Dream Trigger 3D
Score: 70% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: D3 Developer: Art Co Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 - 2 (Local) Genre: Shooter
Graphics & Sound: Dream Trigger 3D is an odd title that was obviously designed to use some of the 3DS' unique capabilities like nothing else has, yet anyway. However, what results is a game that is horribly frustrating to play for the first couple of hours until you finally figure out how it all works, at which point, you are still fighting with a few of the game's issues, but at least it is enjoyable. As far as the game's presentation is concerned, you can't really ask for anything more. Instead of just being another port to the new system that happens to take advantage of the 3D screen (like several launch titles have been), it is a game where the added depth actually adds something to the game. While your ship, I guess it's a ship, remains on one plane on the screen, enemies and pickups will be at different depth levels and there are quite a few times when you can only interact with them when they reach your depth. That, coupled with the high-energy, flashy backgrounds, really gives Dream Trigger 3D a unique look, but the visuals aren't all there is to this game. Dream Trigger 3D's music actually plays a substantial part in gameplay as well since one of the major components of taking down your enemies relies on the speed and tempo of the background song. What results is a visual and audio experience that seems like it would be at home being projected and played on some nightclub wall.
Gameplay: So what is Dream Trigger 3D all about? Well, that's the tough part that makes it a hard game to get into. The game really boils down to your basic shooter, but there are a few twists thrown in that make the game both more interesting and more frustrating. While you are flying around the top screen, you will be shot at by enemies. The problem is, they are invisible. The only way to make them appear is to ping them with your sonar on the bottom screen. The touch screen is one big grid where you can see your enemies moving across the board. What you need to do is tap the screen so that when your sonar ping swipes by, your ripples hit the attacking forces and cause them to appear on the top screen. Once visible, you fire your weapons, flying around the screen and taking down the attackers. When you don't have your weapons going, you are vulnerable to their attacks, but that isn't the case when you are on the offensive. The problem here is that you have a limited amount of energy, and that only gets refilled upon the successful pinging of bad guys. The pinging itself is set off by a bar that swipes across the bottom screen. It completes one pass with each measure of the background music, so those with a better ear than myself can use this to their advantage to help predict the path of the enemies and where the Rhythm Bar will be. The closer your sonar ping is to an enemy when it is activated by the Rhythm Bar, the more energy you get for your weapons. If all this sounds a bit confusing and overwhelming, that's because it is. It took me quite a few attempts at playing the game before I finally got some kind of feel for how I should handle the game. During that steep learning curve, I found myself dying constantly. Seriously, I can't tell you how many times I played through the game's first level before finally getting past it, and that's after Dream Trigger 3D's mildly confusing tutorial.
Difficulty: In case you couldn't tell by the previous section, Dream Trigger 3D is hard. At least it was for me. I don't know just how much my lack of rhythm hurt me in this game, but I know it had an affect on how long it took me to get the hang of it. While the game doesn't rely completely on the timing of the Rhythm Bar, it is still a major component of the game. That being said, the other aspect that really made Dream Trigger 3D hard is the fact that you have to keep a pretty close eye on both screens. While trying to tap out your sonar pings on the bottom screen, you need to make sure your ship on the top screen doesn't get pelted by enemy fire. You will also want to keep an eye out for your health and energy pickups as they come floating up from the depths of your 3DS, if you don't get to them in time, they are gone.
Game Mechanics: Similar to the awkward focus that you have to place on both screens, it seems like Dream Trigger 3D has one other unusual problem. Because you need your stylus out in order to tap specific grid pieces, you will be holding the 3DS with only one hand. The default, or Righty Mode, has you using your left hand to both hold the device and move your ship around with the Circle Pad while you tap around the bottom screen with your stylus. You shoot your weapons by holding either shoulder button. There is a Lefty Mode as well where you use the face buttons for your ship's movement, but the problem still remains. You are holding your 3DS with just one hand, and even in older standard DS games, this was always shaky and unbalanced. Before you just get used to it, but on a 3DS, that means you will probably have a hard time keeping the portable system where it needs to be in order to get the full effect of the 3D visuals. Of course, the 3D can be turned off and the game plays just fine, but you still have that pesky problem of holding the DS by just one hand, which again, isn't too stable. Dream Trigger 3D throws a lot of interesting features into the ring, but it almost seems like the game is trying to do too many things and spreads itself too thin. While the game does get tougher as you progress through the levels, the initial learning curve makes it really hard to just get in and start playing. What results is a game that you fight to get into, and enjoy while you are there, but it isn't necessarily something you want to keep going back to.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
Related Links: Buy Dream Trigger 3DS on Amazon
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