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cooljeanius · Aug 7, 2009

Basic Information:

Platform: Nintendo DS
Bundled Materials? No
Release Date: August 10, 2009 (North America)
ESRB Rating: E with crude humor, mild fantasy violence (see section below for full ratings description)
Genre: Turn-based RPG
Developer: Red Entertainment (lately you may have heard of them for their work on (Winds of) Nostalgia)
Publisher: Nintendo
Control Method: Touchscreen, microphone (buttons?)
Perspective: 3D (3rd person)
Multiplayer? Yes, up to 2 players via local wireless
Casual or Core? I'd call it a bridge title

Nintendo's Official Press Release

Nintendo PR Site said:
CAN YOU DIG IT? FOSSIL FIGHTERS BRINGS DINO-SIZED FUN TO NINTENDO DS

New Hand-Held Game Combines Fossil Fascination and Prehistoric Battles

REDMOND, Wash., Aug. 10, 2009 - Dinosaurs may be long gone from the earth, but for owners of the portable Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi systems, a new breed of prehistoric excitement is just now coming to life. With today's release of the Fossil Fighters video game, Nintendo is delivering a dino-sized gaming experience that fans of any age or background can pick up and enjoy.

Fossil Fighters invites players to enter a world in which fearsome creatures are hidden as fossils for players to collect, using the unique touch-screen controls of Nintendo DS. Players can clean, collect and battle their discoveries. The game features more than 100 dinosaur-like creatures called Vivosaurs, each of which can be revived and deployed in strategic turn-based battles. With fun tactical elements, vast environments to explore and a lighthearted storyline and characters, Fossil Fighters allows players to control and customize a team of Vivosaurs as they battle their way through the mysterious Vivosaur Island. Players can also connect over local wireless with friends to battle customized teams of Vivosaurs or trade their fossils.

"Dinosaurs are a source of endless fascination for the young and the young at heart," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "Combining customization and social play, Fossil Fighters brings together the best elements of hand-held gaming for players of all ages."

Using the Nintendo DS stylus and touch screen, players can chip and drill away at each fossil they find. They can even blow into the Nintendo DS microphone to clear away dust. Once a fossil head is cleaned, the Vivosaur can be revived and used in battle. Other fossilized body parts can also be found and cleaned to imbue each Vivosaur with special powers. Players can create custom teams of three Vivosaurs, strategically selecting the best trio for each encounter.

For more information about Fossil Fighters, visit www.FossilFighters.com.

Wikipedia Article:

Retrieved August 7 said:
Fossil Fighters, known in Japan as Bokura wa Kasekihorida (ぼくらはカセキホリダー lit. "We're Fossil Diggers"?), is a video game developed by Red Entertainment and published by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on April 17, 2008 and was announced during Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009 for release in North America on August 10, 2009.[1]

Gameplay

The player plays as a young, nameable paleontologist, who must use a fossil detector to track down locations of several fossils around the island and dig them out. After finding them, they will be stuck inside of rocks, making the player take them to the laboratory and use a hammer and a laser to cautiously pick and drill the fossils out in order to revive prehistoric animals. The less damage given to a fossil piece, and when more fossil pieces are found, the more powerful the resurrected prehistoric animal becomes. After reviving them, they can be used to battle other prehistoric animals revived by other fossil diggers.

Reception

Fossil Fighters received a decent score of 32 out of 40 by the Japanese magazine Famitsu.[2] The game was the third best-selling game in Japan the week of its release at 35,000 copies sold.[3] By the end of 2008, Fossil Fighters had sold 240,176 copies, making it the 15th best-selling DS game of the year in the region.[4]

Full ESRB Ratings Description:

ESRB website said:
Fossil Fighters

Platform: Nintendo DS

Rating: Everyone

Content descriptors: Crude Humor, Mild Fantasy Violence

Rating summary: This is a role-playing game (RPG) in which players assume the role of a young boy who travels to an island to find dinosaur fossils. Players can transform the fossils into real dinosaurs and battle them against other dinosaurs in turn-based combat. Attacks (e.g., slashes, bites, and fire/ice attacks) are chosen from a menu system and then briefly displayed in animated sequences. During the course of the game, players can encounter a man who talks about fossils taken from dinosaur droppings (e.g., "Only you can understand my love for droppings" and "My collection of hardened poop is complete.").

Screenshots

Reviews:

IGN gave it a 5.9/10

IGN said:
Even though the game is shoddily developed and highly unoriginal, the game does have a bit of charm to it the battle system is unique and opens up a good amount of strategy, and if you find yourself engaged with the technique here then maybe, just maybe it's enough encouragement to hunt for supplemental fossils to upgrade your creatures, or to track down a specific element-type creature to strengthen your parties.

