What better way to write about a non-game than with a non-review?
Written: 06/05/2005
I’m sure somebody out there trying to determine whether or not they should buy Electroplankton is going to think I’m weak for not assigning it a standard numbered score. However, after showing the “game” to a number of people, I’ve found that I’m quite inadequate at predicting whether someone will like it or not, and that’s among people that I know. There’s really no point in trying to rate graphics, sound, control, gameplay, and lastability. You either like to experiment with Electroplankton or you don’t.
The best way I can describe Electroplankton is to consider it a form of musical doodling. You can get a lot of enjoyment out of experimenting and interacting with each of the creatures, without the results ever sounding bad at all. However, you likely won’t be able to come up with a tune fit to record without putting a lot of effort into it or using multiple systems or studio equipment as the DJ at Nintendo’s E3 press conference did last month. In fact, Electroplankton’s design often purposely keeps you from being able to predict the musical results of your actions.
The full range of interactions is open to you from the moment you stick in the game card. The main screen allows you to choose performance mode or audience mode. Audience mode is an interactive demo, more or less, which cycles through each of the Electroplankton, showing pre-programmed sequences to introduce you to the creatures. Performance mode is where you’ll be able to select any of the ten creatures and interact with them as you will. Even the plankton selection menu has a range of tones that you can play with, if you like.
The ten types of Electroplankton are all quite different from each other, and most have more to them than initially meets the eye. The artsy instruction manual gives more detail on ways to interact with your pets, but since it’s mostly in Japanese, you may need to look up FAQs online to learn the full range of their capabilities. However, I will take some time here to give a brief description of each.
Tracy
Tracy are the essence of “musical doodling”. You simply draw lines on the screen, and the Tracy follow them, creating music based on the location of the lines, the Tracy’s color, and the speed that you drew the line. You can have up to five Tracy moving on the screen at once and can change the tempo with the control pad.
Hanenbow
My favorites of the bunch, Hanenbow are tadpole-shaped creatures that leap out of the water from one leaf and bounce across the leaves of other plants, creating tones as they touch the leaves and walls. By altering the angles of the leaves and the frequency of the leaping Hanenbow, you can create vastly different rhythms. You can also select from a variety of leaf arrangements.
Luminaria
Luminaria are star-shaped creatures that travel across a grid of arrows, emitting tones at each point and continuing in the direction the arrow is pointing. You can create various rhythms by tapping the arrows to point them in different directions or set them spinning. You can also use the control pad to change the arrangement of the entire grid.
Sun-Animalcule
This is a bizarre breed of Electroplankton. Basically, Sun-Animalcule appear like bubbles wherever you tap the screen. Then as they float to the surface, they create two sets of tones in the same rhythm as they appeared. The background shifts from day to night, and the nighttime Sun-Animalcule (Moon-Animalcule?) produce sounds different from those created in the day.
Rec-Rec
Rec-Rec are a fish-like breed that “eat” sound via the microphone. It’s essentially a four-track recorder, and you can also slow down or speed up the tempo, which can produce fun results.
Nanocarp
Nanocarp are a surprising breed of Electroplankton. Like many of the creatures, their positions on the screen affect the sounds they make. Left on their own, they are much like living wind chimes, swimming around the screen, making sounds as they touch the edge. The control pad sends waves across the screen in different directions that activate the Nanocarp’s chimes, and tapping the screen causes the water to ripple outward with the same effect. The curious part about Nanocarp though is that they also listen and create different formations based on the sounds you make. Blowing on the screen, clapping, or singing to the Nanocarp in different variations causes them to form circles, hearts, lines, moons, houses, and the notation for “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star”.
Lumiloop
Lumiloop are comparatively simple. As you spin each Lumiloop with the stylus, it emits sustained tones, raising in pitch the longer it’s spun. There are different tones produced when you spin either clockwise or counter-clockwise, and three sets of Lumiloop to spin.
Marine-Snow
Scientifically, marine snow is a term for organic particles that drift to the ocean floor and provide meals for hundreds of creatures on the way down, but in Electroplankton, Marine-Snow are snowflake-shaped creatures that can be tapped like the keys on a piano. Unlike a piano though, Marine-Snow will jostle about as you touch them, making it hard to come up with a specific tune. There are four types of Marine-Snow that appear in three different arrangements.
Beatnes
Crazy creatures with long tails, the four sets of Beatnes have NES-themed back beats. Each section of their bodies creates sound when you touch it, and the Beatnes will repeat those sounds a limited number of times so that you can lay other sounds on top of it to create arrangements of instruments. Many of the sounds are simple tones, but there are also familiar NES sound effects and vocal samples.
Volvoice
Volvoice, the final Electroplankton breed, isn’t really musical at all. You can use Volvoice to record any bizzare sounds or tunes that you like, and then pick from sixteen different Volvoice shapes to alter the sample in a variety of unexpected ways. Simple whistles or hums can be turned into wacky sci-fi style sounds.
As much as I love Electroplankton, it clearly isn’t for everyone. While I’ve whittled away hours experimenting with it, some people get tired of it in minutes. Musicians aren’t any more likely to be interested than non-musicians. While some are genuinely enthusiastic about the program, others are quickly annoyed by the looping nature of many of the creatures. As far as reaching out to non-gamers goes, Nintendo may be on the right track, as many of the people who have reacted positively had never even heard of the Nintendo DS before. In the end, Electroplankton is a personal experience just like any other creative tool. I’m sure I’ll continue to get absorbed just fiddling around with the creatures, where others are more interested in recording the rich tones to make something out of them.
Importers need not fear, as the main menus are written in English as well as Japanese. So, if you think you’d be interested in Electroplankton, you’re probably better off ordering it from our partners at Lik Sang since NOA has yet to decide when they’ll release it here. For those of you who’d rather not spend that much cash on it, the good news is that Nintendo does seem to intend to bring it to North America sometime in the future.
Topic: Electroplankton Non-Review (Read 1965 times)
