Miyamoto: 3DS remakes of Ocarina and Star Fox 64 came down to 3D

In the latest Iwata Asks, Shigeru Miyamoto discussed with Satoru Iwata the 3DS remakes of Zelda Ocarina of Time and Star Fox 64.

According to the industry legend, one of the main reasons he was interested in making remakes of these classic titles for the handheld, was due to the way each will look on 3DS.

Miyamoto said the development teams at the time "barely gotten the games to move in terms of the polygon counts or wire frame processing," and he "wanted to aim higher."

"Today's elementary and middle-schoolers don't know a thing about Ocarina of Time," he said. "The people who played on the Nintendo 64 system in grade school are already in their mid-twenties. So I thought it was probably okay to remake them now. That was one reason.

"The biggest reason for me, personally, was that I myself wanted to see the majestic scenery of Hyrule in stereoscopic 3D (laughs). In all honesty, wanting to get that sense of really 'being there', in 3D, was a very big factor behind this."

As far as Star Fox 64 was concerned, Miyamoto said the remake came about due to the new 3D depth, gameplay would come to life more.

"In that game, the more you understand the depth and distance, the easier it is to play," he told Iwata. "I don't mean that it gets easier to clear. It just feels much better when you're shooting at floating objects, or passing through things, or picking up items.

"It's as though it has actual, physical benefits."

Both games are slated for a 3DS release this year.