Ok, i played it for just a few hours last night, but I wanted to give an initial impression. subject to change after a few more sessions, but i'll update then too.
Spectrobes is a Disney game brought to you by the team that made Kingdom Hearts for the GBA. You are Planetary Patrol sent to investigate a strange object. It turns out to be an escape pod from another star system, which is a big deal because your planet hasn't even left theirs yet. His entire system was destroyed by the Krawl, who, coincidently, you find on this planet now. Also, coincidently, you find Spectrobes.
Graphics:
The game looks great. Through some coding voodoo they have gotten 3-D graphics on both screens at the same time. Simple trick, but it makes the game look great. The style of the game is good, it has a anime feel to it. The dialog is done by cardboard cut outs of the characters talking to each other, naturally assuming a dramatic pose for most of the conversation. There is even some FMV which is also pretty.
Sound:
I tend to rate video game music as binary: don't mind when the sound is on, will never leave the sound on. This one, don't mind when the sound is on. The sound effects are well done, music isn't oppressive, and i've yet to hear something that made me think "man i never want to hear that again". (Except for my own screaming, maybe. see below)
Gameplay:
For the most part it is a traditional RPG style. You run around on the surface world and then get into combat. Combat is in the special combat plane that all RPG's put it. There are NPC's you talk to, stuff to find, and of course monsters. No jars with hearts in them though. I thought that was a requirement.
Combat:
Your team consists of yourself and any two Spectrobes you want. You order them to attack by hitting either L or R. Unlike Pokemon, however, you yourself can attack as well. You don't do much in the way of damage though. However, since you knock your enemies away, I found myself using Rallen as crowd control in the moments where my Spectrobes were recharging. Combat is a bit slow, but i suspect that is for two reasons. One: i am still learning, Two: this is the beginning of the game. AFAIK you cannot switch out Spectrobes during combat.
Excavating:
To get Spectrobes you have to dig up their fossils. To get power ups, you have to dig them up. To get cubes, ... yeah you get it. Here is how that works. You take a child spectrobe and have them follow you around. When you tap on them (or push R which I found out later) they will scan the area around them. if there is something of interest, it sparkles. If not, well nothing happens. I suspect later in the game this will become tedious, as there is no visual indication that you should be scanning a certain place. So you scan everywhere.
Once you find something you tap it with the stylus which puts you in the digging screen. This is a minigame of sorts where you have to excavate the fossil/power-up/cubes from the ground. The catch is this: you can damage what you are digging up with your tools, so you have to be careful. However the better you dig it up, the more likely you are to get a bonus.
The Spectrobes
Once you have a fossil you have to wake it up. You take it back to the ship and put it in the Pokenav...err computer. Anyway, once inside you have an 'awaken' command. This involves yelling into the mic. This is the only real 'bummer' i have found so far. While yelling in my home is ok, in the airport or at a coffee shop etc. it is going to be more difficult.
Things I know but haven't Played:
WiFi - The WiFi is not for fighting. What it allows you to do is to download new content, Spectrobes or movies, etc, and to post to a scoreboard. Downloadable new content is a neat feature, I'm excited to try it out. The catch is that WiFi capbibility is a 'cube'. Yup one of those things you dig up. I haven't found it yet, but I am hoping it is an easy find.
Cards - there are tradable cards inside of the game box. On a side note, the game box is bulging when you buy it. Between the cards and the size of the instruction book it is pretty packed in there. Anyway the cards have holes in the for 'codes' you lay the card on the touch screen and push them in order. Again a neat idea.
Wireless play - this is where you fight each other. You can have up to 16 players in a match. I don't have 15 friends, but this is motivation to find more. You can also trade between players. During the larger matches on player is the match maker. They set up the rules of the match and can even decide who wins. They do not, however, fight.
Growing, Changing, Evolving - The spectrobes start life as a fossil. You wake them up, which I have done and they are children. Then you have to feed and care for them so they become full fighting adults. Beyond that they can evolve into Evolved status, making them bigger, flashier and hopefully badder. As I am still on the growing from child to adult part, I'll let you know later.
All and all I am enjoying the game. I don't see it as a Pokemon clone. It uses nearly every feature of the DS and pushes the hardware as much as it can. I am looking forward to see what happens as I play more.
Topic: Spectrobes: Any good? (Read 4328 times)
