An audio sandbox to unleash your creativity? It certainly seems so. Like most DS titles best played in short doses. Although it's easy to get lost for upwards of 15 minutes in some of the 10 artistic experiments on offer.
This is marketed as a piece of art from Toshio Iwai, and the presentation follows suit. The first thing you notice is the packaging, a nice shiny blue cardboard box containing the normal plastic DS game case, and packaged with the game a special pair of headphones themed in Electroplankton blue. Unfortunately these headphones are perhaps just a gimmick, as the short minutes I tried using them I wasn't too satisfied, so unplugged them and in went a pair of Sony noise cancellation headphones for a nice improvement. The game also features a now fairly common, "Speaker" or "Headphones" mode selection for a subtly different mix.
I don't want to spoil the specifics of each of the 10 Electroplankton on offer, as part of the fun of this game is to discover them on your own. But the good news for importers is that since this is a piece of art there is no text to speak of, all the interaction is visual and abstract/symbolic, so import away. Main interaction is with the touchscreen, and it's a joy. Some of the 10 plankton games use tap-tap motions to create sound, and some use grand sweeping motions of the stylus like you a directing an orchestra. The 4 directions of the D-Pad are also used for different functions, such as changing the speed of the backing beat in Beatnes, and initiating global changes to the environment in other games (rather than the precise localized changes you make with the stylus). All the performances take place on the touch screen. The top screen is simply used to provide a magnified view of a highlighted plankton, which you can zoom in and out with buttons X and Y.
OK - one thing I would like to know, if anyone else is playing this - what are the different NES game musics in Electroplankton #9 (Beatnes)? Is the second track (moved to by pressing Select) NES Metroid? I had tons of fun with that one. I recall reading that NES Metroid was a unique soundtrack because Hip Tanaka used pure assembly language to compose it. If so, using his hardcore instruments now so easily is quite a treat
This is marketed as a piece of art from Toshio Iwai, and the presentation follows suit. The first thing you notice is the packaging, a nice shiny blue cardboard box containing the normal plastic DS game case, and packaged with the game a special pair of headphones themed in Electroplankton blue. Unfortunately these headphones are perhaps just a gimmick, as the short minutes I tried using them I wasn't too satisfied, so unplugged them and in went a pair of Sony noise cancellation headphones for a nice improvement. The game also features a now fairly common, "Speaker" or "Headphones" mode selection for a subtly different mix.
I don't want to spoil the specifics of each of the 10 Electroplankton on offer, as part of the fun of this game is to discover them on your own. But the good news for importers is that since this is a piece of art there is no text to speak of, all the interaction is visual and abstract/symbolic, so import away. Main interaction is with the touchscreen, and it's a joy. Some of the 10 plankton games use tap-tap motions to create sound, and some use grand sweeping motions of the stylus like you a directing an orchestra. The 4 directions of the D-Pad are also used for different functions, such as changing the speed of the backing beat in Beatnes, and initiating global changes to the environment in other games (rather than the precise localized changes you make with the stylus). All the performances take place on the touch screen. The top screen is simply used to provide a magnified view of a highlighted plankton, which you can zoom in and out with buttons X and Y.
OK - one thing I would like to know, if anyone else is playing this - what are the different NES game musics in Electroplankton #9 (Beatnes)? Is the second track (moved to by pressing Select) NES Metroid? I had tons of fun with that one. I recall reading that NES Metroid was a unique soundtrack because Hip Tanaka used pure assembly language to compose it. If so, using his hardcore instruments now so easily is quite a treat
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