PixlBit

Step your little foot into this land before time, a time full of carnage.

The Combat of Giants series in a nutshell consists of a gathering of whatever enormous creatures man can muster up and then pitting them against each other to the death. These games have been historically based on dragons, mutant insects, or in the case of this game, dinosaurs. But for the first time ever, Ubisoft Montreal is bringing all the carnage and frenzy into eye popping 3D.

Now I know what you’re asking yourself. What about the 3D IMAX feature “Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia?” That included dinosaurs in 3D right? Did that movie include one on one battles with an intuitive Punch-Out style fighting system? I didn’t think so. Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D provides players with a fun and easy to pickup fighting system that even little toddlers can get the hang of.

You start off by choosing a dinosaur from one of the four classes: hunters, predators defenders, or chargers. Each family contains different advantages and disadvantages over another so it’s best to pick the one more suited to your style. You can then proceed to customize your little big dino in many types of colors, stripes, etc. Once you do that you can head out and explore the world. In it you’ll have the ability to collect items, learn about dinosaur facts and eventually run into rival dinosaurs in which the real fun begins.

Each encounter initiates a battle sequence. The battles are one on one, meaning you’ll be only fighting one enemy at any one time. Just like in Punch-Out you have to hit at the right time to land successful hits. You even have the chance to dodge enemy attacks and a successful dodge can grant a counter attack. If you attack when he's flashing either red or blue, you then have the ability to do one of two special attacks, depending on the color. That's all there is to it; don’t expect much more depth than fighting and exploring.

One nice bonus feature is its implementation of the 3DS’ street pass. If you so happen to come across the many people purchasing this game you can passively fight with them and the game can reward you with more items to use in the single player campaign.

With many launch titles for the 3DS, developers are just beginning to tackle the potential the system has yet to offer. While you could say this is just a cash-in of an already established DS franchise, you can’t blame Ubisoft for at least providing something a little bit different for the 3DS launch.

Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D is out now in Japan and expect it for the 3DS “launch window” in both Europe and North America.