Fossil Fighters

North American front cover of Fossil Fighters.
Developer(s) Nintendo SPD
Red Entertainment
M2
Artdink
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Composer(s) Asuka Ito
Megumi Inoue
Daisuke Shiiba
Series Fossil Fighters
Platform(s) Nintendo DS
Release
  • JP: April 17, 2008
  • NA: August 10, 2009[1]
  • AU: September 17, 2009
Genre(s) Role-playing video game
Mode(s) Single-player, Multiplayer

Fossil Fighters, known in Japan as Bokura wa Kasekihoridā (ぼくらはカセキホリダー, lit. "We Are Fossil Diggers"[2]), is a 2008 video game developed by Nintendo SPD, Red Entertainment, M2, and Artdink and published by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 17, 2008 and was later released in North America on August 10, 2009,[1] and in Australia on September 17, 2009.[3]

On September 10, 2010, a sequel titled Super Kasekihoridā was announced,[4] and it was released in Japan on November 18, 2010.[5] Near the end of Nintendo's E3 2011 conference, it was announced that it would be released outside Japan originally titled as Super Fossil Fighters, but later changed to Fossil Fighters: Champions. It was released in North America on November 14, 2011. At E3 2014, Nintendo announced the first entry on the Nintendo 3DS, Fossil Fighters: Frontier, released in North America in 2015,[6] the game has been available in Japan since February 2014.[7]

Gameplay

The game starts with a young boy arriving on Vivosaur Island, a place where dinosaur fossils can be dug up. These fossils are encased in stone and must be taken to a lab to be cleaned on the touch-screen, using drills, hammers, and x-ray. The player must be careful not to damage the fossils, or they will be destroyed. Once successfully cleaned, the dinosaur DNA can be revived into powerful dinosaur-like creatures called "Vivosaurs". The game revolves around hunting for fossils, reviving Vivosaurs, and use them to battle other Fossil Fighters in an attempt to raise the rank of the attacker, thereby gaining access to more areas to dig up fossils and learn more about the mysteries of Vivosaur Island.

Plot

The game begins with the Hero on a boat with its captain, Travers. He'll ask a series of questions of which determines the color of the Hero's apparel. Once he arrives at his destination, the Hero visits the local hotel on Vivosaur Island, where the manager gives him instructions on how to work the basic game mechanics. Soon after the manager finishes delivering her instructions, she sends the Hero to a trial Dig Site for first-hand practice. Such practice includes a Fossil Battle against a young boy named Holt. Once he completes the required training, he gains access to his first official Dig Site, the Greenhorn Plains. Upon arriving at said location, a man called Medal-Dealer Joe steals everyone's Dino Medals. The Hero encounters a young girl named Rosie, whose medals have also been stolen (she described the police captain two medals, one of Lambeosaurus, and the other of Edmontosaurus). She informs him that his medals are still safe and that he must fight the criminal in a Fossil Battle. A victory results in Medal-Dealer Joe being arrested, and everyone's Dino Medals being returned safely. Rosie takes interest in the Hero, and decides to accompany him on his journey. Once the duo return to the Island, it is announced that Level-Up Battles have begun. Both Rosie and the Hero successfully complete their battles, bringing them one step closer to becoming a Master.

Soon after they level up, a new Dig Site, known as Knotwood Forest, becomes available. This particular location is home to a tribe called the Digadigs. They plea that the Hero must defend their treasures from the wretched BB Bandits. When investigating the Digadigmid, the Hero encounters a woman by the name of Nevada Montecarlo (a reference to Indiana Jones). The two later team up and take on Vivian, the leader of the BB Bandit Trio. In the meantime, Rosie becomes cursed and is only able to speak in a similar manner to those of the Digadigs. This curse will last throughout the majority of the game. Once the villains flee and peace is restored, Nevada and the Hero, who found a mysterious idol, part ways. He and Rosie then head back to the Island to compete in their second Level-Up Battle, in which both emerge victoriously. Even a very familiar character is cast under this spell, forcing the character to say "digadig" in every sentence.

The Hero then visits the Rivet Ravine site where a Fighter's Seminar is taking place. The fossils will now be seen in different colors depending on the type. A man named McJunker is trying to fix mine carts. The Hero brings him his tools from the BB Bandits and reveals that Holt is his apprentice. Holt gives the player an Electromonite for McJunker after a battle. After the mine carts are fixed the Hero goes deeper into the cave battles the BB Bandits again, and finds another idol.

After leveling up again, the Hero is now able to visit Bottomsup Bay, with a diving mask. He is tasked with getting a ribbon for a pirate ghost. An eccentric guy named Nick Nack has it but he'll only give it for a molted bug shell, a sandal fossil (Dr. Diggins'), and dentures of a denture shark. The BB bandits try to stop him, but the Hero and Rosie succeed in giving back the ribbon and get yet another idol as a reward. A mysterious girl named Duna appears to be following them.

