GAME CLEAR No. 256 -- Pilotwings Resort

Pilotwings Resort (2011, 3DS)

Developer: Monster Games, Nintendo SPD
Publisher: Nintendo
Clear Version: 3DS
Clear Platform: new 3DS XL
Clear Date: 9/23/25

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Why should I care?
If it’s 2011 and you really need more software for your shiny new Nintendo 3DS, definitely grab this.

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Fly to live

Nintendo has deployed the flight sim lite Pilotwings franchise exactly three times. Each entry has served as a launch title and a tech demo for some particular 3D technology Nintendo has wanted to show off. With the launch of the Super Nintendo, we saw Pilotwings make heavy use of the hardware’s pseudo-3D sprite-scaling capabilities dubbed Mode 7 — this, I suppose, was for those for whom F-Zero was too extreme. Pilotwings 64 launched with the Nintendo 64 to introduce players to true polygonal 3D rendering. Finally, we got Pilotwings Resort, which was a suitable demo for Nintendo’s new glasses-free stereoscopic 3D system.

I’m not particularly interested in talking about it at length. It has all the fun factor of a dentist’s waiting room. Gentle music plays as you are lulled to sleep by some of the most unthrilling flying machines imaginable. I suppose the Resort in the title implies this should be a relaxing affair, and it generally at least succeeds in that regard.

The game’s main missions involve flying a variety of aircraft through rings or balloons or things of that nature. There are three basic aircraft: planes, jetpacks, and hang gliders, with modified versions being available for select missions. Each is maddening to control in its own way but manageable with time and a bit of practice.

It also features a “free flight” mode in which you can fly around as you see fit collecting a variety of bits and bobs, which unlock 3D dioramas in the main menu. Okay. Annoyingly, this mode is time-limited, making “free” a bit of a misnomer.

The game takes place on (or over) Wuhu Island, which was originally in Wii Sports Resort. This game similarly features Miis as really one of the later vestiges of that particular period for Nintendo. In that sense, I enjoyed it as a bit of nostalgia. Similarly, it came out when Nintendo was still trying to sell people on the 3DS’s main gimmick, and it’s not a bad pitch. Trying to navigate a plane through rings or other targets in the air genuinely is helped with the 3D turned on because open skies feature fewer of the other depth cues the human eye uses to gauge distance. It’s a clever launch title in that sense that fits with the franchise’s heritage.

Still, in only fleeting moments did this game make me feel any notable amount of fun or joy, or indeed any stimulus at all. My Mii on my 3DS looks like this:

I think that’s a pretty accurate depiction of how I looked while playing this game. I’m glad to be able to check it off my backlog, and it technically helped me pass some time here and there, but there are countless ways I could’ve spent it better. Unless you’re an absolute diehard Nintendo completionist or are otherwise suffering from insomnia, you can skip this one.