Genre: Action

Format: CD or shareware

Developer: Pangea Software

Publisher: Pangea Software

Minimum System Requirements: 700MHz G4, Mac OS X v10.2.8, 512MB RAM, NVidia GeForce 2 or ATI Radeon video card with 32MB VRAM

Review Computer: 867MHz G4, 640MB RAM, ATI RADEON 8500, Mac OS X v10.3.3

Network Feature: Hot seat

Price: $24.95 download, $34.95 CD

ESRB Rating: E for Everyone (mild violence)

Availability: Now

Official Website: [url=http://www.pangeasoft.net/nano2/]http://www.pangeasoft.net/nano2/[/url]

For the most part, 3D sucks.

I haven't seen many 3D movies in the theater, but those I have seen always left me...wanting. I think the first I saw was "The Man Who Wasn't There," starring Steve Guttenberg. Should've been a warning right there. I also saw one of those Freddie on Elm Street movies that had bits in 3D, I think. Sad to even think about that.

Even worse is seeing movies meant to be in 3D at theaters that don't support 3D technology. I did that with Space Hunter: Adventures In the Forbidden Zone, and maybe Jaws 3-D and Friday the 13th Part III. It's hard for me to remember back that far, especially when my psyche is trying so hard to repress such memories.

But now we have Pangea Software's Nanosaur 2 which can be played with both anaglyph (red/cyan or red/blue) and LCD shutter (expensive) 3D glasses. The CD version of Nanosaur 2 ships with two pairs of anaglyph glasses, so you're all set for some hot seat multiplayer gaming (if you get the shareware version, you can purchase the glasses separately). With and without the glasses, the game can played in either black and white or color. Black and white is a bit sharper in 3D, but some of the power-ups are distinguished mainly by color, so you lose that advantage. The color also appears a bit muddy when played in 3D, losing the vibrant images we've come to associate with Pangea games.

The 3D looked pretty good on my 17" LCD Studio Display, but the anaglyph glasses are pretty much ready to go for that monitor. If you've got a different monitor or aren't happy with how the 3D looks, the software does contain a calibrator that launches with the system. It's a pretty simple process to customize the colors for your monitor, and it can save you plenty of headaches as you play the game.

There, I've gotten the 3D out of the way. I decided to tackle that early, because it's what many people are focusing on, and that does this game a great injustice. The examples of 3D movies I mentioned above were horrible not because of the 3D, but because the movies themselves were horrible. 3D was just a trick to get people to watch them. Nanosaur 2, on the other hand, is a great game. In fact, I'm willing to bet most of you won't even bother with the 3D. It'll just get in your way.

The premise is this: after your Nanosaur saved all the eggs in the original game and transported them back to the year 4122, they were stolen by rebel nanosaurs and scattered about off-world bases. Now, I'm not sure what's the benefit of stealing eggs and then leaving them scattered about for everyone to see, but whatever. We need a game, right? So, as a pteradactyl with a jet pack, it's your job to fly over these worlds, find the eggs, place them in the portals back to your base, then head into said portal yourself.

Of course, the renegade nanosaurs aren't going to give up the eggs without a fight, and they've erected all manner of defense mechanisms to stop you on your quest. There are mines, gun turrets, hovering laser cylinders (for lack of a better term), laser fencing areas, leaping nanosaurs, etc. What's more, the eggs are rarely placed in easily accessible. They can be hard to find and even harder to retrieve as you have to swoop down between trees and rocks to pick them up. You can take some hits from enemies and still survive, but one wrong turn into a tree and you're done...with that life, anyway.

As is standard, even in the year 4122, there are plenty of power-ups scattered about the planets' surface. Weapons refills, health and shield restores, extra lives...the lot. Most of these are pretty easy to grab, although getting close to them can take you into harm's way. Best to pick them all up after clearing an area of enemies, if you can make do that long.

So, that's pretty much the point; locate the eggs and place them in the wormholes while either destroying or avoiding the enemies. There are two things that make this more difficult than it seems: 1.) your radar doesn't indicate where the eggs are located, and 2.) there is no way to save a game in the middle of a level. If you make it all the way to the end of a level then lose all your lives trying to find that last egg, tough. It's back to the beginning for you.

The reason for this, however, may be that there really aren't that many levels to begin with. I was surprised at how quickly it was over, quite frankly, and the single player levels don't have a lot of replay value. So, enter multiplayer. There are three games here: Racing (self explanatory, except that you can shoot your opponent to slow him down and pick up jet packs to speed yourself up), Battle (in which you try to outlive your opponent), and Capture the Eggs (capture the flag, of course). You can play these standard or in 3D, also, and you're given the option of splitting the computer screen horizontally or vertically. Unfortunately, there's no online or LAN multiplayer available.

So, with two people playing on one computer, you'll have to use another input device aside from the keyboard. I attempted to use a Macally iShock II, but found it a bit sluggish no matter how I configured it. The keyboard, oddly, provided much better control. Other input devices may yield better results. I hope so, or your friend will be out of luck.

These complaints aside, I can't deny how much loved playing this game when I first installed it. It's that rare game that so perfectly nails its objectives that it makes you wonder how so many other games can fall so short (and pushes back my other reviews because I can't stop playing it). Flying amongst the trees (either in first- or third-person perspective), blasting enemy gun turrets, then swooping down under a lumbering dinosaur to snatch an egg is exhilarating fun, punctuated by some really great music that's cinematic in scope). What's more, the game's a joy to look at, especially with the 3D feature off. The colors are bright and attractive, the explosion and laser animations are extremely cool to see, and the performance is smooth even on machines at the bottom end of the system specs. The game will make older systems look more powerful than they are. When's the last time a game could make that claim...if ever?

The single player levels will end to quickly, and the inability to play the multiplayer games over a LAN or the internet greatly hampers the multiplayer capabilities. However, this is a game you'll keep on your computer for a long time to come. The 3D is pretty sweet to show off to friends, and the controls are simple enough that said friends will find themselves engrossed in the game quite quickly. So, yeah, for the most part, 3D sucks. But not here. It may have taken until the year 4122, but they finally got 3D right.

Coincidentally, Steve Guttenberg is nowhere to be found.

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