Games That Exploit Platform Specific Gimmicks In A Good Way

Games that utilize platform/controller gimmicks in an interesting way and/or in a thematically/narratively meaningful way.

A testament that exploiting these gimmicks is important even if they are a pain to replicate on further releases or in your emulator c:

Zero Escape: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
Zero Escape: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
find this one by yourself
Death Stranding
Death Stranding
BB is your joystick
No More Heroes
No More Heroes
:)

(PS. also when sylvia calls you on your wiimote that's pretty interesting too)
The World Ends with You
The World Ends with You
Transistor
Transistor
(PS4) "Transistor does that exclusivly on the ps4 if you play without headphones.

where you listen to the transistor through the controller speaker through the whole game, until you give the transistor back, where his audio stops coming from the controller speaker and comes through the tv" - Pedrox200
Until Dawn
Until Dawn
"until dawn has a few sequences where you have to keep the controller completely still or you get caught/noticed using the motion sensors in the ps4 controller" -fairywands
WarioWare: Twisted!
WarioWare: Twisted!
fairywands
Irisu Syndrome
Irisu Syndrome
"fucks with your desktop" FranzMagitek
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-XX2CH3Om8&t=812s
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
"uses the wiimote speaker to broadcast important info, also you use the wiimote to control the flashlight then the wiimote plays sounds if you found something important" fairywands
Astro's Playroom
Astro's Playroom
hartex
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid
psycho mantis -liquidrocks & heatten
OneShot
OneShot
desktop stuff again
Pokémon HeartGold Version
Pokémon HeartGold Version
"The Pokéwalker supports infrared signals allowing players to interact within a short range with a game card of Pokémon HeartGold or SoulSilver while slotted in the Nintendo DS, or with another Pokéwalker." fairywands
The Bouncer
The Bouncer
button pressure affects your combos- heatten
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
"a lot of important stuff plays from the wiimote in shattered memories and iirc you get “analyzed” based on what you linger on/point at in one instanc" -fairywands
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
"fucks with your ability to save and messes with the volume on the tv and stuff" -fairywands
Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing
"if you close the game without saving resetti will show up and yell at you and eventually will blip the gamecube off" -fairywands
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
uses console date during a fight - Dadhunter
also button pressure too - heatten
Tearaway
Tearaway
"Tearaway is the only game I liked how it used the PS Vita's front and rear touchscreens" -DustyVita
Days Gone
Days Gone
"Days Gone uses it kinda like NMH where you receive calls" -Dadhunter
Lost in Blue
Lost in Blue
"in lost in blue you have to blow into the mic to light fires" -fairywands
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL99Nr3SXJs -FranzMagitek
Seaman
Seaman
-Dadhunter
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
"wind waker allows you to use a gba as a map screen by using the gc/gba cable" -Liquidrocks
Trace Memory
Trace Memory
you close your screen to solve a puzzle- Liquidrocks & FranzMagitek
NieR: Automata
NieR: Automata
"uses the PSN in the ending of E" -fairywands
Chibi-Robo!: Photo Finder
Chibi-Robo!: Photo Finder
you take pictures of real life objects and invoke them in-game
Vib-Ribbon
Vib-Ribbon
"you can put a music cd in the console and the game will create a beatmap for every track" -FranzMagitek
Lair
Lair
tomzacz
Bayonetta
Bayonetta
one hand mode -Dadhunter
Sonic Adventure
Sonic Adventure
"you can transfer a chao to your vmu to play a minigame with them on the go kinda like a pokewalker (except it isn’t a pedometer)" -fairywands
Ridge Racer
Ridge Racer
allows you to insert a music cd and it plays during gameplay -tomzacz
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
uses the gyroscope pretty well -Dadhunter
Persona 3 Portable
Persona 3 Portable
the opening upside down is fem mc's opening -BreadBurner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsqHPC2WT7I
Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D
Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D
spoilers - at one point you lose the ability to see with one eye, and so you lose the ability to use the 3D mode - BreadBurner
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
spoilers - also has psycho mantis -BreadBurner
Heavy Rain
Heavy Rain
sixaxis - FranzMagitek & tomzacz
Sonic & Knuckles
Sonic & Knuckles
added compatibility with sonic 2 and 3 -Dadhunter
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
"If you connected the PSP to a different Wi-Fi you could get a brand new random soldier" -BreadBurner
Monster Rancher
Monster Rancher
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E8aeSXFXEAAVvRo.jpg
BreadBurner & fairywands
Nintendo Land
Nintendo Land
Hylianhero777
Super Mario 3D Land
Super Mario 3D Land
Hylianhero777
Pokémon Stadium
Pokémon Stadium
you transfer pokemon from the portable games to this one -BreadBurner
Rashomon
Rashomon
ikearagao "Rashomon is game that doesn't have a central screen, it subdivides in your monitor depending in which section of the story you're ate."
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Pangburn "there's a puzzle that requires you to flip something over, and you do so by closing the ds and reopening it"
Rhythm Heaven
Rhythm Heaven
Nightblade
Merry Gear Solid 2: Ghosts of Christmas Past
Merry Gear Solid 2: Ghosts of Christmas Past
MendelPalace: does a good job imitating Kojima's love of unique gimmicks a few times, including having to drag a file from the game folder into the game itself. There's also a puzzle boss where the solution is to change the time on your computer's clock.
Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan
Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan
MendelPalace: the Etrian Odyssey series lives and dies on the touchscreen of the DS/3DS allowing you to update the dungeon map in real time.
Infamous: Second Son
Infamous: Second Son
Bruh_Moment_7: "In Infamous Second Son you hold the dualshock 4 sideways and pull the right trigger to spray paint things"
Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand
Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand
turdl3: "The Boktai games on GBA have a light sensor where the amount of sunlight hitting it gives you certain benefits in-game"
Ring Fit Adventure
Ring Fit Adventure
turdl3: "uses the joycons in a pretty extreme way, they even use the IR sensor to measure your heart rate"
Dr Kawashima's Brain Training for Nintendo Switch
Dr Kawashima's Brain Training for Nintendo Switch
turdl3: "Brain Age on Switch also uses the IR sensor as an input for some minigames"
The Ultimate Challenge from Beat Takeshi
The Ultimate Challenge from Beat Takeshi
turdl3: "has you sing into the second controller on the Famicom as part of its karaoke minigame which is pretty wild for 1986 imo"
Pokémon Dash
Pokémon Dash
turdl3: "if you have a GBA Pokemon game in Slot 2, it makes courses out of the Pokemon you have (Pokemon DPP also have unique encounters with Slot 2 GBA games in, and transferring is a thing)"
Pokémon Red Version
Pokémon Red Version
turdl3: "encouraging trading and battling with across multiple versions is pretty cool and counts (even if every Pokemon game after it continued this)"
Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble
Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble
turdl3: "same as WarioWare Twisted, but it came even before that"
Cookie Clicker
Cookie Clicker
turdl3: "gives you an achievement when you resize the browser window to dunk the cookie"
Undertale
Undertale
turdl3: "does something at the end of its genocide ending which is basically this (involves shaking the window)" spoiler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ykt0eBWUgZw
Pac 'n Roll
Pac 'n Roll
mellorine
Super Magnetic Neo
Super Magnetic Neo
JaxMagnetic: "uses the vmu's speaker as a ''metal detector'' for some of the game's hidden collectibles"
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
JaxMagnetic: "lets you physically attach vmu's together to trade unlocked characters with other players"
Silent Scope
Silent Scope
JaxMagnetic: "can be 'played' on the vmu's screen alone"
Virtua Tennis
Virtua Tennis
JaxMagnetic: "can be 'played' on the vmu's screen alone"
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All
GodOfMediocrity. "forces you to yell into the DS at the very end of the game."

