Spectrobes

Spectrobes (化石超進化スペクトロブス), is a science fiction video game that was developed by Kyoto-based game developer Jupiter, known for being the developer of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and published by Disney Interactive Studios for the Nintendo DS. Disney Interactive Studios has stated that Spectrobes is its first original intellectual property; that is, a game not based on any film or TV program from its parent company.

The game was considered a commercial success and Disney Interactive Studios announced that more than 700,000 copies of the game had shipped worldwide in the first month and it was the best-selling third-party (not published by Nintendo, Microsoft, or Sony) game for March 2007, ranking #7 over all that month.

The game was re-released on November 7, 2007 as part of a special Spectrobes: Collector's Edition bundle, which included the game itself, all thirty-eight input code cards plus two exclusive Geo input cards, and a mini-guide.

Plot
Out on a routine mission, Nanairo Planetary Patrol Officers Rallen and Jeena respond to a strange distress signal and discover the wreckage of an escape capsule in which an old man has been in a cryogenic sleep for over a decade. Once conscious, the man, whose name is Aldous, relays an unbelievable tale of the attack on his home planet by a vicious horde of creatures known as the Krawl. Rallen, Jeena, and Aldous then set out on a mission to save Nanairo from the destructive planet-eating Krawl.

After fighting the Krawl on five of Nanairo's seven planets, Rallen's boss, Commander Grant, reveals that the Krawl had established a base on the seventh planet, Meido; however, their spaceship is incapable of reaching this planet. Aldous reveals that ancient ruins found on one of the planets are actually a spaceship from an earlier civilization, and that it may be able to reach Meido. After gathering a number of Keystones, they are able to resurrect the spaceship and reach the Meido. After fighting through more hordes of Krawl, Rallen fights a large Krawl called Xelles that has the ability to heal whatever comes near it. After defeating it, Rallen fights a final Leader Krawl and kills it, thus ending the invasion - temporarily.

Rallen
Rallen is a young, ambitious Planetary Patrol officer. He is a skilled pilot who is ready to take on any challenge. At times, his eagerness to get into the thick of things gets him into trouble, but his courage and sense of duty are well known by his superiors. Rallen is the only one who is able to operate the Prizmod, a communication device used to command the Spectrobes. In Webisode two, he is attacked by the Krawl just after he discovers the Prizmod while investigating the distress beacon on planet Daichi. In the webisodes, the first Spectrobes that Rallen uses in battle are Spikan and Zozane, which are also the "starter" Spectrobes in the actual game. The first Spectrobe he received for use as a search Spectrobe was a Danawa, where in the game it is a Komainu. His catchphrase is "Iku ze!" which means " Here we go" and/or " Let's go" in Japanese. Rallen is voiced by Steve Staley in the webisodes but later changed to Yuri Lowenthal. He has medium-long red-orange hair and eyes.

Jeena
Jeena is Rallen's partner on the Planetary Patrol. She is a communications and research specialist. Her expertise is useful on missions where data on ancient relics and technologies is collected. While Rallen is in the field, Jeena is able to relay critical information that helps him train his allied Spectrobes and counter enemy attacks by the relentless Krawl. She often forgets to give mission reports to Commander Grant, which lands both her and Rallen in trouble. She is voiced by Michelle Ruff in the webisodes. She can be just as ambitious and feisty as Rallen but doesn't accept his somewhat proud attitude. She is the first to discover Aldous in his escape pod in Episode Two and joins him and Rallen to search for a Spectrobe which will be named Komainu in Episode Five. In the sixth episode, Jeena comes to Rallen's rescue after his second battle with the Krawl by piloting their spaceship to him before more of the monsters arrived. She soon meets Komainu, who jumps into her arms upon awakening, much to her admiration. She has long pink hair and blue eyes.

Aldous/Mr. X
Aldous is a mysterious man from the fictional Giorna star system. He travels across the universe in search of the home galaxy of the Spectrobes, hoping to be able to save his own system from the scourge of the Krawl. Instead, he crash landed on the planet of Daichi, where he lay in an unconscious state until he was discovered by Rallen. When awake, Aldous unfortunately discovers that his home system has been destroyed by the Krawl. After joining forces with Rallen and Jeena, Aldous assists them in upgrading the research lab on their ship and is an invaluable resource in decoding the secrets of the ancient Spectrobes.

Commander Grant
The Commander is the head of the Nanairo Planetary Patrol. He is also Rallen and Jeena's supervisor. Although at first he does not believe that the Spectrobes exist, he gains faith once he witnesses a massive Krawl attack on the planet of Kollin and the NPP headquarters, as well as Rallen defeating a Leader Krawl with the help of his Spectrobes and Jeena.

