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Daedalus 3-D
May 17, 2004
I must admit that I really like playing games on my Tapwave Zodiac, and do quite a lot of it— especially when I should be doing something more productive. When I first heard about Daedalus 3-D I was rather skeptical. I’m a big fan of the Palm OS platform, but it was very hard to believe that a handheld game could have graphics and gameplay rivaling some of the console and PC greats like Quake. Thankfully I was proven wrong by Daedalus 3-D, as I was completely blown away within about five minutes of play.The reasons? How about true 3D graphics with real-time rendering? Stereo sound? Full screen 320 x 480 high res support? ARM-optimized code for a framerate so smooth that you’d swear you were watching a film instead of playing a videogame, until you move your thumb on the Tapwave Zodiac joystick and realize that you’re in complete control? After choosing one of three difficulty levels you’re thrown straight into combat, though thankfully it doesn’t start out too hard. You’ll face a few enemies and get familiar with the controls, learn how to switch weapons, shoot, jump, and maneuver in the first level before the going really gets tough. The puzzles are difficult but not frustrating, though it does require some patience to figure out how things work at first.
Everything that you would expect is here, including intro music, sound effects, and fully customizable controls. While you can play this game on any Palm OS device with an ARM processor, it was really made for the Tapwave Zodiac. You can use the joystick, appplication buttons, and shoulder buttons to control the various moves your character can make, and map each button however you wish to create your own personal setup. It’s also nice to know that if the going gets too tough and you end up “dying” in the game, you can choose to start at the last checkpoint instead of being forced to start a new game.
I can’t provide any screenshots for Daedalus-3D, because one of the plusses (the ability to map all of the buttons to create custom gameplay controls) also means that I haven’t been able to find a compatible screenshot utility. Fortunately you can check some out at the developer’s web site, listed at the bottom of this article. I really enjoyed playing the game, so it’s getting a great PocketGoddess score, but I can’t give it a perfect one. The graphics are great, but they’re also a bit too dark. The game needs a good atmosphere of course, but I felt that sometimes things were a bit harder to see than necessary. I would also have liked some more sound effects and perhaps some background music during the game, not just during the intro. But other than those small nitpicks, Daedalus 3D definitely deserves a look if you’re at all a fan of the genre.
Daedalus 3D: The Labyrinth is available for Palm OS 5 and Symbian Series 60. The Palm version is $29.90, and the Series 60 version is $14.99. For more information, a demo download, or online purchase, visit the Daedalus 3D web site.
PocketGoddess Rating for Daedalus 3D: 
