Pokémon Dream Radar (Nintendo 3DS) Review

As an assistant to Professor Burnet, the player is tasked with helping her research dreams by catching Pokémon in the Interdream Zone. Using augmented reality and the Nintendo 3DS' built-in cameras, Dream Clouds appear in players' real life surroundings. By moving the 3DS system around, the aim is to shoot the pink clouds and collect the Dream Orbs that pop out, with the less common grey clouds yielding a glowing orb that may hold either a Pokémon or item. These glowing orbs move around the room quickly, making them difficult to shoot, but by repeatedly hitting them with the beam and filling a meter that appears, the orbs are obtained and reveal the identity of their contents. Dream Orbs act as a sort of currency to buy various upgrades, such as increasing the power of the beam or allowing more clouds to appear. Special items can also be purchased to make Pokémon easier to catch, and are usable through a quick tap of the Touch Screen. Only a certain amount of Dream Clouds appear to begin with, and once they have been destroyed it takes time for them to reappear. The more clouds that are popped, the longer it takes for them all to regenerate.

Pokémon Dream Radar is designed pretty much completely for owners of the most recent role-playing entries in the series -- Pokémon Black Version 2 and Pokémon White Version 2. All of the Pokémon and items that the player collects in Pokémon Dream Radar can be transferred to the Nintendo DS games. There is only a specific selection of the huge number of different Pokémon that exist to catch in this game, but the majority of them hold Hidden Abilities that may not be available in the RPGs, and the collectable items can be very helpful or rare in the DS games, adding extra incentive for Black 2 and White 2 owners to play Pokémon Dream Radar.

Perhaps the biggest reason to buy this downloadable title is the chance to catch the Therian Formes of the three legendary Pokémon, Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus. Additionally, if players insert a Generation IV game card into the Nintendo 3DS (Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, SoulSilver), more legendary Pokémon can be caught in Pokémon Dream Radar, such as Dialga and Ho-Oh. These guys are a lot harder to catch than other normal Pokémon, with them vanishing and appearing elsewhere around the room and firing beams back at the player. After capturing one of the Generation V legendary Pokémon though, more normal Pokémon and additional items become available to catch.

Pokémon Dream Radar is remarkably easy to play; the motion controls are accurate and hardly ever cause problems for the player. The augmented reality feature provides a somewhat engaging experience, and although there are the odd occasions where the clouds clash with bright lights around the player's environment, this problem doesn't rear its head too often.

It should be clearly noted, however, that Pokémon Dream Radar is nothing more than an additional mini-game to accompany Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2. The very limited space of the Pokémon box and item pack further proves the point that this game is designed to be continuously linked up with the two RPGs to transfer the creatures and goodies obtained in the dream world. There is almost nothing here for those that don't own either of the two versions of the Pokémon Black / White sequels, so anyone without should definitely steer clear. Those that do play them will find moderate amusement out of this game for a brief period of time, until the legendary Pokémon have been caught and not much else is left to go back for, unless the items players can continue to collect prove a quick and easy method of obtaining them for their needs in the RPGs.