But then we fell in love with 3D games and, in particular, first-person shooters. Why scroll left or right when you could play Halo? Like adventure games, side-scrollers and action platformers began to slip into the past.

Recently, though, we've seen a small resurgence of modern side-scrollers which meld the gameplay of old with the 3D rendering capability of the PS3 and XBox 360. And, when done right, the result is nothing short of wonderful, as shown in Figure A.

FIGURE A


Here, the thief is shooting arrows at skeletons. They're nasty. Roll over picture for a larger image.

One such game is Trine. Bad name. Fabulous game. Trine was created by Frozenbyte, located in Helsinki, Finland. The main characters in the game are a wizard (he can draw boxes, but can't seem to master the fireball), a thief (she can shoot grappling hooks, but only to wood), and a knight (who's kinda dumb, but hits hard).

One day, they all touch a magic artifact called the Trine and meld together. You control all three characters, and can switch from one to the other instantly. The game traverses 14 levels, as you try to find your way through dungeons, dragon graveyards, and other ghostly terrain, all the while trying to undo the blight that's come upon the land.

What makes the game fabulous is the game balance. Part of the challenge is moving about the levels. Sometimes the thief can grapple or jump her way to the next ledge, but sometimes she can't. A puzzle component comes into play, because the wizard can build structures that make movement over tougher areas possible, can block attacking fireballs, and can drop objects on enemies from a distance.

The narration and the story is also fun. Each of the characters has a real personality and, as the game progresses, we get to know and care about them more and more.

Trine is available for the PlayStation 3 and the PC, and because it uses full-on 3D rendering, the levels are beautiful and alive, as you can see in Figure B.

FIGURE B


The wizard is about to drop a box on an enemy. Roll over picture for a larger image.

There's also a co-op mode, where up to three players can play each of the characters. This is fun, but there are some points in the game where only one character can make the trip, and other players have to drop out to reunite the trine to get past the tough spots.

My wife loved this game, as did I. The thing is, she's a better player than me. In fact, she's a better player than the developers, apparently, because she managed to get the "Better than developers" trophy for completing the final level on Extra Hard, without dying. Actually, she completed all the trophy challenges and got every trophy the game has to offer.