The next day, Rosie is kidnapped. She is taken to the BB bandits hideout and the Hero is told to bring the three idols he found if he wants Rosie back. After battling Rex, Snivels, and Vivian, the BB Bandits leader is revealed to be Police Chief Bartholomew Bullwort. The Hero succeeds in getting him arrested and saving Rosie. However, Rosie's grandfather, Mr. Richmond, suspects there is something exquisite about the idols, and believe the bandits were hired to steal them.

After another level-up tournament, Rosie thanks the Hero for saving him so many times. Dr. Diggins, who has been examining the idols, asks the Hero to go find one more at Mt. Lavaflow. The Hero encounters large lave rocks blocking his path, arrives to get rid of them. After finding the idol, Duna strangely tells him to give it to her. Suddenly the heat from the lava disrupts her "holographic transformation technology" revealing herself to be some sort of dinosaur-like alien. After attempting to attack the player, Duna gets crushed by a lava rock from an earthquake. The Hero saves her by using his digging tools, much to her confusion. After Duna runs off, Rosie meets up with the Hero, but when they return they find that Vivosaur island has been taken over by the BB bandits. Bullwort somehow got his hands on the legendary Vivosaur known as the Frigisaurus. It freezes the Hero and Rosie and they are put in a jail cell. Rex, Snivels, and Vivian help them escape to Dr. Diggins as they no longer want to take orders from Bullwort. The Chieftain of the Digadigs reveals that the Frigisaurus the legendary Vivosaur known as the Ignosaurus. So the Hero, with the help of Rex find the Ignosaurus fossil at Mt. Lavaflow, but Bullwort uses his Imperva-Ray on it making the fossil indestructible. Duna reverses the effects, the Ignosaurus is revived, it defeats the Frigisaurus and Bullwort is arrested. After defeating the champion Fossil Fighter, Saurhead, Duna reveals to the Hero that she is a Dinaurian, an alien race that believes humans were a mistake.

The next day, when the Hero and Rosie go to see how her grandfather is doing with the idols, Duna and another Dinaurian named Raptin arrive to take them. They reveal the idols to be Sub-Idolcomps and are going to be used to wipe out the human race. Raptin turns Rosie into a Triconodonta, knocks the Hero out and escapes with Duna. Rosie was able to get Raptin's device that transports people their spaceship. After getting masks from Saurhead, the Hero and Dr. Diggins infiltrate the ship. The two find the Sub-Idolcomps connected to a much larger Idolcomp. Suddenly, someone is coming so the hide, it's Duna and the king of the Dinaurians, King Dynal. He reveals their plan is to use the Idolcomp to revert all humans on Earth to amoebas, the plan is called Project: Mother Planet. Dynal tells Duna to press the switch but she refuses, she has come to accept that humans and just as intelligent as Dinaurians. Dynal is furious that she wants the plan shut down as he doesn't see it the same way, so he goes to do it himself but the Hero jumps in his way and battles him. Despite losing, Dynal manages to press the switch on the Idolcomp. Dr. Diggins manages to disconnect a Sub-Idolcomp so it wouldn't work. It also ends up sending him back in time to the Jurassic period, but the Sub-Idolcomp was with him. King Dynal attempts to kill the Hero and Duna but the two teleport to safety.

Duna reveals to Mr. Richmond that the plan of Project: Mother Planet is to recreate the Dinaurian home planet. After it was lost, the Dinaurians search outer space for a new home. When they found Earth during the Cambrian period, they used their DNA to creates seeds to plant on the planet. However, the seeds took a different evolutionary path, humans. So the Idolcomp was created to monitor the evolutions and regress humans back to amoebas so they can evolve into Dinaurians. But the Sub-Idolcomps got lost in an accident and ended up on Vivosaur Island. They didn't know about human society so they hired the BB Bandits to look for them. They all agree they have to find the Sub-Idolcomp before King Dynal. Rosie is back to normal, the portable regression ray Raptin had was weak.

