Gathering opinions about 3DS backward compatibility.

#1 Posted by hollitz (731 posts) - 6 months, 7 days ago

So Patrick's reaction to 999 pretty much solidified for me the fact that I need to play that game. But I don't have a DS or a 3DS.

I was thinking of just getting a 3DS to remain current, but I've heard that the DS games look a little less than stellar on it. I'd mostly be using a 3DS to play DS games. There are lots of them I'd like to play and really not much on the 3DS that I'm interested in.

Best Buy has a Super Mario 3D land 3DS bundle for 130 bucks and I think DS lites are still 100. Seems like a good buy? But I'm just not sure I want to sacrifice a better DS experience for a handheld that I'm not too interested in at the moment.

Any and all opinions would be greatly appreciated.

#2 Posted by GunstarRed (4101 posts) - 6 months, 7 days ago

I have found the original DS games to be a little washed out when running on the 3DS, some say turning the screen brightness down helps, but I still think they look better on the system they were made for. You can start up games in a original mode where on the old 3DS the game is the size of a postage stamp, but on the XL they look almost as good as if they were running on a normal DS. Overall though they look good enough, it's not like they are unplayable due to their hideousness.

#3 Posted by BeachThunder (9230 posts) - 6 months, 7 days ago

It's fine, provided you hold down Start and Select beforehand...

#4 Posted by JoeyRavn (4501 posts) - 6 months, 7 days ago

@BeachThunder said:

It's fine, provided you hold down Start and Select beforehand...

Running them in the DS 1:1 pixel ratio is way too small for me. I really miss the ghosting on the DSi screen when I'm playing on 3DS. I know it's supposed to look bad, but I really like the sort of "motion blurry" effect it creates.

I've heard good things about the 3DS XL playing DS games, though.

#5 Posted by AndrewB (6919 posts) - 6 months, 7 days ago

They look fine enough to enjoy, but definitely not as good as they should. 999 was never about graphics anyway. Also, owning a 3DS would allow you to play the much more mechanically superior sequel and continue the story.

#6 Posted by jaycrockett (278 posts) - 6 months, 7 days ago

The few DS games I've put in my 3ds looked fine to me. Maybe I'm not particular.

#7 Posted by Kerned (1131 posts) - 6 months, 7 days ago

I have a 3DS XL, on which I play way more DS games than 3DS games. They look just fine. Also, as has been pointed out, you can force them to run in their native resolution.

#8 Posted by animathias (1035 posts) - 6 months, 7 days ago

I've played quite a few DS games on my 3DS and they look just fine. They might not look as good as they do on the original DS, but they don't look horrible. 

#9 Posted by iAmJohn (5846 posts) - 6 months, 7 days ago

If anything, the bigger problem people aren't telling you about here is that playing a DS game on your 3DS will disable StreetPass and the other (awesome) 3DS metagaming features while it's running. If you don't care about any of those things that's one thing, but frankly the fact that they do that is why I was walking around with both my 3DS and my DSi when I was playing through Rhythm Heaven and a couple other games earlier this year.

So yeah, if you really don't care about the 3DS and just want to play DS games, you should probably just get a DSi. But really, just get a 3DS dude. Mario 3D Land, Paper Mario, Kid Icarus, Rhythm Thief, Layton 5, Theatrythm, Kid Icarus, Crush 3D... just saying, there's a bunch of totally well worth playing games.

#10 Posted by hollitz (731 posts) - 5 months, 24 days ago

Thanks for the response. I think I'm sold on the 3DS XL!

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