cooljeanius
Member
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
Gamespot gave it a 7.5/10IGN 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.
Metacritic Score: 70Gamespot 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.
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.