Grazza

I sold IV, V and VI, which I regret, but only because of the value. In terms of playing them, I think I've had enough DS Dragon Quest action for now! Would still play any future remakes though if they were done higher-res with better graphics.

The thing I loved about the Day & Night cycles in the older games was that they added so much atmosphere. Imagine Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess without the sun setting over the fields. And then there was the 8-day Moon cycle in Wind Waker, as well as the standard Day & Night cycle. Remember how many colour schemes between the sea and sky that created. The NPC routines in Skyward Sword are also very modest, if they are there at all. OK, characters walk around, but it's not the same as someone being by the postbox at a certain time of day. All these things added to the sheer pleasure of previous Zeldas, even if it was just pleasure for pleasure's sake, or to show off what the console could do. The Wii may have limitations, but it's still more powerful than the N64 and GameCube, and so for me at least, I thought it was a shame the game felt generally lower-tech than its predecessors.

I didn't know what the rules were, @jayseven. I enjoyed a lot of the orange games but didn't think they deserved to be in the green tier. But no, it doesn't bother me that I thought a lot were orange. I'm happy with a handful of good games per year.

Forgive me if I don't fully understand the format of this thread, but this is what I played: Shantae: Risky's Revenge - When I heard about this early in 2011, little did I realise it would be the best game I'd play all year. Gorgeous graphics, music, gameplay and controls... it's one of those rare examples of a game where everything comes together perfectly. Outstanding Pilotwings Resort - Fired up this as my first 3DS game, got a trip round Wuhu Island with some funky music. The challenges are difficult, whereas the Free Flight mode is relaxing, as you glide round the volcano and smaller islands. Still the best technical showcase for the 3DS Ridge Racer 3D - It might be better than I think, but with the limited time I put in, I personally wasn't keen on the controls, courses or gameplay. For keen racing fans Super Street Fighter IV 3D - Great artwork and visual style, but SF's already-complex moveset is made even more complicated. For the hardcore Dead or Alive Dimensions - Fantastic graphics and a manageable "rock, paper, scissors" battle system. The best fighter on 3DS Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D - Better than the original in many ways. Crisper, smoother, with good shading and a Link that finally looks like he was meant to. The visual choices are all perfectly-judged. 2011's best Zelda Xenoblade Chronicles - There's much to admire about this, but I'm afraid I just couldn't get into it. Has merit if you can be bothered with it Super Mario 3D Land - Great fun while it lasts, with no serious drawbacks. Some of the best power-ups for ages. It's a blast Tales of the Abyss - Appealing in some ways, but the visuals of this PS2 port suffer from the 3DS' low-resolution screen. Still not sure about this one Zelda: Skyward Sword - Gets the series back on track in a few ways, but is overall the worst 3D Zelda. Has its moments Mighty Switch Force - As high quality as Shantae, albeit with gameplay less suited to me. If 3DS Ware continues like this, we're in for a treat. Good stuff

Wow, that was outstanding. There was stimulating dialogue every second. Benedict Cumberbatch might just be the best actor I've ever seen. Can't wait for next week's! The Hound of the Baskervilles is quite a simple story, so it will be interesting to see how they make it fit this modern one.

That Zero Suit figure has such a lovely pose. Very dynamic.

No, hadn't heard of it. Thanks for the suggestion. Anyway, I've now completed Mighty Switch Force, with the "Par" for the first five levels. More than anything, it has convinced me that all the best artists, musicians and general geniuses in the games industry are working at WayForward. They have an inherent understanding of what makes games fun, little things like how satisfying the jumping and blasting is, or when your laser ignites a bomb and blasts away a block. I should say this is definitely a puzzle-platformer, and I think people will need to be skilled in both genres to fully enjoy it. There are three types of block to phase in and out: one standard, one to test your reflexes and one to test your mental dexterity. Anyone who is lacking those as much as me will get quite a workout just from completing it normally! But, complete it I did and I actually have a higher opinion of it now I've done so. I was never going to love this as much as Shantae, but as a more difficult, intense game, it's very adrenaline-pumping. There is also an unlockable that makes getting the "Par" times easier and more enjoyable, although you'll still need superhuman gaming skills for the later ones. So, perfect graphics, perfect music, perfect controls, perfect visual style... If I have one reservation, it's not with the length, it's with the difficulty. I'm glad they made it short and inexpensive, as the idea only goes so far, but as I had a couple of night's great entertainment out of it, I got my money's worth. Like all the best games, it makes you want to go back to it, just to play about and try for better times. I don't normally do this, but... Graphics: 10/10 Sound: 10/10 Controls: 10/10 Gameplay: 8/10 Overall: 8/10

My mistake. The next level was unlocked, I just didn't realise I hadn't done that one (this may go way to explain why I find the game so hard!) My apologies to WayForward. At the moment I'm stuck on level 14. It's a real mind-boggler.

The difficulty spikes are really to do with how open the game is. You might not encounter them at all. On the other hand, if you go to the wrong place without previously finding the shop that sells the appropriate sword, you can find yourself in a very difficult situation. I suppose listening carefully to Party Talk and/or the "fortune teller" is a way to keep on the path the game expects of you.

