The headline feature of Nintendo's 3DS is that it lets you play games in three dimensions without wearing silly-looking glasses. And get this: it actually works. Each game appears to tolerate its own level of 3D (adjusted using a handy slider next to the screen), and the effect only comes into focus when the screen is held at exactly the right angle and distance from your face. Without noticing, this rapidly shifts from a lot of wobbling and a slight sense of double-vision to second nature.
As a device, it's both heavier and shinier than past Nintendo efforts, and not as sleekly sexy as a Next-Generation Portable – Sony's factually accurate but dull name for its forthcoming handheld – or iPhone. But it does have a 3D camera, useful for augmented-reality tricks and taking stereoscopic photographs of friends, pets and household items. There's no online shop or web browser yet, but both are promised in future updates.
LAUNCH TITLES ROUND-UP
Face Raiders
Take a picture of someone's face, which is then stretched on to a series of attacking floating heads that you shoot down to win. Action comes from all directions, which means wildly swinging your 3DS around to fire at incoming heads. It's surprisingly good fun and encourages you to capture a new face for each game, leading to an amusing collection of friends' slightly distorted noggins to pump full of cartoon lead.
Nintendo, free with system
Pilot Wings Resort
Returning to Wuhu Island, last seen in Wii Sports Resort, this iteration of Pilot Wings brings back the much-loved cobalt blue skies, plinky-plonky music and mellow flying action that's at least as much about drifting around looking at interesting things on the ground as it is about timing and dexterity. The 3-D effect works beautifully even if its set of challenges barely takes an afternoon to complete.
Nintendo, £39.99
Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition
That Capcom has managed to shoehorn this incredible work of subtlety and strategy into such a small space is impressive. Unfortunately, the game highlights the 3DS' only major shortcoming: placement of its direction pad, which unlike the analogue joystick is unusably near the bottom of the machine. Even purists will find themselves reaching for onscreen shortcuts for special moves, which is a shame when everything else works so perfectly.
Capcom, £39.99
Nintendogs + Cats
As well as learning their names and responding to a bit of vigorous petting, the puppies in Nintendogs also use the camera to mimic the motion of your head and lick the screen if your face gets close enough. Kittens are available, but their resolute intention to ignore you completely makes them a mere sideshow compared to the dogs.
Nintendo, £39.99
Ridge Racer 3D
Ridge Racer has always been about power-sliding round corners in ludicrous, impossible-in-real-life arcs of burnt rubber and tyre smoke, and although this iteration adds a pleasing sense of depth, it's business as usual in every other respect. Employing classic tracks from the series and cars that start a bit dull and quickly get very exciting indeed as you unlock faster classes, its only real omission is a bizarre lack of online racing. That aside, it's as entrancing as ever.
Namco Bandai, £39.99
