London MCM Expo at the ExCeL exhibition centre may be best known as the place where comic and anime fans converge twice a year to dress up in crazy costumes, meet their favourite artists, and spend shedloads on memorabilia. But it also presents gamers the chance to try out some of the most anticipated games before they hit the shops.

Nintendo brought their Unleashed tour to the expo, with exclusive first plays of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, and Wii game Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise. Read on to find out how they played…

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

I am a Disney fan boy, and not ashamed to say it. I am ashamed, however, to say that before today I had never played a Kingdom Hearts game.

Since the series’ debut on the PlayStation 2 a decade ago there have been eight games released, including titles on the Game Boy Advance and DS. Many felt that those felt like spin-offs, but Dream Drop Distance will give you the full Kingdom Hearts experience.

For those who have never encountered Kingdom Hearts before, this action RPG sees you take control of protagonists Sora and Riku and along your journey, you will team up with all of your favourite Disney heroes. The demo on show dropped me into the shoes of Sora, in an area inspired by Disney’s The Three Musketeers, with Mickey, Donald and Goofy playing the titular trio. When Sora arrives, they are faced with a bunch of enemies known as Dream Eaters - odd-looking creatures that threaten to destroy each land by robbing it of its dreams.

Combat is simple; with most attacks dealt out by pressing the A button. Special attacks are assigned to the X button, B allows you to jump, and pressing Y will make your character perform a context sensitive move or dodge, which really helps the flow of battle. It feels like fighting enemies could become repetitive, but a variety of moves help keep battles fresh.

While most Dream Eaters are evil, you are accompanied by a couple of creatures that have seen the light. Touching their icon on the touch screen allows you to perform a link attack – a special move in which you team up to perform a spectacular attack that deals out extra damage.

After defeating the evil Dream Eaters, I was then tasked with defending Princess Minnie from a giant dinosaur on top of a travelling cart. This battle really showed off Kingdom Hearts’ impressive 3D effect – there was a real sense of depth and distance on screen as you battle the pursuing dino.

It really is one of the most beautiful 3DS games yet, with smooth graphics that improve on previous titles in every way. The final game promises full voice acting and plenty of hilarious cut scenes. It is also one of the few games in the 3DS library that offers Circle Pad Pro support to give you extra camera control.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, really looks like it has it all. I’m now counting down the days until its release on European shore on 20th July and frantically hunting down the previous games to get up to speed. This game is truly looking like a dream for the 3DS.

Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise

2009’s quirky DS music game Rhythm Paradise was a cult hit, selling over a million copies in Japan. It put us into bizarre mini-games in which you had to tap the screen to the rhythm of the music and what was happening in the mad scenarios shown on screen. It also taught me that I really did not have the rhythmic skills I believed I possessed.

Beat the Beat offers even more of the much-loved craziness, now for the big screen on the Nintendo Wii. However, unlike its younger brother, this game doesn’t use the full capabilities of the console. Instead of moving your Wii remote to the rhythm, only the A and B buttons are used, which was a big shock when I got my hands on the title.

There were four mini-games on offer in today’s demo. The first involved you pressing the A button in time to the music to hit golf balls thrown by a monkey in an attempt to land a hole-in-one on an island across the water.

In the second level, you take the role of a Mexican wrestler, having to answer questions from an inquisitive journalist and pose for photographs.

The third task that faced me was to protect a girl (and some odd looking mole creatures) from a variety of oncoming balls, by kicking them away along with the rhythm.

The final task was a sweet sorting task – catch the good sweets by holding A and B, slap away the bad ones simply by pressing A. This was by far the most enjoyable and frantic of the selection of games on offer.

Ultimately, I was left disappointed. Rhythm Paradise was a title that perfectly encapsulated what the Nintendo DS was about to me – quick, fast-paced pick up and play games which put the touch screen to great use. In comparison, while the creativity of the mini-games lives up to the prequel’s standards, it just does not feel as fun simply pressing a button in time to the beat.

Beat the Beat will finally be available to European gamers on 6th July, almost a year after its release in Japan. I will have to see if this long wait has really been worth it, and whether the rest of the games on offer will do enough to convince me that this is a worthy sequel to the DS classic.

Project Zero 2: Wii Edition

This game is scary. Even in a noisy hall, full of weird and wonderful characters, I was slightly petrified playing Project Zero 2. Right now I can only imagine how terrifying it would be in a dark room, late at night.

While most survival horror games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill use zombies to make you jump out of your skin, the Project Zero games, known as Fatal Frame in America, feature ghosts as the villains. You really do not know where your next assailant is going to come from.

Project Zero 4 was released in Japan for the Wii a couple of years ago, but never made it over here. Horror fans should rejoice however, as this remake of the second game in the series – subtitled Crimson Butterfly - will be released in Europe in just over a month.

The final build of the game was on show and my time with the title took me through the early stages. Project Zero 2 tells the story of twin sisters, Mio and Mayu, who return to a place they used to play in when they were kids. The titular crimson butterfly leads Mayu astray and you take control of Mio in her search to find her.

The game has been completely remade in the style of the fourth game, featuring a new, behind the shoulder camera angle, which does feel slightly reminiscent of Resident Evil 4. Where this game differs is that there are no weapons. Mio is simply armed with a torch, which you control by gently tilting the Wii Remote, and the mysterious Camera Obscura, which allows you to see ghosts and exorcise them. It really is frightening only being able to see your enemy through a small lens at the centre of the screen.

The graphics have been updated from the original version, and while they don’t stand out at all, they really work with the mood of the game. Controls feel slow and slightly clunky, but the fact that Mio cannot move quickly makes Project Zero feel even more petrifying – you don’t feel like you can run away.

As you navigate the games environment there are various items you can pick up; using something Tecmo has called the Touch System. When you see an item glow blue, you can move your hand towards it slowly while pressing A. You must keep A pressed until your hand has reached it, but there is the possibility a ghost hand will come and grab you before you reach your target. If caught, you must frantically get it off you by shaking the Wii Remote. There really is an element of unpredictability, keeping you on your toes knowing that there could be a shock at any moment. It’s actually nerve-wracking to play this game.

It’s a real shame that Project Zero 4 never made it to these shores. Project Zero 2: Wii Edition is shaping up to be a great alternative to the nowadays more action-based Resident Evil series, offering a tense, chilling atmosphere, bound to leave you having nightmares and screaming for your mummy.

Paul Muchmore