E3 2015 was almost a month ago now, and the votes are finally in for the Best of E3 as awarded by the Game Critic Awards. There was a lot of public outcry about Nintendo having a poor showing at this year’s E3, but despite that the company managed to snag two “Best of” awards.
Best Handheld/Mobile Game – The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes
The 3DS is still going strong, and Nintendo’s surprise announcement of a new portable Zelda game definitely turned heads. Pulling tons of inspiration from Four Swords, the first true multiplayer Zelda game, Tri Force Heroes takes place in a non-Hyrulian kingdom that loves clothing. A catastrophic event causes the king of this land to call upon any heroes who might be able to save the princess, and the three main characters (and players!) come together to form a band of dungeon-delving, totem-stacking, sword-fighting adventurers. For more information about Tri Force Heroes you can check out our coverage of several interviews with the game’s director Hiromasa Shikata.
Best Family/Social Game – Super Mario Maker
Everyone’s favourite mustachioed plumber is back with another 2-D platformer, and this time you get more control than ever! Super Mario Maker puts you in the hands of a game developer and lets you design and create your own Mario levels entirely from scratch! An easy-to-use grid will let you add enemies, pitfalls, springs, coins, powerups, and virtually anything you can think of that’s existed in the original Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, or New Super Mario Bros. U. Once you’ve perfected a level you can then take your creation and share it with friends, family, and the entire world. Don’t feel like making your own levels right away and just want to play some good old fashioned Mario? Fear not! Super Mario Maker will be shipping with 100 pre-made levels already on the disc; the most of any Mario-based platformer to date (Super Mario Bros. 3 held that record previously, with 90 different levels). Granted, some of those 100 levels may be substantially shorter than others, but there will be a lot of content to discover even if you don’t necessarily want to build any levels yourself.
And that wraps up Nintendo’s winnings at the Game Critic Awards Best of E3 2015! For a rundown of awards and winners, make sure to check out the official list.
Did Nintendo deserve more than they got, or did even these two awards come as a surprise to you? You know the drill – sound off in the comments below!
