Good to know BBoy I was hitting different buttons and was kinda dissappointed that only one song was availible. I will mess around with it some more later on.
These are games that need to be affordable as they don't offer much to come back to. They're nice enough the first time, but not something most people will play ever again. The retail title should have been about $20 tops and these games should have been packaged in groups of 5 for 200 points. Might make them more appealing to a wider variety of people. $2 a pop is extortion.
Well, I've played the original Electroplankton before, so I can give impressions from memory.
Hanenbrow is the most recognizable due to its Brawl fame. Fortunately, the game is more enjoyable than the Brawl stage, but not significantly. It's a nice relaxing experience, just overshadowed by the other Electroplankton "games." Little tadpoles are shot up automatically, and you can move leaves around to affect their path, as they rebound off of these leaves, and each hit makes a different sound. As the leaves are hit more frequently, they change color and consequently pitch.
Nanocarp.... [edit: Removed my description of this game because I had it confused with another game.]
Rec rec is a funny one. Four fish swim across the screen repeatedly and at the same speed. You can add a beat or remove it at the touch of a button. When you touch a fish, you can record one measure of sound, and then the fish will make that sound each time it swims by. Since there are four fish, you can record multiple sounds together. It's a short, amusing diversion that I enjoyed a lot as part of a larger package, but I don't know if I'd buy it unless I had 200 points sitting around unused.
Tracy is more creative. You have six "Tracies" that you draw paths on the screen for, and they make sounds along the path. Each has a different musical voice (one as a piano, one as a music box, etc), and the interplay of sounds is great.
Beatnes is the easiest to explain, the most obvious to understand from watching videos, and possibly the best of the bunch. You have different musical voice selections that can be assigned to one of four paths, and you can place notes along these paths for them to be played automatically. It's a whole lot of fun, and there are a lot of good voices, including some sounds taken straight from classic NES games.
If you're looking to just pick up one or two, it depends on what you're looking for. They each are enjoyable in different ways. Rec rec is more fun for humorous effect, There is another Electroplankton game that is just for a single voice but you can tinker with the voice processing more. However, I think both of these games are rendered unnecessary by the DSi's own Sound application. Hanenbrow and Nanocarp are great for relaxing, though I much prefer Nanocarp over Hanenbrow (but both are good). And Beatnes and Trapy are the more creative of the bunch since you have more complete control over the sounds and more variety of sounds. I personally prefer these two over the rest of the bunch, but they all have their merits.
I'm glad to see Electroplankton being offered up to the consumer again. I always thought Nintendo's policy of making it available only online was really shortchanging an extremely creative program that anyone could enjoy. I think this model is even better suited to it. Not all the applications will appeal equally to each user, so being able to cherry pick at a mere $2 each is wonderful. I just bought Trapy and Beatnes, and I'll eventually get Nanocarp, probably.
EDIT: I initially confused Tracy with Luminaria. Luminaria was my favorite of the games, but fortunately Tracy is fun, too! Hopefully it isn't long before Luminaria is out.
Thank you for all that! While I also own the retail game, I'm not sure if these are worth $2 each... That would add up to a pretty penny to get them all! I agree... Beatnes is the one to get.
B
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These games were a damn stretch on the retail package that was loaded with them. Individually they're a joke and an insult to DSi owners the world over. At the very minimum these should have been all 5 games for 200 points and even that might be pushing it.
Yowza...Corbie unleashing the bogus.
I'll be picking up at least a few of these, as I never had any luck getting my hands on a fairly priced cartridge, and it really seemed like something I'd enjoy.
I wonder if any of these releases has a save feature...from what I understand, that was a common complaint people had with the full release. (If someone has already mentioned a save feature in one of these posts I apologize...I've only had a chance to skim them.)
The only one I'm guaranteed to skip is Rec-Rec, which sounds like something I might enjoy if I was three, and mentally disabled. The rest of it could potentially be pretty awesome. Something tells me I'd get more out of fooling around with this on an airplane than breezing through NSMB levels for the nth time.
Uh, Corbie, I thought the original was for about $20? I'm pretty sure it wasn't full a full-price $35 title. Also, if you think $20 is reasonable for all of them, why wouldn't $2 a pop be reasonable, too? Not only does it add up to $20 (assuming we get all ten of them eventually), but it also allows you to cherry pick and get what you want for less. I really can't imagine justifying a retail game being broken up in half for a total of $4. Maybe the game's not for you, but there aren't any fundamental flaws with it. It's not meant as a game that you put hours into each day but just something to relax for a few minutes every now and then, which is why I think this $2 a piece model is perfectly suited to the program suite.
EDIT: Haha, Rec Rec isn't that bad, Chicken, but it's certainly worth skipping. Also, no, there is no save feature or any additional features added. They're ripped straight from the original. I have tried two of them so far and have played the original before. No changes.
I paid $34.99 at Wal mart the day this game came out. So either I got screwed, which is always a possibility, or it was full price, or at least near it. And this title is fairly old now, so charging $2 a game all this time later seems excessive to me.
Yes, don't forget to play with the buttons! Beatnes has several more songs you can access, and Hanenbrow has several different plant shapes to work with (the default one is the least interesting). Certain buttons will also change speed or other details.
Ha ha! If I saw Electroplankton for $10-$20, I'd pick it up considering how rare it is so being able to choose the ones that are actually worth it is a great choice. At the very least, the idea works much better than the CG Express titles. Looking forward to the G&W releases.
Personally, this sort of clever and well-presented toy is what I'd like to see more of in the video game world. Something that makes you think in a different way for moment, can be quite social (many times I hooked this up to nice speakers and visiting friends wouldn't stop fooling with it), combines the visual and the aural, and that just brings a smile to your face when you have a moment to play around with it. Nothing more is needed. $2 is cheap for the level of clever design you get out of some of these things, and inventive design matters much more to me than levels, play length, etc.
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warioswoods, we made a mistake. You didn't win the DSi and Nostalgia. Instead we're sending you a set of knitting needles and a stamp collecting kit. Enjoy.
Maybe I'm just pissed because I've got to stretch each of these games into 5 individual reviews. This ought to be good.
Hah, those reviews don't have to be long. I don't think anyone (especially those of us who've played Electroplankton) would expect them to be.
Corbie wrote:
warioswoods, we made a mistake. You didn't win the DSi and Nostalgia. Instead we're sending you a set of knitting needles and a stamp collecting kit. Enjoy.
Hah!
Tatsunoko vs Capcom - 0045-4226-761
http://flipnote.hatena.com/518C63F031CA4938@DSi/
I'm just afraid that maybe these games should have went to someone that gets them instead of me. Because I obviously don't come within the vicinity of getting the allure of these ridiculous little blips.
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