Hmm... I wouldn't worry about the vocations, as you can change them easily and it's clear which characters you should keep as fighters and which you should keep as mages, sages etc. I still think there are some badly-designed sections and potential difficulty spikes if you get ahead of yourself, but just be careful to save your game often. My biggest advice would be to read up on the missable characters. It's worth the spoilers if you really want to collect them all. On the other hand, you do not need them all, and it would make it even more OCD if you did have them!! Hope you enjoy it.

The thing I'm most interested in (and the thing I haven't seen anything about) is how good the Vita's web abilities are. I want to know if it supports any non-streaming video formats, whether you can display a vertical image on its side (which you can't with the 3DS) etc. I suppose we won't know for sure what ours will be like until the North American and European units are available? It's just that I'm totally, utterly impressed by the graphics, controls etc, but also wondered if it would be one of the best web browsers available.

"HD" is basically shorthand for being on an Xbox 360 or PS3-quality console (like the Wii U, hopefully). It should allow a heck of a lot more improvements than just graphics. Exactly, this is the thing. I reckon Dragon Quest has always got it right, by using continents. You start on a certain land mass, then gain access to others by boat later on. This way, you can have small islands combined with some very large land masses.

And... got it! Graphics, music and controls are all 10/10, as you'd probably expect from WayForward. The 3D is also very effective. If I have one criticism (and it's not really a criticism), it's just that the puzzle action and "Par" times are too hard. I've done nine levels, but can't unlock any more at the moment. Do I need to beat the Par times, or just get better times than I've done? I don't mind being aware that my times are slower than the Par times, but if I can't unlock any more levels, then I haven't exactly had much use out of it! But it is good, and more than anything, it makes me want WayForward to do a simple Metroid clone. I can't criticise Mighty Switch Force for being a puzzle game (it would be like criticising Tetris for not being Zelda). However, I can't help but think a better game would be one that dropped the puzzle elements and went for pure platformer. As I say, the controls are so good, it just makes me want bosses, laser upgrades, missiles etc! Maybe we'll get that in the future! Meanwhile, I'm off to try and improve my times...

Yes, I totally agree. Oh well, I think we're all waiting to see what an HD console can do for Hyrule. Wide, sun-kissed fields. Deep, dense forests. Villages hidden up in the hills. A massive castle to explore. Tree-lined, snow-capped mountains with snowboarding courses weaving down them... (I'd still like a proper, sea-bound Wind Waker 2 one day though .)

Three Miis today, two of them new. The new ones had been playing Mario Land and Mario Kart. Still no new Puzzle Swap pieces though.

Hopefully it just went through your wall, @Ollie!

It does look like it's had a huge amount of effort put into it.

There are some good bits, but nothing to make up for the sort of things you mention.

It's funny, I feel the complete opposite. It's as though the bits above the cloud represented everything I like about Zelda and the bits below... well, found a way to be worse than has ever been in the series before. Imagine this (for what I think would have been a better game): completely remove Faron Woods, Eldin Volcano and Lanaryu Desert. Scale up the sky to the size of Wind Waker's Great Sea, and have Link just drop into the dungeons from above. You could still have the same story, just with Fi telling you there are six locations (dungeons) you have to visit. Obviously, to compensate for this there would be more islands in the sky - a comparable amount to Wind Waker. It's not that I want every Zelda to be like WW, it's just that they seemed to go with a similar theme, but didn't go the whole way. And Link's relationship with his Loftwing - one of the best things, if not the best, about Skyward Sword. But no, they really can't fly at night and they really can't go below the clouds - it wasn't just a storytelling device. It was genuinely a good idea to have a flying mount, and so I would like to have had that involved in more of the game. Not for normal dungeon bosses, but the final boss could have been above the clouds. I should say the Levias fight was one of my highlights: dropping onto him and fighting the parasite.

I don't even know why the Slingshot is in Zeldas with (only) Adult Link in them. Why not just give him the bow? It made sense in Ocarina of Time, as it was feasible that Young Link couldn't use the bow (even though WW's Link could...), but doesn't make much sense for Twilight Princess or Skyward Sword. Let's not forget the Slingshot wasn't put into Twilight Princess until the last minute. When development shifted to Wii, they added it as an early item to get players used to the controls. So, I much agree with @Captain Falcon about that. I can't agree about the items in Wind Waker though. Yeah, I must admit I noticed some duplicity between the Hookshot and Grappling Hook at the time, but at the end of the day, one's flexible and one's not. As for the Deku Leaf and Sail... well, yes, they could have been combined, but I think it felt natural to leave the Sail on the boat, whilst you climbed up somewhere and used the Deku Leaf for gliding. Also, it used the magic meter, which might not have fitted the Sail as well.

I think @killer kirby has made everyone want the original voice acting! "Where are my laurels...? Oh, I'm resting on them." "Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!" Sorry, couldn't resist.

Yep, there was DSi Ware this year. Also, is Multiplatform GOTY something that appeared on more than one platform? If so, it might be worth having an additional category that's just "GOTY".

I've got my eShop card (from a supermarket, incidentally) but can't download it until January. Looking forward to it though, as Shantae was my game of 2011. Not just best DS game or best download, but best game full-stop. Doubt it can live up to that, but we'll see!

Was it someone you genuinely knew, David? Sounds like there could be some type of spambot.

I suspect you might be onto something, darkjak. In particular, it was odd that Eiji Aonuma said Zelda would stick with motion controls, when the next console doesn't have them as a main feature. Then again, if this new display is just so people can play the demos that were at E3, I suppose it will have to be basically the same machine.