Nanosaur 2 9+

Typical for Pangea, this is an amusing, imaginative game that should prove to be fun for a wide range of ages. Graphics are quite good, especially impressive considering that this game has been around for a decade, and the various scenarios and soundtracks are pleasing to the senses.

Two drawbacks limit my score to 4 stars. First, I could not find any instructions, either in the game or on the company website. Yes, you figure it out after a while (perhaps that's by design), but it's nice to have the option of a quick rundown as to what the various weapons (some of which thus far seem to be almost useless; e.g., bombs and the sound ray) and powerups are for. Second, the game does not remember the location of your saved games, so if you save them anywhere but the desktop, a fishing you will go.

I can see where replay value might be limited once you get the hang of defeating the enemies and tire of playing hunt-the-eggs. An "extreme mode" with tougher opponents and better weapons would solve that outright.

It took us a while to figure out some of the gameplay, specifically what to do with the various weapons, and how to defeat critters or defenses. I prefer flying with a mouse instead of arrow keys, but it's nice to have options. It's challenging enough that I go back to the game, even after finishing all of the adventures.

A few wishes:
It would be a 'great' game if there were more single-player options. Currently only the Adventure (3 maps / levels) is single player. There are other gameplay modes, but they require two players. It seems there is no AI to play agains the computer.
The game requires certain 3D glasses for 3d mode. Nice idea, but we weren't about to buy new glasses to play the game.

Note that if you get this version through the App Store, it's basically the same that you would download and pay $19 for (on a Mac without App Store). The purchased version gives no additional levels or gameplay options.

I've played the iPhone version of this and really loved it even on the small screen but I forgot how much games have to be scaled back graphically to run on those devices. When I loaded up this version on my Mac Book Pro I was blown away by the increased depth and complexity of the graphics and animation. And while I miss the more physical interaction of using the iPhone and iPad I really dig the look and feel of this unconstrained version of Nanosaur.

And then there's the stereo 3D aspect which is friggin great! Busted out an old pair or red-blue glasses and played. Old school 3D but it works well.