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The cancellation of Silent Hills was just cruel. So much terrifying potential lurked in the single corridor of P.T that a full game might have been too much fear to actually handle. So, in mourning of what could have been, lets take a look back at some, er, magical moments from the Silent Hill series. Nothing from the films obviously. Or Homecoming, because bloody hell, it was plops.
Oh, just a warning, there will be spoilers aplenty.
1. A blind alley – Silent Hill
What better way to celebrate the horror of Silent Hill than by starting from the very beginning. Harry Mason runs through a foggy town, looking for his recalcitrant daughter, only to be led down an alley. Of course, wandering down an alley in a mysterious place with no one around in any horror media is a SPLENDID idea. What follows is a series of very Hitchcock-esque, dutched camera angles, a siren wailing, a descent into pitch black darkness, a lot of rust, blood, hanging corpses and tiny skinless decapitated bear things clawing you to death. Lovely. It made Resident Evil look like Gex, and proved that video game horror could easily be as unsettling as anything seen in films.
2. Your first nurse – Silent Hill
Horror games have become a lot nastier in the 15 years since Silent Hill was released, but as the old saying goes, you never forget your first: and this moment in the original Silent Hill is a keeper as far as nightmarish imagery is concerned. Especially if you were in your formative years when playing it. Poor old nurse Lisa, (who is only ever encountered in Silent Hills Hellworld, which should set alarm bells ringing) begins to realise somethings not quite right, before she starts leaking blood from her eyes and mouth. The truly horrifying thing? Shes still asking Harry for help, but all Harry can do is make a beeline for the door. What a git.
3. The woodland walk – Silent Hill 2
This entry isnt horrifying in the traditional sense, but it shows just how confident Team Silent truly was in the fruit of its doubtless mangled loins. Protagonist James Sunderland starts off towards the titular town, his journey taking him through a wooded area with a long, winding road and it seems to go on forever, with only a quick detour at a cemetery to break up the descent. Nothing happens, but youre constantly expecting it to thanks to unsettling noises and your own febrile imagination. After a good long while, he finally makes it to town. Its an inauspicious start, but it absolutely fills you with dread.
4. Pyramid Head’s silent menace – Silent Hill 2
Pyramid Head is easily Silent Hills most iconic enemy. The best thing about him though? Theres no big entrance, no grand cut scene announcing his arrival. James is frittering about the Woodside Apartments building minding his own business and trying to open doors when suddenly a scream! Oh crumbs. He runs up to where the scream was, only to be confronted by this thing looking at him from beyond a set of bars. Its not moving. Its just silently watching James, while his radio is emitting static like crazy. Of course, its not there again when he looks back. But you know its prowling around. Somewhere.
5. You are the monster – Silent Hill 2
Now comes the horrifying realisation that Silent Hill 2s real monster is you! It was you all along! James, though not evil in the pantomime sense, did a very bad thing, and without giving too much away, that revelation helps unravel certain other elements of the game. This game isnt just abstract for the sake of it: everything has meaning. For example (berets at the ready), the first enemy James encounters is that armless vomiting thing. Its not hard to deal with, and cant really fight back (due to no arms), except to puke things up at you, but given the revelation near the end of the game? Vomiting and sickness? Cant fight back? Sound like someone? Eh, eh?
6. The terrible reflection – Silent Hill 3
Silent Hill 3 is a return to the cult shenanigans of the first game, as opposed to the more conceptual stuff seen in 2. So its a bit more daft, and not really as interesting, but no matter. It still has plenty of nasty tricks up its sleeve. Heather Mason ends up in a room with a large mirror and–this being Silent Hill–things happen. Blood starts pouring out of the sink on the mirror side and spilling out into the real world. Meanwhile, Heathers reflection just sort of stops, and starts looking a bit ill. Its already been established by the way, that Heather has a fear of mirrors, so Silent Hill is probably the most sadistic sentient place in games. Apart from the Mushroom Kingdom.
7. No safe place – Silent Hill 4: The Room
Silent Hill 4: The Room is genuinely probably the scariest of the series, and its all thanks to the hauntings in the titular room. These range from fairly innocuous, like a pair of shoes moving (maybe protagonist Henrys mum moved them because hes a messy swine), to the downright hideous, like a load of screaming faces appearing in the wall. Plus, you lose all important health the closer you get to these hauntings. The Room starts out as some kind of safe haven, but thats gradually turned around the further you get into the game, so no place is safe. Easily the worst one is when staring out the peephole in the door, you see a ghastly bloodied version of yourself staring back. Aaaargh.
8. The horrifying head – Silent Hill 4: The Room
Theres always been a bit of David Lynch to the Silent Hill series, especially when hes at his most discombobulating and terrifying (like Eraserhead or Inland Empire). Everything will seem normal, if a bit strange, and then suddenly theres a deformed woman singing a song inside a radiator. This bit in Silent Hill 4 is reminiscent of that. Henrys minding his own business, wandering around an unassuming hospital in a nightmare hellscape, when he walks into a room featuring the massive head of deuteragonist, Eileen Galvin. Of course, the eyes follow you round the room too, because its Silent Hill, and Silent Hill is bloody horrible. Youd never see that ornament in Bargain Hunt.
