Dream Trigger 3D

Review

Common Sense Media says

Space shooter is too tough and overly complicated.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

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Kids say

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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Dream Trigger 3D is an overly complicated and incredibly difficult space shooter game. It will undoubtedly be frustrating for younger children. There is no objectionable content outside of the difficulty and the inscrutable control system. The 3D effects are deep and powerful, but remember that Nintendo does not recommend 3D play for anyone under the age of seven.

  • Positive messages0
    There's not much of a story here, making the only real message "shoot the enemy."
  • Positive role models1
    The opaque story might have something to say about conquering nightmares -- which is ostensibly a good goal -- but it's not clear.
  • Ease of play1
    It's not easy. At all. Controlling your ship with the directional stick is okay, but doing so while tapping the touch screen in order to drop sonar pings can be difficult. And everything moves way too fast, right from the very first level. There are way too many enemies, all of which shoot way too many bullets at once. Level One feels as difficult as Level Thirty should be in most space shooter games.
  • Violence1
    Your spaceship shoots at enemy ships, though enemies all look very abstract and unrealistic. You will see little explosions when an enemy is hit. Larger boss characters are sometimes more defined in their visual representation, including one that looks like a giant human head.
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What's it about?

DREAM TRIGGER 3D is an abstract, surreal shooting game in which you are a spaceship using sonar to locate unseen enemies. Once you find them, the goal is to trying to blast them before they blast you. If we understand the story correctly, this is all supposed to be happening in your dreams. And the enemies are some sort of nightmares. But it's really unclear.

Is it any good?

 

To start off with the good points, Dream Trigger 3D has unique and artistically interesting visuals, and the 3D effects certainly impress -- if you can manage to stay alive for more than 30 seconds. The controls don't sound like they should be too tough to figure out -- you tap the bottom screen to create sonar pings, and if your ping reveals an enemy, it appears on the top screen and you shoot it. But once you see how fast everything moves and how many enemies there are and how many projectiles they're shooting at you, you quickly realize you can use any kind of strategy in placing those sonar pings. You'll end up tapping madly and trying to perform some of the most precise flying of your life. And that's just the first level. If you're left-handed, you have to control flight with the A,B,X, and Y buttons, which is far more difficult than using the control stick. There may have been an interesting idea here, but the execution leaves much to be desired.

Online interaction: You can post your high scores to an online leaderboard.

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What families can talk about

Families can talk about art vs. function in video games. Dream Trigger is a beautiful-looking game, but is not user-friendly at all. Can you enjoy a game for its artistic merits, even if it's too difficult or complicated?

This review was written by Christopher Healy

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This review was written by Christopher Healy
Platforms:Nintendo 3DS
Available online?Not available online
Genre:Third-person shooter
Developer:D3Publisher of America
Release date:May 3, 2011
Price:$35.99
ESRB rating:E for Mild Fantasy Violence
This review was written by Christopher Healy

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.
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