'Kingdom Hearts' goes 3D in anniversary adventure

— -- If you're itching for a new pocket-sized adventure this summer, consider the latest in the popular Kingdom Hearts series — now available exclusively for the portable Nintendo 3DS and on August 19, the supersized Nintendo 3DS XL .

Called Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, this action-heavy role-playing game (RPG) cleverly fuses third-person combat with imaginative worlds and familiar faces, including many Disney characters and villains.

It's not a flawless fantasy, mind you, but it should entertain both fans of the franchise and those new to Kingdom Hearts games, too.

Depending on the task at hand you'll play as two different spiky-haired teenagers, Sora and Riku, in their quest to become masters of the Keyblade, a magical key-shaped weapon wielded like a sword. The story can get quite convoluted, but the duo team up to take on the malevolent Master Xehanort, voiced by Leonard Nimoy of Star Trek fame. Other celebrities to lend their voices to characters include Haley Joel Osment (as Sora), David Gallagher (Riku), Hayden Panetierre (Xion) and Jesse McCartney (both Roxas and Ven). The orchestral music, including timeless Disney melodies, is also exceptional.

You'll also interact with the likes of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and many other Disney mainstays, in detailed worlds based on classic Disney films ranging from Fantasia and Pinocchio to more modern movies like Tron and its computerized grid world. Visually speaking, the three-dimensional environments are stunning and well-designed; both Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL machines let you see the game in 3D without requiring any glasses — with varying degrees of the effect to suit your tastes.

Combat is the name of the game, with countless enemies to do battle with. Referred to as Dream Eaters, these colorful creatures come in all shapes and sizes. You must attack, block, dodge and jump to take them down. You'll also use the environment to swing, dash and perform fast acrobatic moves (called Flowmotion maneuvers), perform magic spells and combo chains, and recruit more than 50 different kinds of spirits to fight alongside you (by collecting dream pieces). In fact, you can lovingly stroke your helpful critters using the stylus pen on the bottom touchscreen to keep them happy and loyal. Be aware of increasingly tough "boss battles," however.

As with other role-playing games, you'll "level up" over time and experience, and grow stronger throughout the single-player adventure. Unlike many other RPGs, there's little in the way of side missions to keep the player engaged — but at least there are a couple of minigames, such as riding light-cyles in the Tron world or collecting stars while flying through vortexes.

Overall, fans of past Kingdom Hearts games and Disney characters should get a lot out of the fast-paced Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. Between the gratifying combat, beautiful environments and stellar orchestral score, the game's charm and action outweighs the confusing story, awkward dialogue and other minor shortcomings.

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Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

Platform: Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS XL

Genre: Role-playing game

Developer: Square Enix

Publisher: Square Enix

Web site: kingdomhearts3dgame.com

Price: $39.99

Rating: Everyone 10+

Score: 3.5 stars (out of 4)

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Contact Saltzman at techcomments@usatoday.com.