9. Raw shocks – Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Shattered Memories is easily one of the best in the series, and let no plonker tell you otherwise. It takes a completely different approach from the other games, going all in for atmosphere and tension, rather than the grotesque. Anyway, there are no enemies, and the game largely involves Harry Mason wandering around a snowy Silent Hill looking for his daughter (its a reimagining of the first game). Occasionally, though, its iteration of the Hellworld will break through, and youre be forced to run away from Raw Shocks. These bits are exercises in blind panic, as youve no clue where to go, with these things on your tail.
10. Child death – Silent Hill: Downpour
Finally we come to Downpour, which is savagely undervalued too, perhaps because the dreadful Homecoming really hurt the franchise. Anyway, Downpour–in many ways–could be the darkest of the Silent Hill games, dealing with molestation and child murder. In one scene, Murphy Pendleton is forced to watch while the bogeyman picks up a hapless child, slowly and agonisingly snapping the little tykes neck. Considering most games shy away from showing kids getting killed, youre always expecting something to interrupt the process. But no! It goes ahead and does it, and the tot slumps to the ground, neck flopping about. Crikey.
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Now that the New 3DS (opens in new tab) is at hand, it’s time to think about what we’re actually going to play on the thing. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D (opens in new tab) seems great, and Monster Hunter Ultimate 4 is definitely more Monster Hunter, but what else are you going to do with this hunk of faster-processing plastic after you’re done with Xenoblade Chronicles 3D? Fortunately for all of us, Nintendo doesn’t have to go back to the drawing board to find ideas that would be perfect for its handheld system.
Tons of existing properties from Nintendo and beyond could make great use of the improved 3D effects and bolstered control scheme – not to mention a good number that would’ve been absolutely fine on the old 3DS as well. Nintendo execs, if you’re reading, consider this our official wish list of awesome games to get working on post-haste for your shiny new console revision.
Metroid Prime Trilogy
Metroid Prime Trilogy has been a no-brainer port ever since 3DS hit the scene, but the upgraded specs and controls of New 3DS make it all the more obvious. Since Metroid Prime’s combat uses a lock-on system, you wouldn’t have to worry about being overly precise with the little C-Stick nub, and you’d have another set of shoulder buttons to work with so you’d rarely need to shift your grip. It could also offer a touchscreen-driven view option, for all those poor souls who are still hoping for Metroid Prime Hunters 2, as well as visor-swapping and map management.
Much like Xenoblade Chronicles, the Metroid Prime Trilogy would probably need to lose a little bit of texture resolution to function on 3DS, but rolling around in morph ball and dodging space pirates in buttery smooth 3D sounds like a fine trade-off. It would also be a great way for Retro Studios to get back into the groove of making Metroid games. Just saying.
Minecraft
Minecraft has released just about everywhere besides Nintendo 3DS at this point, which is a bit puzzling. Yeah, memory constraints would almost certainly make for less-expansive worlds than you see on its PC and console cousins, but that hasn’t kept people from going gaga over the Pocket Edition on iOS and Android devices. And besides, why stick with just a Vita version when the 3DS could give you such an awesome new way to interact with the world?
Seriously, just imagine how cool it would feel to navigate around a mysterious cavern in full 3D – suddenly you hear a familiar hiss, and there’s a creeper popping out of your screen. And as a step up from Vita, the top screen could be reserved for watching the game world, with inventory and crafting concerns neatly relegated to the touchscreen. Unfortunately, now that Microsoft owns Minecraft, it’s not likely to release on any more non-Microsoft platforms than it already has. But still, we can dream.
Pikmin
Pikmin is one of Nintendo’s most under-appreciated franchises, and you know if creator Shigeru Miyamoto wasn’t so keen on the idea of little plant people marching around gigantic gardens it wouldn’t have gotten this far. It’s just been a little too niche to become one of Nintendo’s flagship series, but porting the first game over to 3DS could introduce Pikmin to an entirely new generation of fans – fans who will then hopefully buy a Wii U and Pikmin 3.
The control scheme is just about sorted already – simply drop in the same touchscreen setup which was patched into Pikmin 3. And while the lush graphics wouldn’t look quite so crisp on 3DS, the 3D effect could give you players a much better sense of the game world’s mind-melting scale. It would also be a good chance for Nintendo to refine the strict time limits which made the original GameCube version too stressful for some – much the same way that sanding off a few rough edges in Majora’s Mask 3D makes for a less stressful but equally intense experience.
