Pac-Man & Galaga Dimension Review (Nintendo 3DS)

Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions

The Pac-Man and Galaga Dimensions release from Namco Bandai is, as the name implies, a two-game package that has many gamers excited and many others complaining ahead of time. The game is a re-release of two of Namco’s most popular arcade titles ever, updated to take on the control functions of Nintendo’s newest portable, the 3DS.

Nintendo 3DS

The latest console in Nintendo’s line of portables, the 3DS incorporates the most advanced technology ever packed into a handheld gaming platform. The controls are state of the art, innovative, and surprisingly easy to use. The most important feature that sets the 3DS apart from previous Nintendo portables is the integration of auto-stereoscopic 3D technology. That is a fancy way of saying you can view games in three dimensions without the use of 3D glasses.

This effect is achieved via a system called the parallax barrier. That just means that there is a separate screen placed over the display that directs light to your left and right eyes separately. This process creates two different images, which your brain processes into a single composite image that gives the illusion of things popping off the screen. While such a system has been experimented with many times by many companies, including Nintendo (think of the failed Virtual Boy), this is the first time it has really come through and delivered on the promise of headgear-free 3D gaming.

Other than the nifty 3D upgrade, the 3DS also brings a 3-axis gyroscope and 3-axis accelerometer to its control scheme. These two features allow the game console itself to become part of the controls, meaning the player’s movements affect the action of the game. This works because the gyroscope reads the position of the console itself, and the accelerometer read how fast the 3DS is moved by the player, and the resulting reading are translated as game controls.

That is an awful lot of technology to be packed into a slightly more than 8 ounce package, and many gamers worried that it would be all hype followed by failure, but put those fears to rest. Nintendo 3DS brings you surprisingly crisp controls based on how you move about while playing, and, provided you look directly at the screen, the 3D effects are spot on.

All that sounds great, but what about Pac-Man and Galaga? How well do these beloved classics work in this new melding of 3D and movement-based controls? Once again, surprisingly well.