The Best Buy near me was added back in the participant list to The Nintendo Experience so I went there to check out the four demonstrations and snag some street passes.

I arrived at a little before 4PM and the line was already bending around two corners of the video game section. I could have stayed in the line, wait to play one game, and get a coin, foam hat, or flag. Instead, I perished the thought of playing one of the demos and watched the people play for two and half hours. That might seem such a waste of time, but I'm confident that I didn't need to control one of the games first hand. I can't imagine the games to control radically different from their predecessors.

First off, all four of the look fantastic in person; Mario Kart 8 most of all and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD the least. Mario Kart 8 was constantly played in (vertical) split screen to have as many people be able to play. Even with the split screen, the game ran very smoothly. The details and flourishes on the tracks and characters are lively and vibrant. The lighting of a fire ball bounce down the hall way of the Boo house track makes the racing come alive. Super Mario 3D World and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze look great with their high definition graphics. 3D World is quite a step up from 3D Land with more details and things going on. Topical Freeze's graphical upgrade is less obvious since Donkey Kong Country Returns looked so great on the Wii. Wind Waker HD still features the geometry of the Gamecube original so the better textures, lighting, and effects are a bit hard to spot at first glance. Wind Waker HD does have a sharper look compared to the original, but you may have to stare a bit harder to see the differences.

The anti-gravity hover mode of Mario Kart 8 certainly makes the perspective take wild twists. Colliding in the hover mode causes karts to spin out and lose a bit of speed. When a player falls in to an out of bounds area, Lakitu immediately pulls the player back on the track without a lengthy cut scene.

The multiplayer in 3D World is as chaotic and messy as it was in New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. U. The Cat Suit is highly useful with its swipes, pounces, and wall climbing abilities. The big snake boss that summons little snakes require the Cat Suit's climbing abilities in order to defeat the boss quickly.

Tropical Freeze and Wind Waker HD play as you would expect them to. Tropical Freeze's demonstration boss is the same long 9-10 hit chores as DKCR bosses were. Wind Waker HD now has gyroscope aiming ala Ocarina of Time 3D.