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Did you know that Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch was first released as a DS game? The Level-5/Studio Ghibli collaboration shipped on the handheld system in December 2010 exclusively in Japan. You’re likely more familiar with the PS3 version, which released in Japan a little over a year later and throughout the rest of the world in early 2013, but issues with the game’s physical Wizard’s Companion book held the DS version back from international release.
Ni no Kuni didn’t make much of a splash when it released overseas, but it’s become abundantly clear that handhelds are now the last great refuge for JRPGs. So it makes almost too much sense to release an enhanced version of the original DS game on 3DS. Just imagine peering into that vibrant, Ghibli-blessed world on the 3D screen – you’d have to pick your jaw up before you could start playing. And yes, the resolution boost over DS should allow for a digital Wizard’s Companion to work just fine.
Jet Set Radio HD
Somehow Sega passed over Nintendo 3DS when it released its HD remake of Jet Set Radio, the cult classic Dreamcast roller skating game. No matter, though – all will be forgiven if it rectifies that mistake posthaste. Seriously, Jet Set Radio would be a perfect fit for 3DS – timed challenges are great for on-the-go play, and it could definitely handle the processing load. But why would you play it over the already great Vita version?
The most obvious reason is that it would just be super cool to blaze through Tokyo-to at high speed on a 3D display. Imagine getting a downhill grind on a nice long straightaway, watching the city soar from the horizon into your periphery as pedestrians scramble out of the way But beyond that, it would control great on a Circle Pad, and you could even use the touch-screen for a much more precise take on those notoriously tough graffiti challenges. Just say it out loud: ‘Jet Set Radio 3D’. Doesn’t it sound right?
Kid Icarus: Uprising
Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Kid Icarus: Uprising is already a 3DS title! Isn’t it kind of obvious to say that a 3DS game could, in fact, make a great 3DS game? Fair point. But it would make an even better New 3DS game. And it’s largely because of one small, nubby, pencil-eraser-shaped addition: the C-Stick. Kid Icarus: Uprising was plenty well-received when it released in 2012, but it suffered from one nearly universal complaint: trying to control the high-speed shooting/brawling action with a Circle Pad and touchscreen was awkward at best, and carpal-tunnel inducing at worst.
Patching in a new control scheme that uses the C-Stick instead of the lower screen could change all that. Yes, Nintendo could’ve used the Circle Pad Pro all along instead of just making it an option for left-handed players. But now that tons of players natively have a second analog input to play with (and a 3D display they might actually leave turned on), it’s time to go back and make Uprising’s controls live up to the concept.
Wario Land: Shake It!
Almost by happenstance, Wario has grown from a one-off caricature of Nintendo’s mascot into the star of his own subseries of games.Wario Land is his oldest solo franchise, and the flatulent one’s most animated adventures is in Wario Land: Shake It. The colorful, dynamic world has a great look on the Wii, so it’s a shame many missed out on its odd sense of humor while favoring the more mainstream New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
But perhaps Shake It is underrated because the Wii game was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Wario Land series had only been on portables up to that release, so the franchise might have been hurt by the transition, meaning it could reclaim its place as a handheld gem via some port work. The New 3DS should have no trouble making the intricate line art pop, meaning all the long hard hours of the animators won’t have been wasted on a small percentage of the Wii’s audience.
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Star Battle
After some early ports of Street Fighter and Tekken, the 3DS’s fighting landscape has become a barren wasteland. However, the release of Super Smash Bros. for 3DS (opens in new tab) reminds fans that the handheld can still be home to addictively fun melees, particularly if it takes advantage of a fan-service heavy crossover. That sets the stage for an anime-heavy tussle that needs to hop over from the Wii, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.
The crossover was originally planned as a Japan-only release–given that most of Tatsunoko’s characters are virtual unknowns in the west–but Capcom localized the game following vocal demands from fans. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom wasn’t a massive seller on Wii, but maybe it was just aimed at the wrong audience. That hardcore fighting fans on 3DS are energized post Smash, and the New 3DS should be able to handle the fast-paced action. This fighter deserves to be played by more than the small cross section of hardcore fighting fans that are also Wii owners.
A Boy and His Blob
WayForward is a developer that often toils away in obscurity, making 2D throwbacks that are neck deep in affection for the 8- and 16-bit era of gaming. The team has gained some notoriety working on Capcom’s DuckTales remake along with some other licensed games that are far better than they deserve to be, but those can’t hold a candle to WayForward’s sterling work on the Wii. Nintendo’s waggle-heavy console is home to the team’s remake of NES classic A Boy And His Blob, which deserves to be reborn once again on the 3DS.
In an age of polygons and purposefully retro pixels, A Boy And His Blob sidestepped both, instead going with hand-drawn visuals that support the overall warmth of the minimalist adventure. The platforming action demands logic and quick reflexes, tasking players with finding different combinations of the blob’s abilities to get them to the end of the stage. It’s an adorable game that would make a smart addition to the 3DS eShop, giving handheld players a chance to make a squishy new friend.
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