Professor Wright
Professor Wright is the main researcher of the Fossil Research Institute on Genshi. In the game, he is a non-playable minor character who gets trapped by black vortexes. After being saved by Rallen, he gives away the fossil he had found, which is an Aopod with a custom part.

Professor Kate
Professor Kate is the main researcher on the planet of Ziba. In the game, Professor Kate believes that the ancient ruins on the planet of Nessa is actually a spaceship able to reach the outer planets. She gives away the Red Keystone and persuades the museum on Kollin to give up the Green Keystone.

Genshi
Genshi is the first planet in the Nanairo star system and Professor Wright lives on this fireball. It is covered in volcanoes and lava flows. It is also home to an enormous jungle and the Fossil Research Lab. The Flame Geo was originally found on this planet under a lava flow on Area 2.

Daichi
Daichi is the second planet in the Nanairo system and is covered in Aurora. Aldous crash lands in his escape pod on this planet and the Table Top Mountains are located here. At the top of the Table Top Mountains lays a rare Diamond mineral, but is almost impossible to get to without a Corona suit, for the Aurora of the planet is extremely close to the ground here and drains your health. The Great Black hole is found on top of table top mountain.

Kollin
Kollin is the third planet from the sun and is the most Earth-like planet in the Nanairo system. This planet contains the floating headquarters of the NPP and the museum.

Nessa
Nessa is the fourth planet and is very Saturn-like. The surface of the planet is covered by a giant desert. Area 1 is the home of Cyrus, a rare-item collector. Rallen bargains with him a few times throughout the game. It is also home to the man who buys minerals. If Rallen needs Gura, then he may sell minerals to the man. Area 2 is pure desert. The only reasons for heading here would be for minerals, training, or the black hole. This black hole is not a Great Black Hole: it will give you an Evolve Mineral for beating its 30 wave battles. Area 3 is also a desert, but also contains the ruins, which is actually an ancient starship that starts with the three keystones. The Great Black hole is found here at the bottom left corner of the area that you first come out into from your ship.

Ziba
Ziba is the fifth planet in the Nanairo star system. Professor Kate is on this planet. The planet has two moons, both targeted by the Krawl in the game. After you beat the game, you can find the Great Black Holes on the red moon and the blue moon (Area 2 and Area 3) at the very end of the moons, under the strange buildings where Rallen fought the krawl boss. There are two Great Black Holes here: one on each moon.

Himuro
Himuro is the sixth planet in the Nanairo system and is actually man-made. It is believed to be made by the ancients, and Rallen uses its rotation device in the planet's core and its reflective surface to shine light on Meido. The Great Black Hole is found on the West side of the planet.

Meido
Meido is the seventh planet and is very mysterious. The technology hasn't advanced enough yet, so Meido was unreachable until Rallen flew the ancient starship. The Krawl built their nest here and this is where the final battle takes place. After you beat the final boss, you can fight it again by returning to the same place. Beware: You will have to go through the credits again. The Great Black Hole is found by going down when you get off of the ship and a passage way can be found on the left opening into a room with the Great Black Hole.

Download
The Download feature allows the player to use DL (Downloader) Points to purchase video clips, special Spectrobes, custom parts, minerals, and more. The first time the player uses the Download system, he or she is awarded 30 free DL Points. Every following week, the player can obtain ten more DL Points by accessing the download system on Friday, or else the points will not be saved.

Upload
The Upload feature allows players to upload their Sequence Battle scores from the seven Great Black Holes scattered on the various planets and moons in the Nanairo star system. In Sequence Battle, the player must win a certain number of Krawl battles to obtain the prize: an Evolve Mineral or a special Geo. Before beating the game, only one Great Black Hole is available to the player: in the Area 2 Desert of Nessa. Here, the prize is always an Evolve Mineral. After beating the game, six more Great Black Holes appear throughout Nanairo. The rest of the Geos may be obtained from these black holes.

Webisodes
1. The Distress Signal 2. The Sleeping Man 3. The Battle 4. Call Me Aldous 5. Komainu 6. Wake Up 7. The Krawl 8. School of Hard Knocks 9. The Ancient Ship 10. The Last Stand 11. The Ruby Mineral 12. The Dark Spectrobe 13. Partners 14. Back For More

Sequel
The sequel to Spectrobes, entitled Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals, was released in the U.S. on October 7, 2008. It features a new third-person 3-D field perspective and a map on the top screen. With this sequel, players can choose to play as either Rallen or Jeena. They are also able to play as the Spectrobes themselves when in battle. It was the second game to use Disney's online game and social network service DGamer, the first being The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Spectrobes: Origins was released for the Wii on August 18, 2009.