11 Comments


2 years ago

Nintendoland, somewhat self explanatory but it's the only game to make truly great use of the Wii U gamepad imo
I'd say the same for Super Mario 3D Land on 3DS

2 years ago

Coxinha, Rashomon is game that doesn't have a central screen, it subdivides in your monitor depending in which section of the story you're ate.

2 years ago

hotel dusk: there's a puzzle that requires you to flip something over, and you do so by closing the ds and reopening it

2 years ago

I think the way rhythm heaven DS uses the touch screen makes everything flow better than playing it with the does face buttons

2 years ago

The game Merry Gear Solid 2 (a Christmas-themed Metal Gear Solid fan game) does a good job imitating Kojima's love of unique gimmicks a few times, including having to drag a file from the game folder into the game itself. There's also a puzzle boss where the solution is to change the time on your computer's clock.

Also, the Etrian Odyssey series lives and dies on the touchscreen of the DS/3DS allowing you to update the dungeon map in real time.

2 years ago

In Infamous Second Son you hold the dualshock 4 sideways and pull the right trigger to spray paint things

2 years ago

The Boktai games on GBA have a light sensor where the amount of sunlight hitting it gives you certain benefits in-game
Ring Fit Adventure uses the joycons in a pretty extreme way, they even use the IR sensor to measure your heart rate
Brain Age on Switch also uses the IR sensor as an input for some minigames
Takeshi's Challenge has you sing into the second controller on the Famicom as part of its karaoke minigame which is pretty wild for 1986 imo
Pokemon Dash: if you have a GBA Pokemon game in Slot 2, it makes courses out of the Pokemon you have
(Pokemon DPP also have unique encounters with Slot 2 GBA games in, and transferring is a thing)
I would argue that Pokemon RBY encouraging trading and battling with across multiple versions is pretty cool and counts (even if every Pokemon game after it continued this)
Kirby Tilt n Tumble: same as WarioWare Twisted, but it came even before that
Undertale does something at the end of its genocide ending which is basically this (involves shaking the window)
Cookie Clicker gives you an achievement when you resize the browser window to dunk the cookie (dunno how this is handled on Steam)

2 years ago

updated

2 years ago

does it count if pac 'n roll is the only ds 3d platformer on the ds for its roll/touch mechanics? it's honestly a lot more tolerable than it sounds
a lot of arcade games probably would qualify here if not for the fact that their hardware is literally made around them

2 years ago

super magnetic neo uses the vmu's speaker as a ''metal detector'' for some of the game's hidden collectibles

marvel vs capcom 2 also lets you physically attach vmu's together to trade unlocked characters with other players

and maybe not practical but silent scope and virtua tennis can be '''played''' on the vmu's screen alone
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All forces you to yell into the DS at the very end of the game.


Last updated: