PilotWings Resort

Cruising through rings and pulling off neat landings was a breeze while playing the demo, and it didn't prove too hard to rack up high scores. However, this was probably at least as much to do with the fact that we were playing on Easy as it was to do with the precision control offered by the Circle Pad.

None of the higher levels were unlocked in the demo we played, so it wasn't clear how steeply the difficulty curve will ramp up. Here's hoping the finished game will present the same kind of nail-biting challenges offered by the original titles.

As for whether the PilotWings experienced will be significantly improved by the addition of 3D - well, it's hard to argue this new feature makes PWR that much more immersive than its predecessors.

The fact is, you're still flying an animated character around a cartoon landscape using a jetpack. Being conscious of a bit of depth of field doesn't make you feel like you're really there, any more than watching Avatar in 3D makes you believe that somewhere there really is a planet populated by giant blue people who ride flying horsebirds and speak entirely in hideous clichés.

Which brings us to the bigger question still hanging over 3DS - will that fancy stereoscopic screen truly enhance the games, or is it just a gimmick? It's too soon to know the answer to that one, but it seems unlikely PilotWings Resort will be used as evidence for the former argument.

That said, there's no doubt 3D adds a fun new element to negotiating those floating rings. And if Nintendo manages to recapture the gameplay magic of the old games in this new one, veterans of the series will be happy regardless of what it looks like. After all, no one cared that the original PilotWings appeared to have been made out of old bits of Ceefax, or that presenter Shirley had overdone the botox so much she couldn't move her entire face. Here's hoping.