The inputs of the Circle Pad Pro, that monstrous attachment for the 3DS and 3DS XL that few bothered with, being built into the New Nintendo 3DS is the most practical improvement over the old models. While it may not seem like a big deal, an extra directional input and two more buttons really does go a long way. A nice variety of 3DS games supported the Circle Pad Pro, and both of the 3DS games that launched alongside the new model in North America, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, take advantage of those inputs.
While the New Nintendo 3DS’s “c-stick” isn’t actually a conventional analog stick or slider, rather a rubbery nub to be pushed and prodded, it works surprisingly well across the board. The more pressure one applies to a certain part of the nub, the more it will register that direction. Those extra buttons are just fine, too.
Spinning Around a Camera
Controlling the camera in games that take place in a 3D space seems to be the primary intention of the “c-stick,” considering both of the launch games support it in that way. It works wonderfully well. Because the nub is immovable and so stiff, it’s rare that I ever found myself moving the camera around so quickly that it goes nowhere near where I wanted. Whenever I’m playing Majora’s Mask 3D, if my right thumb isn’t using one of the face buttons, it’s on that nub, constantly moving around to suck in the environment. Camera control no longer has to be relegated to the shoulder buttons (which could be put to much better use) or awkwardly to the touch screen or d-pad for many players.
Shooting Bad Guys
Resident Evil: Revelations takes advantage of the added buttons and nub better than most 3DS games. Since there are four buttons available for players on the top of the system, all of them can be used for most of the button-based inputs instead of the face buttons, assuring one’s thumbs can be kept on the two sticks for the vast majority of gameplay. There is very little fidgeting around with the system, making for an experience that feels cohesive and user-friendly.
Aiming a gun with the c-stick is certainly something I had to get used to; whenever I first started playing Moon 3D, a full-fledged first-person shooter, on my New Nintendo 3DS, I saw the c-stick aiming as a complete joke. After more playing around with the control scheme, I grew to totally love it. The stiffness of the nub means that small movements are easy to pull off successfully, perhaps even easier than with a circle pad or even a proper analog stick.
The main control scheme of Moon 3D, an episodic remake of a game for the original Nintendo DS, uses the regular circle pad for movement, the touch screen for aiming, and a shoulder button for shooting. This method of control works excellently, giving the player quick, near 1:1 control of the aiming reticle; it’s a lot like a keyboard and mouse set-up. This method is better for getting precise results than using the c-stick, but the nature of the touch control scheme means that it is impractical to use in certain environments; for example, if you’d like to lounge on a bed while you play with the system held above your face, juggling the stylus and your system won’t prove to be a simple task.
You’ll nail more headshots with the touch screen in these kinds of games, but using the c-stick is still great and leagues more convenient.
Shooting Bad Guys (in a Spaceship or Something)
There are currently two dual-stick shooters on the 3DS that actually support a dual-stick control scheme, but they are pretty much the same game. Nano Assault, an early game for the 3DS, uses it, and Nano Assault EX, a later-released and cheaper e-shop version with an extra gameplay mode. Playing this game was the only time I was not impressed with the c-stick. Most dual-stick shooters, this one-included, don’t do anything that takes into account how much you’re inputting a certain direction on the stick. Playing Nano Assault EX with the c-stick amounted to awkwardly trying to use the least amount of pressure necessary for it to register my thumb at all, because if a game doesn’t even care how much I’m pushing, I’m not going to let my person suffer any unnecessary discomfort.
When using a proper analog stick or even a circle pad, it works best to spin the stick along the perfectly circular rim in order to aim. This offers a seamless indication that it’s registering one’s input, and allows for graceful, circular movement.
The c-stick is drastically inferior on this front, but it still kicks the crap out of using face buttons, which is what users without a circle-pad pro or New 3DS will have to do. Poor shmucks.
Miscellaneous Applications
The main menu of the New 3DS can be controlled with the c-stick, which is great for silly boys.
Smash attacks can now be easily performed using the c-stick in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS thanks to an update, which is great for more casual folks who can’t get a grip on how to perform them the normal way.
You can use it as a lefty-swap for Kid Icarus Uprising, a game that uses a stick in conjunction with the opposing shoulder button and the touch screen. I’m not left-handed so I couldn’t fairly give this a go, but using the c-stick for character movement seems worse than using a circle pad for reasons I think are obvious.
All-in-All…
The inclusion of the c-stick and extra shoulder buttons is swell. Although, it would be nice if the Circle Pad Pro was produced in greater supply for more retailers in order to incentivize developing games that used these inputs. As it stands, publishers may be weary to put money down on crafting control schemes that huge pieces of the user base can’t use. It seems like these inputs are going to be put to use exclusively in games as an extra option for those who can indulge in them, which eats away at potential games that could only function with a control scheme that uses all of these extra inputs.
Still, what I think will come out of the c-stick and extra buttons being built into the latest model of the Nintendo 3DS is a noticeably higher level of comfort from publishers to finance games that use them. Expect more portable first and third-person shooters, more games that take pace in a fully 3D environment, more twin-stick shooters… even more genre diversity on a system that certainly isn’t lacking in such a thing.
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