Hot diggity damn, Sakurai really doesn't miss. This game from beginning to end fires on pretty much all cylinders with zero breaks or stops. It looks visually stunning (especially in 3D), has a phenomenal soundtrack with an all-star cast of composers, has great writing with equally good delivery, depth in its combat with the different weapon types and flick tech, hell even a really damn solid multiplayer mode with both local and online play. This game has mfin EVERYTHING, and each thing is crafted with such a huge amount of polish that it's an absolute blast to play.
My only real gripes would be in the ground segments of the game, in that I felt like they were too long and rely a bit too much on flicking the circle pad constantly in a lot of ways that feels imprecise, and the game kinda demands precision so the flicking kinda becomes a hindrance to the games control. I dropped the game halfway through back when it first came out because of how long the ground sections just dragged on and on. The flying sections are easily the best part of the game though, as they pretty much are sin and punishment levels with their spectacle and control.
I know this is a pretty highly demanded game to be brought to the switch or had a sequel made, and I can certainly understand the hype. However considering both the games development history and overall balance, I don't think that would be very likely. Apparently this game was developed by a one-and-done ragtag team that was made specifically to make only this game before disbanding, so I don't think they can get back together for a port or a sequel... I do hope they at least preserved the source code... The game is also designed around extremely quick precise camera and aiming controls that is done through swiping the touch screen like a trackball, and the overall game speed and balance is quick and snappy to compensate for that advanced precision you get. It's something that I don't think could translate to like any other type of control scheme outside of an actual IRL trackball, so that's kinda another thing going against it getting the ol HD switch treatment unless they essentially rebalance the entire game to accommodate a less precise and slower control scheme. That's not even considering things like how the game uses the bottom screen to run its radio drama-esque dialogue portraits in an unobtrusive way. Like it or not, this game is made for the 3DS, and on this system it will stay. Honestly, I'm fine with that. This game feels so complete that I honestly don't know what they could do should a sequel come along. It's not exactly flawless, but it's pretty damn close. An ABSOLUTE must-play on the 3DS library, especially if you like your games flashy and bombastic.
My only real gripes would be in the ground segments of the game, in that I felt like they were too long and rely a bit too much on flicking the circle pad constantly in a lot of ways that feels imprecise, and the game kinda demands precision so the flicking kinda becomes a hindrance to the games control. I dropped the game halfway through back when it first came out because of how long the ground sections just dragged on and on. The flying sections are easily the best part of the game though, as they pretty much are sin and punishment levels with their spectacle and control.
I know this is a pretty highly demanded game to be brought to the switch or had a sequel made, and I can certainly understand the hype. However considering both the games development history and overall balance, I don't think that would be very likely. Apparently this game was developed by a one-and-done ragtag team that was made specifically to make only this game before disbanding, so I don't think they can get back together for a port or a sequel... I do hope they at least preserved the source code... The game is also designed around extremely quick precise camera and aiming controls that is done through swiping the touch screen like a trackball, and the overall game speed and balance is quick and snappy to compensate for that advanced precision you get. It's something that I don't think could translate to like any other type of control scheme outside of an actual IRL trackball, so that's kinda another thing going against it getting the ol HD switch treatment unless they essentially rebalance the entire game to accommodate a less precise and slower control scheme. That's not even considering things like how the game uses the bottom screen to run its radio drama-esque dialogue portraits in an unobtrusive way. Like it or not, this game is made for the 3DS, and on this system it will stay. Honestly, I'm fine with that. This game feels so complete that I honestly don't know what they could do should a sequel come along. It's not exactly flawless, but it's pretty damn close. An ABSOLUTE must-play on the 3DS library, especially if you like your games flashy and bombastic.