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Pokémon Dream Radar Impressions
Pokémon Black and White 2 is a DS game. Nintendo and Game Freak have their reasons for not bringing the latest entry in the Pokémon series to the 3DS, but it still wants to reward Pokémon fans who spent the money to upgrade to the new system.
Dream Radar is an eShop companion game for the 3DS that communicates with Black and White 2. Any items or Pokémon that you collect in Dream Radar can be transferred to and used in Black and White 2.
The actual gameplay of Dream Radar is an augmented reality (and I’m using that term generously) shooter. You fire lasers at clouds that you see with the 3DS’ camera and motion-sensing functionality. Shooting the clouds gives you energy which can be redeemed to upgrade your equipment to make shooting at clouds and gathering collectibles easier.
Occasionally, as you shoot the clouds, a Pokémon or item will appear. This triggers a Ghostbusters-like tug of war game where you have to keep the moving Pokémon/item in your reticle as you tap a button to lasso your reward. It’s like pulling a ghost into a trap, except without the hilarious one-liners from Bill Murray. Admittedly, hilarious one-liners from Bill Murray are missing from most games, so I am not holding that against Dream Radar.
You won’t be literally searching your house for Pokémon. I was always able to find the clouds by spinning around in my desk chair. The only reason the game even gets to call itself an augmented reality title is because the background for the game is whatever the camera happens to be looking at. It takes zero advantage of the environment in any way that affects gameplay.
You can only combat the clouds every few minutes because it takes a while for them to populate. You can use Play Coins earned from walking around with your 3DS to speed up the process, but you can only do it three times a day. At first, I found this to be very frustrating and cried foul at Nintendo for taking a page from the world of mobile games, but I realized I was overreacting. The best way to play is to boot up Dream Radar, take out the clouds, collect some items and Pokémon, transfer your stuff to Pokémon Black and White 2, and play that game while you wait for the clouds to reappear. The two games complement one another well when you decide to play in this way.
As a standalone game, it’s difficult to recommend Dream Radar. I can’t imagine there are a lot of people interested in playing the game without taking advantage of the bonuses it offers for Black and White 2; but if you are out there, this is a Pokémon game you can skip. The question of whether Dream Radar is worth your time and investment really comes down to how interested you are in catching Pokémon outside of Black and White 2. The Pokémon that you can acquire in Dream Radar are difficult to capture in the grasses of Unova. They’re easier to acquire in Dream Radar, it just takes an investment of time and some patience.
Click here to check out our review of Pokémon Black and White 2.
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