Characters

  • Hero (known in the official manga as Hunter): The protagonist of the game. A young boy that arrives on Vivosaur Island at the start of the game. Players can change the character's name and the colors of his outfit, but not his gender. Players also can change his face by finding or purchasing masks later in the game.
  • Rosie Richmond: A young girl with pink pigtails, matching pink skirt, and a matching pink helmet. Rosie helps the player character at various times but seems to have bad luck. She is also one of the love interests for the hero.
  • Holt: Is a returning Fossil Fighter and he could be considered your rival. In the official manga Holt is a big fan of V-Raptors and Rosie also has a crush on him.
  • Dr. Diggins: A tall, wiry man with glasses, blue hair, and a deep tan. The foremost scientist on Vivosaur Island, and an expert at cleaning and reviving Vivosaurs.
  • The B.B. Bandits: An organization of thieves on the island. The player encounters and battles three of the members several times: Vivian, the greenish blue-haired field leader, her long-nosed subordinate Snivels, and their strange canine companion Rex.
  • The Digadig Tribe: A tribe of ancient island natives, led by a chieftain.
  • Captain Woolbeard: A ghost pirate who lives in a shipwreck in Bottomsup Bay. He has a beard ribbon.
  • Saurhead: The reigning arena champion, a mountain of a man with a macho attitude and trademark green dinosaur mask, making him seem much like a luchador wrestler.
  • Duna: A mysterious girl (Dinaurian) with purple hair, and a deep connection to the island's past. She is also a love interest for the hero.
  • Mr. Richmond: Rosie's Grandfather who owns Vivosaur Island. He appears frequently throughout the plot and has his own office in the Richmond Building.
  • King Dynal: The leader of the Dinaurians and the main antagonist during the second arc.
  • Guhnash: A large monster with three brains. The Hero fights him in order to save Vivosaur Island and the Earth itself.

Development

The director Azusa Tajima and Genki Yokota from Nintendo SPD along with their entire sound staff from Nintendo worked together with Artdink, M2 and Red Entertainment in the development of this game.[8] In an interview with the 4-team development group, Nintendo's Hitoshi Yamagami describes the game's conception around 2004, when Red Entertainment proposed the idea of a game involving dinosaurs.[9]

Manga

The official manga currently has 15 "episodes" as stated on the Fossil Fighters official website, each of which has 16 pages.

Hunter, the main character of the manga has revived the following vivosaurs:

  • Spinax (Altispinax): Hunter's first revived vivosaur
  • V-Raptor (Velociraptor): Hunter's 2nd revived vivosaur
  • Krona (Kronosaurus): Hunter's 3rd revived viovosuar
  • Shoni (Shonisaurus): A slow developer, but fends off the BB Bandits' Plesio (Plesiosaurus) in the manga.
  • Tricera (Triceratops): Revived from Greenhorn Plains, Tricera was used against BB bosses Frigi, but didn't stand a chance. Also fought alongside the Samurai's Mihu (Mihunekisaurus), in destroying the Dinomaton in Fossil Stadium.
  • Coatlus (Quetzalcoatlus): Not seen being used in battle, but has assisted Hunter.
  • Igno: Battled the BB Boss' Frigi, though only temporarily as Igno faded after Frigi was beaten

Reception

Fossil Fighters received a score of 32 out of 40 by the Japanese magazine Famitsu.[10] The game was the third best-selling game in Japan the week of its release at 35,000 copies sold.[11] 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.[12] In the United States, it sold 92,000 units in August 2009, making it the 10th best selling game for that month.[13]

In America, Fossil Fighters scores averaged between 7 and 8. Reviewers generally praised the game for being fun, having simple yet surprisingly addictive cleaning while having battles that were somewhat enjoyable. While most reviewers compared it to the Pokémon video game series, some reviewers like GameSpot didn't mind, saying that they might as well borrow from the best, while others didn't bring it up much. However, reviewers found game elements like graphics and music overall lacking, and some reviewers, like IGN (who gave the game a 5.3), knocked the game for being repetitive and too Pokémon-like.

References

  1. 1 2 East, Tom (4 June 2009). "E3: Nintendo Reveal Fossil Fighters". Official Nintendo Magazine. Nintendo. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
  2. ↑ "The Making of Fossil Fighters - Developer Interviews | Nintendo DS Game". Archived from the original on August 10, 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  3. ↑ "Fossil Fighters". Nintendo (Australia). Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  4. ↑ RawmeatCowboy (9 September 2010). "Fossil Fighters getting a sequel". GoNintendo.
  5. ↑ "Super Kasekihoridā". Nintendo (Japan).
  6. ↑ Nintendo (2014-06-11), Nintendo 3DS - Fossil Fighters: Frontier E3 2014 Trailer, retrieved 2016-10-02
  7. ↑ http://www.nintendo.co.jp/3ds/ahrj/index.html
  8. ↑ "06-10-2009 Staff Credits". June 20, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  9. ↑ "04-10-2008 Development Staff Interview". June 2, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  10. ↑ "04-10-2008 Famitsu Scores". Gemaga.com. April 9, 2008. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  11. ↑ Jenkins, David (April 24, 2008). "Mario Kart Still In Pole In Japanese Charts". Gamasutra.com. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  12. ↑ Monogatari, Gaijin (February 13, 2009). "RPGamer - Japandemonium (February 13th, 2009)". RPGamer.com. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  13. ↑ Thorsen, Tor (2010-10-09). "NPD: US game industry slips 16% in August, PS3 sales nearly double". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2011-10-09. Fossil Fighter's low bar of 92,000 units didn't bode well for several titles missing from the top 10.
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