Dotstream

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Dotstream
Developer(s)	Nintendo
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release date(s)	2006
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single player
Platform(s)	Nintendo Game Boy Advance

Dotstream is one of bit Generations video game series released by Nintendo starting in 2006 only in Japan. Its simplistic design and low level graphics are made up for in addictiveness and somewhat techno-like music, modeled after the characteristic music of 8-bit games.

Unlike many Japanese-only games, it is in the English language.

1 Gameplay
2 Modes
3 Possibility of US release
4 External links

[edit] Gameplay

Dotstream is played using the up and down buttons on the D-pad, the B button, and the R button on the GBA. The point is to guide your dot, which results in a line (or "stream") through a track with geometrically-shaped obstacles such as squares, rectangles, and circles. Races, or as the game calls them, "drawings," are typically 2 laps long but vary in a couple of occasions.

While moving up and down as you are moving at a fixed rate, it is possible to go faster by pressing the R button. However, this expends one of your two boosts which are also expended when you hit any solid object (the dotted ones just slow you down considerably). They can be obtained at the small passageway at the bottom of the starting line after the first lap, but this should not be overused due to the fact you sacrifice precious time by stopping to refuel. You can also press B at any time to slow down if needed.

There are more obstructions in your way in these drawings. The other lines you are racing, for example, can bump you either up or down, making tight passageways treacherous. There are moving blocks as well that either jiggle around in place or move in a predictable pattern. They are usually avoided more easily than is thought.

There are also two types of special events: an orange arrow marker and a boost marker. The orange arrows bump you considerably out of the way, and the boost markers give you a free boost without expending your boost. There are items, as well, and the two types freeze time (lightning bolt) or make you invincible for a certain amount of time.

[edit] Modes

There are three modes in Dotstream:

[edit] Grand Prix

This is considered the "main game". There are five circuits with each having a different color that is what the obstacles and borders, as well as the speed bar on the bottom, are colored. Drawings are unlocked in this mode.

[edit] Spot Race

To play a single drawing and attempt to get a record time, Spot Race is avalible. Drawings need to be unlocked in Grand Prix mode.

[edit] Formation

Formation mode must be unlocked in Grand Prix mode. Additionally, each Formation is unlocked in Grand Prix mode. When beginning you start with one line and have to collect small pellets to fill up a battery-like life meter. When a bar in the life meter is sufficiently filled up, another line will appear to assist in the collection of pellets. While only your one line can be directly controlled, other lines can be manipulated by holding down the appropriate Formation button.

[edit] Possibility of US release

While the ESRB has given Dotstream an E rating, it is unknown whether or not the game, or any of the Bit Generations line, will ever make it to the US.