When did Competitive Self-Powered Space Flight Plant Bashing become an Olympic sport???

I mean, I've been competing in local tournaments for years, but I never thought it'd reach international recognition so soon... and I thought I would have heard about it from some place other than Nintendo Life...

Isn't this just the Game Informer cover?