Super Monkey Ball 3D
By:  Sega
Number of players:  One player (Monkey Ball mode only.). Up to four players (Monkey Fight, and Monkey Race activities).
Rated:  7  (PEGI)

Scores:
Meta Critic:  55
IGN:  7.5
Game Spot:  5.0
CheerBearsFan:  7.5

Hooray! Those monkeys in balls are back, and this time they are on Nintendo 3DS. For those who don't know, I'm a really big fan of Sega's Super Monkey Ball series. In fact, I'd go as far to say that enjoy the series just a little more than it's sister series, Sonic The Hedgehog. While the Monkey Ball game-play features adrenaline-pumping, arcade-style action, the tone for game itself is pretty lighthearted (with an exception for some of the activities).
This game has three modes: Monkey Ball, Monkey Race, and Monkey Fight. My favorite mode is Monkey Ball (often known as the Main Game mode). This mode is kinda like Marble Madness, and a typical 3D platfromer. The objective in this mode, for just about every level, is to get from A to B without running out of time, or having your monkey fall to their death in the process. The other two modes Monkey Race, and Monkey Fight, are pretty much mini-games (I see them as DVD/Blu-Ray-like extras.). I haven't had the incentive to play Monkey Fight yet, and Monkey Race didn't really hold my attention for too long, but I just brought for same reason as I got the other Monkey Ball games for, Monkey Ball/Main Game mode.

3D effect:  With the 3D switched on, the graphics look a little more life-like, but I like to play with 3D switched off to save on battery-life. The 3D effect doesn't appear to have any affect on the game-play itself, but this doesn't affect my opinion of this game.

Why not try:  Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz  (Wii)


(picture)  I wished I had more birthdays in a year.

Pac-Man, And Galaga Dimensions
Developed by:  Namco
Published by:  Namco Bandai Holdings
Number of players:  One player only. (Game rankings can be displayed on the internet though.)
Rated:  G  (ACB)

Scores:
Meta Critic:  60
IGN:  5.0
Game Spot: 6.0
CheerBearsFan:  8.0

I honestly think Pac-Man, And Galaga: Super Fun Game Collection would've been a better title for this game. The 'Dimensions' part of the title is a little misleading. But this compilation contains six games from the two classic Namco series. (Both series have three games each.) These games are:
Pac-Man:  This is pretty much a port of the arcade masterpiece. But there are two gimmicks here, there are 'medals' which seems to be there just for players to discover when they do a certain task (For example, make Pac-Man eat a cherry pick-up, then be awarded with a Pac-Man icon. (The only thing this seems to do is tell you how you got that icon in first place.)) The other gimmick is to display the game with an upright, or cocktail arcade cabinet frame, or without a frame (the game itself doesn't fill the whole screen), but why no full-screen? (If you really just want some classic Namco arcade games for your Nintendo 3DS, why not pick up a copy of Pac-Man Party 3D instead? This already has both the classic Pac-Man, and Galaga arcade game, but Dig Dug is there. The best thing about Pac-Man Party 3D is that this game is great for newcomers to retro games, simply because the each game's instructions here are less vague.)
Galaga:  This classic arcade game is presented as pretty much the same way as the classic Pac-Man arcade game is presented here. There are 'medals', and pretty display frames that do seemingly nothing are also here.
Pac-Man: Championship Edition:  Pac-Man: Championship Edition is a classic downloadable game for X-Box 360. The game proved to be successful enough to be ported over to other systems. And on the 3Ds, this game still rocks!
Galaga Legians:  In a word: HARDCORE!
Pac-Man Tilt:  Think Sonic The Hedgehog with gyro controls, and add some ghosts. That is perhaps the best way describe Pac-Man Tilt. Okay, maybe not. My point is this is a great game, once you get used to the controls that is.
Galaga: 3D Impact:  As a Galaga fan, I didn't really like this game (mainly because I'm pretty rubbish at this game.).
There is also a Pac-Man video included as an extra, but I thought it pretty terrible. Pac-Man deserves MUCH better this.

3D effect:  It would appear that Galaga: 3D Impact would be the ONLY game that makes good use of 3D effect. Like Super Monkey Ball 3D, the 3D effect doesn't really have any affect on the game-play. The Pac-Man, And Galaga: Dimensions' opening scene also looks good when 3D is switch on. Apart from those two examples, there not much difference between having the 3D switched on, and having it switched off. Like I said earlier, The 'Dimensions' part of the title is a kinda misleading.

Why not try:  Namco Museum: Battle Collection  (PSP)


(picture)  Surely one of them will get a gaming cutie-mark?


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