When the unmitigated bliss of playing my new 3DS had worn off a bit, there was a moment when I began to fathom what stereoscopic visuals could actually mean for video games. It was a slower, subtler realization than the sudden wow-factor when I first powered up the device, but now that my voracious hunger for new hardware has settled a bit, it has me even more excited.

So what am I talking about?

Towards the end of Rayman 2, there’s a series of stages where the player gains the ability to fly. It was a liberating little twist back in the heyday of polygonal platformers, but the added depth of the 3DS version makes it downright enchanting. As the hovering Rayman spelunked his way through serpentine caverns, I found it noticeably easier to tell how far I was from singeing the hero’s hands against lava-stained walls on every side. When I touched down on terra firma, I didn’t need to rely on Rayman’s shadow to know where I was about to land. It was as clear to see, as if…well, as if I were slowly hovering toward the ground myself.

I had the distinct feeling that this was how “3D” platformers – polygonal 3D, that is – are meant to be played, despite the fact that the genre is well past its prime. When Super Mario 64 introduced the world to the next dimension back in 1996, Nintendo mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto had to change up the plucky plumber’s traditional formula considerably. To offset the added difficulty of maneuvering in three dimensions, enemies were less plentiful and ledges were less treacherous. Mario even gained a generous health meter, and most of the platforming – which was fast and precise in 2D – took on a slow, floaty feel aided by triple jumps and ground pounds.

If Super Mario 64 made its debut on Nintendo’s new handheld, the defining game of the 1990s would have a considerably different design. Miyamoto has implied as much, having gone on record earlier this year saying that Mario’s first 3DS installment will feature level design that would be more daunting to casual players on standard 2D screens.

But Rayman is a thing of the past, and Mario 3DS is a long way off. If they want to justify the already ridiculous sales of the device, game developers – many of whom, I’m sure, agree with Miyamoto and me – will need to learn to use stereoscopic conservatively as a tool, not liberally as a gimmick.

A re-hash of a 12-year-old Playstation game was somehow enough to show me that it’s possible to use 3D in ways that qualitatively change gameplay, but it doesn’t satisfy me. Not nearly. I’m not entirely sure how 3D will affect other genres, but my head is spinning with the possibilities. It might be as subtle as convincing layers of parallax in a sidescroller or as unheard of as Mario’s historic leap into the z-axis back in 1996.

Compared to the charming but relatively archaic games of just 15 or 20 years ago, developers have an almost dizzying amount of options with the 3DS – voice control, gyroscopes, a touch screen and, of course, 3D, to name a few. Now that I’ve seen a glimpse of how 3D fits into game design that I’m accustomed to, I’m eager to see how it might allow for more dramatic advances into areas I wasn’t predicting. In the meantime, I just hope that developers remember that 3D doesn’t have to run the show – here are a lot of other great tools in the box.