For a while it was hard to imagine a game that could rival the likes of the Pokemon franchise – that was until Spectrobes came along. While my first attempt at playing Spectrobes on the DS didn’t impress me, the Wii version is a completely different story. So what is it all about?

Rallen and Jeena, officers of the Nanairo Planetary Patrol, are Spectrobes Masters. They are similar to Pokemon Trainers in the sense that they find these creatures, take ownership of them, and use them in battle. This is pretty much where the similarity ends though.

Rating: PG
Players: 2
Genre: Action RPG
Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios
Release Date: 4th October 2009 (AUS)

BUY

When you start the game, Rallen and Jeena are sent out to keep an eye on a portal in the Nanairo solar system. There have been reports of Krawl appearing all over the place and they want to stop any threats to the Nanairo system.

When they get there, their craft gets sucked into the portal and then ends up in the Kaio system. They’ve never heard of this system before, but they end up tracing a distress call to the planet Wyterra. Krawl are in force and scaring the locals – so much so that the locals are hiding in sacred ruins that has a force field to protect it from the Krawl. The pair land on the planet to see if they can help out.

Once they land, they soon discover the Krawl are right outside the ruins. Rallen tries to use his Prizmod to to call on his Adult Spectrobes, but it fails to work. Therefore, Rallen has to make a mad dash for the ruins (with your help) and avoid an attack from the Krawl.

Once they’re inside, the village elder Radese recognises the pair as Spectrobes Masters due to their Spectrobe. He and the villagers fills us in on the story of what happened and then Radese aids the pair further by giving them a Cosmolink. This works similar to the Prizmod, and allows Rallen and Jeena to bring out their Adult Spectrobes for battles. After a little training, you’re allowed to take Rallen out to play with the Krawl.

Your Child Spectrobes hide when a battle begins, so they are safe. They need to gain experience points in order to level up, and evolve at a certain level into Adult form. There is another they form evolve to (named Evolved form) but I’ll tell you a little later how they do so.

When Rallen (or Jeena) defeats the Krawl party it is now safe for the terrified citizens to emerge from their safe-hold. They return to their village to find it in a worse state than they had left it, with walls and buildings damaged and debris scattered everywhere. Radese invites you back to his residence so you can find out a bit more about what is going on.

He tells you the story of the legendary Spectrobe Master that once was present in the Kaio system. Many of his friends are still alive and can fill you in bit-by-bit as the adventure progresses. One in particular is the Spectrobe Master’s sidekick Kamtoga, who has gone missing. Before you go searching for Kamtoga, you need to grow your Spectrobe army and fight the great big nasty Krawl that is lurking near an ancient ruin that holds some info you need.

To gather more Spectrobes, you need to get your Child to search for fossils. Where to find them is indicated by a little white light emanating from the ground. You don’t always find fossils though – you can also find minerals and HP items, which you’ll find more of than fossils. There is also a purple light similar to the white one, except these hold black minerals which once collected begins a Krawl battle.

You will also find Evolve minerals in these little white light streams which you use on your Spectrobes to make them an Evolved form. Not that complicated really, but they need to be a certain level (I think) to be Evolved. This is said to be the most powerful form of Spectrobe, and there are no more forms after this either. Just level up your pretty so that they can rain maximum carnage on the Krawl!

When you find a fossil, it will be called a Mystery Pod until you have identified and excavated it. You are also able to find minerals in these fossils. The excavation has to be one of my favourite parts. You’ll be shown how to perform the excavations, and the better the health of your fossil (Spectrobe or mineral) the better your ranking will be. This also means that if you’re extracting a Spectrobe then its starting level will be higher. Then you need to awaken it, which is done by following a pattern to shake your Wiimote and Nunchuk to.

Another thing your Child Spectrobes find are little caves with barriers across them. These barriers are only broken through if the Spectrobe you’re using is the same element as the one signified on the barrier. That’s right, the Spectrobes have elements. But there are only 5, so it doesn’t get too complex.

Inside these caves are little pedestals. At first you can’t do anything with these pedestals until after you’ve found Kamtoga, so don’t worry about not getting them when you need to move onto the next planet. Oh, and the pedestals aren’t all in caves either – some are out in the open too. What are they for? Play for yourself and see!

On each planet there is an ancient ruin to explore. Here you’ll find a fragmented piece of an ancient dragon-like creature that once saved the system from a threat similar to that posed by the Krawl. When Rallen and Jeena first discover a piece and show it to Radese, he explains that the state in which the pieces are in means there is big trouble brewing.

Another item they find in these ruins is an excavated Spectrobe fossil. Once Rallen touches the fossil it sparks off a cut-scene which shows the famous Spectrobe Master in the past, filling in chapters to the story. Once the scene is done, the Spectrobe fossil goes into your collection to awaken.

I’m trying not to spoil the whole story for you – lucky for you I haven’t finished the game but it isn’t because I got stuck. For a change. What I will tell you is that there is a bad guy named Krux (who may be behind the Krawl activity) and a Legendary Spectrobe (which I’ve only just gotten. And it’s cool!).

The graphics aren’t too bad, although at times it can get a bit pixelated -but that’s not exactly easy to avoid. The music and sound effects were suitable, although the character dialogue sometimes appeared to be a bit delayed in reaction.

One thing I got annoyed with was the camera angle. I found times where I wasn’t able to see where I was meant to be heading or able to see the opponent who just landed an attack on me. I found I had to run around a bit for the camera to adjust itself to a position I was happy with.

Apart from the above, I’ve really enjoyed playing this game. Who am I kidding? I love it! At one point I was having so much fun that I forgot I was reviewing it! Spectrobes: Origins is a fun game for kids as well as adults, and I would highly recommend it. Hopefully they will continue to develop the franchise for the Wii, as I feel it is better suited to this console. Excuse me, I need to unleash my Spectrobes on some unsuspecting Krawl. Honki de iku ze!

Review product was provided by Madman Entertainment, and does not affect the outcome of this review.