Dream Trigger 3D

A frantic shoot 'em up that throws new ideas at you constantly, but ends up punishing the player with an unfinished quagmire that wont appeal to anyone except perhaps the most dedicated genre fans.

While attempting to be innovative, Dream Trigger 3D fails to keep me engaged. Its horribly steep learning curve, combined with repetitive gameplay when you finally master it, makes this a game I'd rather avoid.

A good game that offers an original action proposal, making a very interesting use of the sonar. However it lacks some more content, like more options, game modes and variety.

Fans of the genre will appreciate the smart, varied nature of the concept, and the ethereal, abstract art style. [Issue#113, p.110]

A top down shooter that reminds us of Rez or Lumines but lacks a lot in content, has irritating 3D effects and is a bit too difficult.

Dream Trigger 3D tries to offer its player an original mix of shooting and puzzling, that's supposed to please the hardcore gamer on the 3DS with abstract worlds and a high difficulty. Unfortunately the game is unclear, unfair and simply unplayable, which's why it's actually interesting for no one.

An interesting and original shooter, but one that never has enough ideas or challenge to justify the price of admission.

This game is definitely made for the 3DS, it has good graphics and 3D is simply awesome. Unfortunately the game lacks innovation. The concept of the game sounded better than the final product has become.

Dream Trigger 3D has a lot of interesting ideas, but rarely implements them well. The gameplay mechanics are needlessly contrived; by the time you've gotten over the learning curve, you'll probably want to stop playing.

Sadly, this clever take on split-screen shooting just isn't developed enough.

Dream Trigger is a novel experiment that starts off refreshing, surreal and unique, but it's too content to regurgitate the same tricks and never evolves past its base mechanics. New coats of paint can only mask so much before it grows tiresome.

This is a game that is hard to recommend to many players, but those with a taste for the odd and an ability to forgive rather bizarre design flaws will find a good little game hidden under a film of potential inaccessibility.

Dream Trigger 3D is quirky to the point of brain-bursting confusion. But it's a welcome change from 3DS's current line-up of simplified titles.

Dream Trigger 3D is off-putting and inaccessible at worst when coupled with the difficulty level and crude production values. If this game had a more casually approachable tone and a greater focus on one core mechanic (or two simple and complementary ones), then there might have been a great game here. As it stands, it's a muddled nightmare, in 3D.

In the end, Dream Trigger 3D will likely become a title with a niche following. The relatively high level of difficulty will likely turn off most players, especially since you experience it in the first level of the game. Once you finally understand how everything works, it becomes interesting. The game can feel a little long in the tooth considering that nothing new is introduced later, but at least the new backgrounds and themes keep things somewhat fresh. Considering how polarizing it is, the game is best recommended as a rental to see if you can deal with the high difficulty level and enjoy what's here or simply give up out of frustration.

Dream Trigger features some really unique and original gameplay ideas - maybe a few too many for its own good - and ultimately tries to do too many things at once, overwhelming the player with its rather steep learning curve. Toss in the barrage of game crashes and you're left with a game that had a lot of potential that was never in the vicinity of being reached.

The visuals are both the best and worst part of the game.

It's just too damn confusing to be welcoming to everyone.

If it's a classic you're looking for, I don't know if this will completely fit the bill, but the feel is definitely there. If Dream Trigger didn't feel so awkward to play (and painful on the hands after a short while), it would have been graded higher. But as it stands, it's a nice, little distraction, and marks one of the first times that 3D on the system that doesn't feel tacked on.

An aesthetically gorgeous game with a really interesting premise that just never finds its legs.

Unraveling the interwoven game mechanics of Dream Trigger 3D leads to the realization that this shoot-'em-up offers more style than substance.

The big reason why this game received a two out of five, though, is because it crashed multiple times at random moments, forcing us to restart the system. Bottom line, we find this unacceptable.