The only excuse for Fossil Fighters sophomoric presentation could be that its targeted at the younger DS gamer. But why should the kids get the short end of the stick? I guess someone justified that battling dinosaurs would blind them to the lame production values and been-there-done-that gameplay. I dont think lightning will strike twice for Nintendo with Fossil Fighters: this will not be Pokemon huge. Sorry guys.

Gamespot gave it a 7.5/10

Gamespot said:
The Good

Touch-screen cleaning minigame is fun Battles are fast-paced, with engaging tactical elements Good variety of cartoon dinosaurs to collect and use.

The Bad

Story and gameplay borrow a bit too blatantly from the Pokemon series Vivosaurs don't look very impressive Disappointing multiplayer.

Metacritic Score: 70

Sales:
Debuted at #10 its first month in NPD with 92,000 sold.

My Impressions:

I only played the demo I downloaded from the Nintendo Channel on my Wii, but I thought it was better than the Nintendo Channel demo for Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals. The demo for Fossil Fighters was better explained, more intuitive, and had more content. If I didn't have to be saving my money for college expenses, I'd buy a copy for myself. Oh, and this is my first time making an Official Thread for a game, so be nice please.

Commanche Raisin Toast · Aug 7, 2009

i saw some articles on some blogs receiving plaster molds meant to look like rocks. they chiseled a copy of the game out of it. pretty cool promo. started looking up info on the game and it seems fun.

im awful at turned based RPG's but im really interested in the digging/dino building aspect. i've never played pokemon or spectrobes games before though.

Cow Mengde · Aug 7, 2009

I would have been all over this game had they used a more realistic graphical style for the Dinosaurs like Dinosaur King. Right now, it's a wait and see kind of thing. Or maybe I can borrow a copy from my friend's shop.

cooljeanius · Aug 10, 2009

Updated OP with official Nintendo Press Release.

Tiktaalik · Aug 10, 2009

I thought RED Entertainment was just a design house. Do they do coding as well or was this game coded by a 3rd party (eg. TOSE)?

PhoenixSFT · Aug 11, 2009

I'll be picking this game up today so i'll probably post some impressions tonight, seeing as how I can't really find any. I played a bit of the Japanese version mainly by stumbling into places and cueing an event.

Allan Holdsworth · Aug 11, 2009

Tiktaalik said:
I thought RED Entertainment was just a design house. Do they do coding as well or was this game coded by a 3rd party (eg. TOSE)?

http://www.fossilfighters.com/html/making-of/

Captain N · Aug 11, 2009

I'm heading up to the store to pick up my pre-order today. woot woot.

Captain N · Aug 11, 2009

I just got a chance to pop the game in and I'll write down a few notes about the game.

2 Game Saves

Takes place on Vivosaur Island

The island looks like a Dinosaurs head

You have to be the boy[Player]

asked if you like Carnivores or Herbivores better

The questions they ask you gives off an Animal Crossing vibe.

Your look changes with how you answer the questions

EDIT If you want your character to look like the guy on the box..pick

Carnivores

Small Carnivores

Deionychus

cooljeanius · Aug 12, 2009

Updated OP with full ESRB ratings description and replaced the images with ones without the IGN watermark (thanks Captain N!)

VOOK · Aug 12, 2009

Australian release date of 17th September announced.

Captain N · Aug 12, 2009

VOOK said:
Australian release date of 17th September announced.

Now you don't need to import the US version.

lyre · Aug 12, 2009

Just tried the 'digging shit out of a large rock' demo of the game from Nintendo Channel; way to leave out the actual gameplay of the game in the demo. I haven't been more disappointed in a demo since Knights in the Nightmare, where its demo was just the beginning tutorial.

And this is the game Nintendo chose to release over something like Card Hero, Coma Bringer or Tingle?

ps. pokemans being better than the other two titles in the topic isn't really saying much.

Captain N · Aug 12, 2009

lyre said:
Just tried the 'digging shit out of a large rock' demo of the game from Nintendo Channel; way to leave out the actual gameplay of the game in the demo. I haven't been more disappointed in a demo since Knights in the Nightmare, where its demo was just the beginning tutorial.

And this is the game Nintendo chose to release over something like Card Hero, Coma Bringer or Tingle?

ps. pokemans being better than the other two titles in the topic isn't really saying much.

The demo really was very bad and I can't see why they didn't just level you have a battle. It's a pretty fun game from the hour and a half I put into it so far. I don't see it lasting as long as Pokemon.

PhoenixSFT · Aug 12, 2009

For the first hour or so I was a little bored mainly because I was going through a tutorial (which is done well b/c it's integrated into the story and teaches you what you need to know when you need it), but I had also gone through the tutorial in the Japanese version.

