
Back in 2006, a talented and eccentric media artist named Toshio Iwai developed a very unique title for Nintendo's DS system that allowed the user to interact with various forms of plankton on both a visual and musical level. In fact, it was this combination that gave the game its unique feel and ultimately produced one of the more original playing experiences available on the system. While it didn't fare very well as a commercial proposition, it has gone on to garner quite a cult following among DS owners, even costing more now than it did when it was first released. Obviously Nintendo felt the game deserved another chance and has released the first five Electroplankton games from the retail release as individual DSiWare releases.
Electroplankton Rec-Rec might not be as relaxing as many of the other Electroplankton releases, but it is easily the most humorous. In this title you have four fish plankton swimming across the screen. You can then click on any of the fish and once it begins to flash you can record your own sounds for the duration of time that the fish swims across the screen; that fish will then record your sounds and play them out each time. You can record a different track for each of the four fish and listen as they play out in harmony. You can even use the D-pad to select from seven different background musical tracks to play along with, not to mention change the tempo of the swimming plankton.

Much like the other Electroplankton releases, Rec-Rec still features all of the zoomed-in action on the top screen and all of the touchscreen controls on the bottom screen. Play control is very simple to pick up on and very easy to manipulate. When you add in the almost limitless range of sound effects you can create for each of the fish, you end up with a very open-ended playing experience with an almost endless amount of variety. You also have what has to be one of the more enjoyable Electroplankton releases of the series.
From a visual standpoint you have to appreciate what the developers have accomplished with the Electroplankton releases. The individual graphical elements might be very basic and simple in design, but the way they move around and interact with the stylus gives the game a very unique feeling of everything being alive onscreen. The musical side of the game also features some nice variety with seven different types of background music to accompany your own musical creations. Couple all of this with the ability to create your own four-part harmonies and you have what is one of the more unique audio/visual experiences available for the system and one that fits the gameplay elements to a tee.
Conclusion
Electroplankton Rec-Rec is yet another engaging take on the Electroplankton gameplay idea and given the freedom it presents the player, you'd be hard-pressed to find one as fulfilling as this one. It might not have the soothing experience of other releases, but it more than makes up for it in the creativity department and the freedom it allows you makes it something you'll likely want to come back to far more often than you would many of the other titles in the range.
Comments 19
5 downloads....
...Giving another meaning to "milking"...
Whilst I found the original package to be a real joy, I find these bite size downloads a real insult. Chopping a game up and releasing levels individually is the height of laziness. Speaking of which, I can't be arsed typing this in each of the 5 reviews.
rec rec wasn't a bad game but type odd game but never got much into it
and the full game sells for around 40$ used on gamestops and rare only seen 2 copies of the game ever really 2$ for each game is a great deal
I actually would rate this as one of the worst of the Electroplankton series. There is very little to offer here from a musical perspective, and the synching is off between your recording and playback to the extent that you'll not likely be able to harmonize or produce anything coherent. Sort of a gag for the microphone, and a let down compared to the better parts of the set.
@MrPinguy: I would not call this one milking. The original cost more than most ds games now. And that is just for the used one. Buying all this game like this is cheaper because all the games together come to 2000 points.
@ siavm
Oh it's milking. Considering this game as a whole could be a DSiWare game. The retail cart is only 16MB, and they could've put this 3+ year old game as ONE DSiWare game for 1000 points.
But splitting it up into 10 games for 2000 points total is just milking an old game.
Nintendo really doesn't seem to care about what people think of DSiWare because I've NEVER seen games system that are so bad in quality be released by Nintendo themselves.
At least in this quantity.
I saw electroplankton at gamestop for $59.99 (used)
Hope the other 5 come out next monday.
Zezhyrule... Get the cartridge, much more satisfying than these overpriced smaller doses... I'm not saying I don't like Electroplankton, they are just charging way too much for these. I gave Rec-Rec (this version) a 5/10.
"Get the cartridge, much more satisfying than these overpriced smaller doses"
If he saw a cartridge for $60 and you're telling him to get it, how on earth could you call $20 for the exact same content overpriced?
Still loving these downloads, although I didn't like this one as much as the others, I still enjoyed it.
Wasn't it a little pointless to have Corbie write a separate review for every game instead of just combining them into one? I mean they're all basically the same game, so I don't see why they couldn't all be combined, and have a paragraph describing each one.
Personally, I won't be getting any of these. Looks like just another DSi scam. The original cart is what, $10 now?
Geez, why can't they release ONE game???
@ballistik - what Phil said but, with more exclamation points and question marks.
@Ricardo91: No, the games are far from being the same, and no, the cart is 60$ as written right above your post.
The whole electroplankton ds concept sounds interesting but also sounds very fiddly and very shallow.
@Swerd_Murd Thanks, if I knew who Phil was I might care a little.
@ballistikboy:
Nice to meet you!
If anyone thinks that the cartridge is cheaper, they need to learn how money and prices work.
I just referred to this when I went to go get this as a reward from Club Nintendo. Thanks Nintendolife
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