Dream Trigger 3D is easily one of the most interesting and original concepts I’ve seen in a while. A take on the shoot-em up genre, it combines controlling your avatar with the Circle Pad with drawing on the Nintendo 3DS touch screen to reveal hidden enemies that shoot at you. You must then hold down the L or R button to become invincible and destroy everything in your sight. If this explanation sounds confusing, that’s because the game is initially very difficult to follow. It can take quite a while to understand and actually get a grasp of the gameplay, but once you do it is a pretty fun ride.

The visuals are both the best and worst part of the game. The 3D is used wonderfully. It really adds another dimension to the game. The backgrounds are just beautiful, they are treats for your eyes. Some are intricate and feel as though you’re flying through them, others are vibrant and strong. The backgrounds can sometimes get too distracting, though. The action is already hard to track and the background can make that even more of a problem.

The most confusing part of the game is the objective. You must avoid flower petals and other projectiles as they come hurtling towards you, while at the same time trying to locate the invisible enemies. You do this by emitting a sonar ping with the touch screen, then annihilating them on the top screen using the Circle Pad. After you’ve killed a certain number of enemies, a mini-boss shows up. You must uncover the mini-boss enough times so that it comes to your field, and then you can invincibly run into it until it dies.

The game doesn’t feature any type of story. This may be a blessing, because coming up with a story for the action would probably just hinder the game. The action is fine on its own. It’s engaging and there are always new challenges for the player to beat. Again, the gameplay is difficult to grasp initially, but once you do the game opens up with hours and hours of levels and challenges for you to complete. Effortlessly locating enemies whilst saving up energy to defeat them is one of the most satisfying elements of the gameplay, particularly after overcoming the learning curve.

In short, Dream Trigger 3D is a very interesting game, but just a little too frustrating at first. It’s impossible to just pick up and play, the tutorial is essential if you’ve never played it before. Once you get the hang of it, though, the game’s beautiful set pieces and endless challenges can entertain you for hours.