Developer: Jupiter Publisher: Disney Interactive Genre: RPG If you are unfamiliar with the original "Spectrobes" then don't bother reading. Jupiter is known for making "Kingdom Heart's: Chain of Memories", and the recent "The World Ends With You," both of which being undeniably good games Disney Interactive, like most other people who publish or make games based off of movies, isn't -as- good, but is at least okay. Now what happens when you mash the two together? Well, you get the Spectrobes series! Spectrobes will at first seem like a mirror-image of a certain game involving pocketed monsters, but as you play the game, it shows that it is its own game! Plot Synopsis: You play as Rallen, your stereotypical always-ready-to-kick-ass-but-in-over-his-head space cop of Nainaro (or something like that) Galaxy. If you ask me, he looks like an orange-haired version of Edward from Full Metal Alchemist, but back to the point now, Rallen and his pink-haired partner, Jeena, saved the galaxy from certain destruction at the hands of the Krawl, which can only be described as "Ugly as hell" in the prequel with the help of the mysterious Spectrobes, which you could say are the equivalent of Pokes or Digis. Some months later, the Krawl suddenly attack the Nainaro system and it's up to Rallen and Jeena to save the galaxy again Graphics: KICK ASS!! It'll take a while to see a non-Square Enix DS game that has this good of graphics. The Animations are done just as exquisitely and smoothly. The environments are nicely modeled and made. All of this however is killed by the camera controls, which tends to spin into the wrong position when you try to center it. Gameplay: First off is finding and raising Spectrobes. There are three forms of Spectrobes. Child levels can't fight, but are necessary for searching for Spectrobes and other cool stuff, Adults handle all of the fighting, but you need at least two at all times. Evolved forms are upgraded versions of adults, and are the ones that usually look the most badass. They also have three types. Coronas can be considered the fire-types, Auroras are the Arch-type winds, and Flashes work like water. Aobasar, AKA one of my Favs Digging requires that you wipe the area clean of all Krawl. Using your child Spect, you can scan the area of for not only fossils, but also minerals, which are needed for feed your Spects, and stuff youcan make some money off of. Of course it comes with a risk of breaking what you're digging. Luckily, you can buy a variety of tools right for the job (Do NOT use the "Blast" tool!) (Insert dirty joke here (hehe geddit? Dirty?) After digging the fossils up, you'll have to return to the home base and "awaken" the critters. How do you doooo it? By speaking into the mic! After giving your critters a rude awakening you will have to put them into the Incubator, which in a way mirrors the Pokemon Day-care Center, except you do the caring. Instead of leaving them there to level up on their own, you can take the minerals that you dug up and have your Spects eat them so that they can level up. Making them evolve into the evolved forms require a combination of leveling, fighting, and feeding. Now for the fun part: Fighting. Unlike the turn-based Pokemon games, Spectrobes lets you free-roam the battlefield gives you choice of either taking the fight to the Krawl, indicated by black twisters, or putting your tail between your legs and running away yourself (no "flee" button). But that's not the good part about combat, the point is being able to directly control your Spects and kicking creepy Krawly ass unlike the prequel! Rallen can take care of the stuff coming out of the twisters called Krawl Dust so that they can drop recovery items. Fighting the Krawl themselves requires the Spectrobes. You control one while a naturally stupid AI controls your partner Spect. The cool thing about combat is that EVERY Spectrobe has it's own fighting style, whether it be literally charging in head-first or staying at distance and shooting em down. (Insert "Mortal Kombat" theme) Sound/Audio: Okay, not really as memorable as what you would expect from an RPG, so don't expect a different variant of the Final Fantasy Fanfare. Replay: Unfortunately, the storyline isn't as long as you would assume from the 131 MB rom size. However, Multiplayer is still a fun feature, especially with Wi-Fi Connection and there is also a feature known as DGamer, a sort of Online Social Network complete with customizable avatar. Closing Comments Plot, 9/10: Saving the Universe is a somewhat overused plot, but this game makes that plot it familiar and new. Graphics, 9/10: As said before, great graphics killed by the horrendous camera control. Gameplay, 10/10: Simply put, one can't get enough of it. Sound, 7/10: Is it me, or has Jupiter gone lazy with the sound? Replay Value, 8/10: The storyline is uncomfortably short, but the online features make up for it. *EDIT* Survay Says, 43/50: Amazingly well done! It'll will be a while until another game that's just as good comes out! P.S.: Behold the result of my intense boredom and......... something along the lines of "having nothing to do."!!! In other words, my first ever Review. Please don't be rough ;D
Re: Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals please check the guidelines to make sure you meet all the criteria, at first glance the total score (out of 50) is missing. Other than that, not bad for a first review.
Re: Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals Nice review, but please refrain from overly repeated badass. Once or twice is enough Hope to see more. Edit: And put your name in the title please.
