VGCulture - Playing DS games on 3DS XL

Official Site: http://www.nintendo.com/3ds

I've been playing my 3DS XL the past 3 days and have been enjoying the larger screen, better buttons, and awesome 3DS graphics.  Unfortunately, the only game I have is New Super Mario Bros. 2 which cost $40 along with the 3DS XL ($199) and I completed the game within 24 hours of opening it.  It was fun, and there's still some secrets I haven't found yet, but there isn't much more to do in the game other than mindlessly collect coins and play the coin rush mode to compete for a high score.  So I decided to try out some of my DS games on it since it's backward compatibility.  I tried Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia on my 3DS XL and the first thing I noticed was how clear the audio was.  I was hearing parts of songs I didn't hear before on my DS Lite.  Unfortunately, playing the game kind of gave me a hand cramp because of the way the digital pad is set up and perhaps I'm not used to it.  Also, the larger screen just made it more difficult to keep track of all the enemies that appear, strange enough.  And many players have complained in the original 3DS that the graphics were very blurry and would rather play in the original size which I believe is still possible with the 3DS XL.  Then, I tried out Phantasy Star Zero on it.
Source: Youtube Channel FernandoCitan

I liked my experience of PS0 on the 3DS XL.  The bigger screen helped, and the game wasn't entire sharp graphics to begin with so a little blurriness was actually okay.  What really made the experience awesome was that the analog circle pad was usable in the game.  So the controls felt a bit more comfortable and familiar to playing Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 and 2 on the GameCube.  Having the Start button below the screen instead of below the face buttons was a little odd playing the game, but it's so large that it wasn't too much of a problem to get used to.  I think I'm going to continue playing PS0 on my 3DS XL and I'll play my other DS games on the DS Lite.

Long story short: Certain NDS games work really well with the 3DS XL while others are a disadvantage.  Even though the 3DS XL can play DS in its original size, it doesn't really change the ergonomics of the controls and not all games play well with the circle pad.  So the 3DS XL isn't a total replacement for my DS, but it does have its perks for certain games.