Spectrobes

Spectrobes

Developer(s) Jupiter
Publisher(s) Disney Interactive Studios
Platform(s) Nintendo DS
Release date(s)
  • NA March 13, 2007
  • JP March 13, 2007
  • EU March 16, 2007
  • NA November 6, 2007
(Collector's Edition)
Genre(s) Action RPG
Mode(s) Single-player, Multiplayer, Nintendo Wi-Fi
Distribution Nintendo DS Game Card

Spectrobes (化石超進化スペクトロブス Kaseki Chōshinka Supekutorobusu, Fossil Super-Evolution Spectrobes), is a science fiction video game that was developed by Kyoto-based game developer Jupiter, known for being the developer of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and published by Disney Interactive Studios for the Nintendo DS. Disney Interactive Studios has stated that Spectrobes is its first original intellectual property; that is, a game not based on any film or TV program from its parent company.

The game was considered a commercial success and Disney Interactive Studios announced that more than 700,000 copies of the game had shipped worldwide in the first month and it was the best-selling third-party (not published by Nintendo, Microsoft, or Sony) game for March 2007, ranking #7 over all that month.

The game was re-released on November 7, 2007 as part of a special Spectrobes: Collector's Edition bundle, which included the game itself, all thirty-eight input code cards plus two exclusive Geo input cards, and a mini-guide.[1]

Plot

Out on a routine mission, Nanairo Planetary Patrol Officers Rallen and Jeena respond to a strange distress signal and discover the wreckage of an escape capsule in which an old man has been in a cryogenic sleep for over a decade. Once conscious, the man, whose name is Aldous, relays an unbelievable tale of the attack on his home planet by a vicious horde of creatures known as the Krawl. Rallen, Jeena, and Aldous then set out on a mission to save Nanairo from the destructive planet-eating Krawl.

After fighting the Krawl on five of Nanairo's seven planets, Rallen's boss, Commander Grant, reveals that the Krawl had established a base on the seventh planet, Meido; however, their spaceship is incapable of reaching this planet. Aldous reveals that ancient ruins found on one of the planets are actually a spaceship from an earlier civilization, and that it may be able to reach Meido. After gathering a number of Keystones, they are able to resurrect the spaceship and reach the Meido. After fighting through more hordes of Krawl, Rallen fights a large Krawl called Xelles that has the ability to heal whatever comes near it. After defeating it, Rallen fights a final Leader Krawl and kills it, thus ending the invasion - temporarily.

Characters

Rallen

Rallen is a young, ambitious Planetary Patrol officer. He is a skilled pilot who is ready to take on any challenge. At times, his eagerness to get into the thick of things gets him into trouble, but his courage and sense of duty are well known by his superiors. Rallen is the only one who is able to operate the Prizmod, a communication device used to command the Spectrobes. In Webisode two, he is attacked by the Krawl just after he discovers the Prizmod while investigating the distress beacon on planet Daichi. In the webisodes, the first Spectrobes that Rallen uses in battle are Spikan and Zozane, which are also the "starter" Spectrobes in the actual game. The first Spectrobe he received for use as a search Spectrobe was a Danawa, where in the game it is a Komainu. His catchphrase is "Iku ze!" which means " Here we go" and/or " Let's go" in Japanese. Rallen is voiced by Steve Staley in the webisodes but later changed to Yuri Lowenthal. He has medium-long red-orange hair and eyes.

Jeena

Jeena.

Jeena is Rallen's partner on the Planetary Patrol. She is a communications and research specialist. Her expertise is useful on missions where data on ancient relics and technologies is collected. While Rallen is in the field, Jeena is able to relay critical information that helps him train his allied Spectrobes and counter enemy attacks by the relentless Krawl. She often forgets to give mission reports to Commander Grant, which lands both her and Rallen in trouble. She is voiced by Michelle Ruff in the webisodes. She can be just as ambitious and feisty as Rallen but doesn't accept his somewhat proud attitude. She is the first to discover Aldous in his escape pod in Episode Two and joins him and Rallen to search for a Spectrobe which will be named Komainu in Episode Five. In the sixth episode, Jeena comes to Rallen's rescue after his second battle with the Krawl by piloting their spaceship to him before more of the monsters arrived. She soon meets Komainu, who jumps into her arms upon awakening, much to her admiration. She has long pink hair and blue eyes.

Aldous/Mr. X

Aldous is a mysterious man from the fictional Giorna star system. He travels across the universe in search of the home galaxy of the Spectrobes, hoping to be able to save his own system from the scourge of the Krawl. Instead, he crash landed on the planet of Daichi, where he lay in an unconscious state until he was discovered by Rallen. When awake, Aldous unfortunately discovers that his home system has been destroyed by the Krawl. After joining forces with Rallen and Jeena, Aldous assists them in upgrading the research lab on their ship and is an invaluable resource in decoding the secrets of the ancient Spectrobes.

Commander Grant

The Commander is the head of the Nanairo Planetary Patrol. He is also Rallen and Jeena's supervisor. Although at first he does not believe that the Spectrobes exist, he gains faith once he witnesses a massive Krawl attack on the planet of Kollin and the NPP headquarters, as well as Rallen defeating a Leader Krawl with the help of his Spectrobes and Jeena.

Professor Wright

Professor Wright is the main researcher of the Fossil Research Institute on Genshi. In the game, he is a non-playable minor character who gets trapped by black vortexes. After being saved by Rallen, he gives away the fossil he had found, which is an Aopod with a custom part.

Professor Kate

Professor Kate is the main researcher on the planet of Ziba. In the game, Professor Kate believes that the ancient ruins on the planet of Nessa is actually a spaceship able to reach the outer planets. She gives away the Red Keystone and persuades the museum on Kollin to give up the Green Keystone.