It's incredibly fun digging up fossils and getting better scores on them. I've perfected a way of getting Gem Rocks (100 pts!) for the most profit, and money isn't too hard to come by, especially since you can sell off fossil rocks you already have. I'm working towards upgrading my drilling robot so he can tell me about Donation Points.

The game also rewards you for talking to people. For example, I spoke with the Info person at the Fossil Guild and he told me about a fossil bandit, and that I should speak to the chief of police for more info. The chief told me more about the bandit and that I should keep an eye out for him. I'm sure this is a sidequest and I'm making sure to be on the lookout for a man in a green hat (or was it a green shirt)

The graphics are colorful and vibrant, and though character walking/interaction leaves something to be desired, the Vivosaurs attacks are fun to watch. The Vivosaurs are certainly varied in their design and skills, and it's fun trying to figure out what new dinosaur you'll get with each new fossil you dig up. Will it be a new dino? Or perhaps a new dino part to enhance your current line-up?

I also like the battle system. Battles are actually challenging and you have to make the the right moves to get the most out of your attacks. Is it worth it to do the super-move and be out of FP, or is it better to allow 2 dinos to attack? Every Vivosaur has a purpose, and certain ones are better suited to support (increasing attack and defense by 30% for the dino in the Attack Zone, for example). You have to constantly upgrade and switch vivosaurs out based on the situation, which is a welcome change from sticking with the same old team from Pokemon. While you don't necessarily get attached to your vivosaurs, each one is unique and useful and all have their own strengths, weaknesses, and elemental affinities.

Some fun little touches really add to the game. At the beginning, the captain of the boat you're on asks you some questions about the types of Vivosaurs you like. Your answers determine your appearance (sorry ladies, you always have to play as a boy), but you can also go to the Mask Shop to get new masks to change your appearance. Also, during battle, there are two announcers who add some color to the proceedings and give some helpful hints on what they would do if they were in your situation.

Overall it's a great game that any DS rpg fan should try, and I'd certainly recommend it to any of my friends.

IlliterateBookworm · Aug 14, 2009

I'm surprised there isn't more talk about this one. I've really enjoyed it so far. It seems well put together, and there's always something new you get or unlock as you progress which is a nice touch. Makes my son happy as well, as he gets to watch dinosaurs spit at, stab and smash each other to pieces.

I like the fact that there's a purpose for excavating fossils even after you've 100 pointed them. You can either donate them or sell them off, netting you either money for new fossils, or points for points to get special rare dinos only available via donation (and they're all red bones, which give you an extra 25 points as well).

It's also nice that you aren't constantly interrupted while you're trying to search for fossils with tons of encounters. Hell, you don't even have to fight when encounters come up, you're given a choice right off the bat.

Another cool thing- it's not just dinosaurs! I know I fought a giant ground sloth, and I'm pretty sure I've seen a Mammoth in there somewhere.

I just bought the Compsognathus, who although incredibly expensive and weak has some ridiculous abilities (-90% to the opponent's attack AND defense as well as giving you extra FP every turn).

Later fights get more interesting as more exotic dinos enter the fray, bringing even more abilities and requiring a bit more care in how you put your team together.

Definitely an improvement over how Spectrobes played out.

I hope more people bother to check it out.

hamchan · Aug 14, 2009

The Official Fossil Fighters Thread of Pokémon>Spectrobes>Fossil Fighters

Worse than Spectrobes? :O

cooljeanius · Aug 15, 2009

lyre said:
ps. pokemans being better than the other two titles in the topic isn't really saying much.

hamchan said:
The Official Fossil Fighters Thread of Pokémon>Spectrobes>Fossil Fighters

Worse than Spectrobes? :O

I didn't mean them as "greater than" symbols, I meant them more as arrows meaning "begat" or "led to" or "was imitated by". Would it have been more clear if I had put "->" instead of ">"?

Cow Mengde · Aug 15, 2009

I broke down and got a copy. :lol

I'll post my impressions later since I just got it.

bon · Aug 20, 2009

Started playing last night. It's really fun and charming once you get past the tutorial stuff.

I'm sad to see this thread so dead already. It's always depressing when Nintendo releases something brand new and hardly anyone pays attention.

Captain N · Aug 20, 2009

bon said:
Started playing last night. It's really fun and charming once you get past the tutorial stuff.

I'm sad to see this thread so dead already. It's always depressing when Nintendo releases something brand new and hardly anyone pays attention.

I know the feeling, but this game needs Wi-Fi support. That would get people into talking about trading. The fact that you can't get multiple of the same vino annoys me.

cooljeanius · Aug 20, 2009

Updated OP with some reviews.

Count Dookkake · Aug 21, 2009

Decent game. The colorful dinos are fun to watch.

I just wish I knew more cases of arrested development with whom I could play. Not looking to hang out at the playground.

cooljeanius · Sep 10, 2009

Updated OP with metacritic score and NPD sales.

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