![]() ![]() ![]() Perfectionists who continue on to 100% will find that they have a better chance of getting bonus items, including parts that can be used to customize your Spectrobes. Once you've cleared 95% of the junk surrounding the Spectrobe fossil, you're a mere button press from taking it into your possession. The microphone is even put to use, as you can blow into it to clear out dust. Thanks to the touch screen, you can directly manipulate the tools, tapping away to clear out areas of rock. If you like what you see, you begin excavation, making use of a number of different tools, including drills of different sizes, dynamite, solvent and blowers. You can then scan the fossil to learn what it is before spending your precious time on excavation. You first break through the ground by tapping the screen. During excavation, the bottom screen shows the ground that hides your catch. Once you've found a fossil site, you enter into an excavation mode, which seems to be a full game in its own right thanks to the unique input options provided by the DS. Spectrobes, like only a few other games (Capcom's Viewtiful Joe comes to mind) uses some clever techniques to get 3D visuals on both screens, allowing for a more expansive view as you hunt for fossils. This is due to a technical limitation of the platform. You've probably noticed that most DS games display 3D visuals on only one screen at a given time. The world map, incidentally, has some technical wizardry going on behind the scenes. We're weren't quite sure where we should be scanning, but Hisai assured us that as players progress through the game, they'll gradually get a better feel for where to look. As you move around the fully 3D world, you can tap the screen to scan your surroundings for potential fossils. Your search for Spectrobes begins as soon as you exit your ship. Some areas make the Spectrobe hunt a bit easier. Once you've selected a planet, you can use the stylus to rotate the planet in order to select specific areas where you'd like to land. We sampled a later section of the game which let us move freely around the star system, selecting a planet at will. In Spectrobes you travel through the Nanairo planetary system in a search for Spectrobes, which can then be raised and used in battle against the Krawl. These were storyboarded and directed by Hisai (pictured above). The background story of Spectrobes should be familiar to anyone who frequents IGNDS, as BVG has produced four web videos detailing the opening events (see the video section). Aldus brings with him the technology to awaken the Spectrobes. These ancient creatures are like Dinosaurs from our time, existing exclusively in fossilized form. There's only one way to defeat the invaders, the Spectrobes of the title. Rallen, Jeena, and even Aldus, are incapable of defeating the Krawl. ![]() This is of great concern to Rallen and Jeena, as the Krawl appear to be headed to Nanairo. Aldus's planet outside the Nanairo system has come under attack by mysterious creatures known as the Krawl, who feed off planetary systems to gain power. They come upon an escape pod that's being piloted by Aldus, known in some circles as The Sleeping Man. Two officers with the Nanairo Planetary Patrol, Rallen and Jeena, are out on patrol one day, when they catch a distress signal. Spectrobes is set far in the future, in a different galaxy from our own. With development complete, Hisai, Aguru and the rest of the Spectrobes staff took us through a gameplay session to show us what makes the new game stand out. The director of the Jupter side of Kingdom Hearts, Tanaka Aguru, is serving as the director on Spectrobes as well. You might know the Kyoto-based studio for its work on such games as Pokemon Pinball, Picross and, most famously, Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories. Spectrobes is actually in development at one of Japan's most respected portable developers, Jupiter. Seeing as how this is a Disney game and all, you might be wondering why we had to travel outside of America in order to try it out. And, as producer Kintaro Hisai shared with us when we visited Japan to sample a final version of the game, it's also the first BVG game to feature an all original cast of characters. ![]() In addition to being the first title out of the studio to carry the Walt Disney label on its packaging, it's also the first title that the division has produced on its own. Spectrobes appears to be a special game for Buena Vista Games. ![]()
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