Planets

Genshi

Genshi is the first planet in the Nanairo star system and Professor Wright lives on this fireball. The second area is covered in volcanoes and lava flows. Its first area is home to an enormous jungle and the Fossil Research Lab. The Flame Geo, Tindera, was originally found on this planet under a lava flow in the second area..

Daichi

Daichi is the second planet in the Nanairo system and is covered in Aurora. Aldous crash lands in his escape pod on this planet and the Table Top Mountains are located here. At the top of the Table Top Mountains lays a rare Diamond mineral, but is almost impossible to get to without a Corona suit, for the Aurora of the planet is extremely close to the ground here and drains your health. The Great Black hole is found on top of table top mountain, in the area where the boss of that planet was fought. It contains the Cyclone Geo, Zorna.

Kollin

Kollin is the third planet from the sun and is the most Earth-like planet in the Nanairo system. This planet contains the floating headquarters of the NPP and the museum. There are normally no Krawl here, save for one of the earlier chapters when the Headquarters was attacked.

Nessa

Nessa is the fourth planet and is very Saturn-like. The surface of the planet is covered by a giant desert. Area 1 is the home of Cyrus, a rare-item collector. Rallen bargains with him a few times throughout the game. It is also home to the man who buys minerals. If Rallen needs Gura, then he may sell minerals to the man. Area 2 is pure desert. The only reasons for heading here would be for minerals, training, or the black hole. This black hole is not a Great Black Hole: it will give you an Evolve Mineral for beating its 30 wave battles. Area 3 is also a desert, but also contains the ruins, which is actually an ancient starship that starts with the three keystones. The Great Black hole is found here in Nessa Area 3, and contains the Hammer Geo, Larrup.

Ziba

Ziba is the fifth planet in the Nanairo star system. It has been split in two due to the gravity of its moons, Aoboshi and Akaboshi. Professor Kate is located on this planet. Due to the strong gravity of the planet and its two moons, the Demag Unit must be installed before travelling to it. The planet has two moons, both targeted by the Krawl in the game. After you beat the game, you can find the Great Black Holes on the red moon (Akaboshi) and the blue moon (Aoboshi) (Area 2 and Area 3) at the very end of the moons, under the strange buildings where Rallen fought the krawl boss. There are two Great Black Holes here: one on each moon. The Great Black Hole on Akaboshi contains the Thunder Geo, Fulvina, and the Great Black Hole on Aoboshi contains the Plasma Geo, Voltorn

Himuro

Himuro is the sixth planet in the Nanairo system and is one of the two planets that can only be reached using the ancient starship. The planet is revealed to be a man-made satellite, which orbits Meido, the final planet. It is roughly diamond-shaped, and its surface is almost entirely coated in ice. It is believed to be made by the ancients, and Rallen activates a rotation device in the planet's core and uses its reflective surface to shine light on Meido, breaking the layer of Krawl around the planet. The Great Black Hole is found on the West side of the planet, and contains the Ice Geo, Artezza.

Meido

Meido is the seventh planet in the Nanairo star system, and the final planet that the player will travel to. The standard ship was not advanced enough to reach the outer planets, so Meido was unreachable until Rallen flew the ancient starship. The planet is coated in a thick cloud of Krawl. In order to burn through the atmosphere, a mechanism on the previous planet was activated in order to redirect the sunlight. The Krawl built their nest here and this is where the final battle takes place. After defeating a large Leader Krawl, it is revealed that there is a large fungus underground, the spores of which fully heal anything that comes into contact with them. After destroying this object, the initial Krawl is healed, and becomes stronger, forcing you to fight it again. After you beat the final boss, you can fight it again by returning to the same place, which will cause the credits to be shown again. The Great Black Hole is found by going down when you get off of the ship, and a passageway can be found on the left opening into a room with the Great Black Hole, which contains the Wing Geo, Shulla.

Nintendo Wi-Fi

Download

The Download feature allows the player to use DL (Downloader) Points to purchase video clips, special Spectrobes, custom parts, minerals, and more. The first time the player uses the Download system, he or she is awarded 30 free DL Points. Every following week, the player can obtain ten more DL Points by accessing the download system on Friday, or else the points will not be saved.

Upload

The Upload feature allows players to upload their Sequence Battle scores from the seven Great Black Holes scattered on the various planets and moons in the Nanairo star system. In Sequence Battle, the player must win a certain number of Krawl battles to obtain the prize: an Evolve Mineral or a special Geo. Before beating the game, only one Great Black Hole is available to the player: in the Area 2 Desert of Nessa. Here, the prize is always an Evolve Mineral. After beating the game, six more Great Black Holes appear throughout Nanairo. The rest of the Geos may be obtained from these black holes.

Webisodes

1. The Distress Signal

2. The Sleeping Man

3. The Battle

4. Call Me Aldous

5. Komainu

6. Wake Up

7. The Krawl

8. School of Hard Knocks

9. The Ancient Ship

10. The Last Stand

11. The Ruby Mineral

12. The Dark Spectrobe

13. Partners

14. Back For More

Sequel

The sequel to Spectrobes, entitled Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals, was released in the U.S. on October 7, 2008. It features a new third-person 3-D field perspective and a map on the top screen. With this sequel, players can choose to play as either Rallen or Jeena. They are also able to play as the Spectrobes themselves when in battle. It was the second game to use Disney's online game and social network service DGamer,[2] the first being The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.[2] Spectrobes: Origins was released for the Wii on August 18, 2009.

References

  1. ↑ IGN.com: Spectrobes Collector's Edition Available on DS, accessed 01 December 2007
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 E3 '07: DGamer heads to DS

External links