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Fossil Fighters (JP) is a Nintendo DS video game developed by Red Entertainment, Nintendo, Artdink, and M2, Ltd., was published by Nintendo. The game has been compared to the Pokémon series in that you find monsters (in this case dinosaurs that are in the game known as vivosaurs) and battle them with other monsters.
The game can also be said to be similar to Spectrobes in that you find, dig out and revive dinosaurs that were buried in the ground. You'll have to use a variety of tools to revive them, and after doing so you'll travel the world in search of other people who dig dinosaurs out and revive them as well, and then battle there dinosaurs with your own.
The game was followed up a sequel called Fossil Fighters: Champions
Gameplay
The player is granted the right to name the main playable character before they start the game. Using a special tracker that they acquire near the beginning of the game, players will find vivosaur bones in the ground surrounded by rocks and uncover them using an assortment of tools including a hammer, drill, brush, and laser.
If there is an abundance of dust on the vivosaur bones, the player is given the ability to blow into the Nintendo DS's mic to blow the dust away. After the cleaning process is finished, the game will rate the player on how well they retrieved the vivosaur, which will determine how powerful the creature is when revived.
Completing battles will likewise give the vivosaur more power. After the player finds the head of a vivosaur, they can bring it to life, though finding other parts of the creature such as the body, arms and legs will increase its power.
Find
Find is one of the three game modes in the game. In this mode, you'll have to find fossils and unearth them. You'll use your Fossil Sonar to find buried rocks. While on the field, a dot will appear on the sonar that indicates there's a rock.
Following this, you'll be asked to go to that location and use your pickax to unearth the rock. As the game progresses, you'll be given the chance to upgrade the sonar. The upgraded sonar will not detect rocks unless there is without a doubt a fossil contained within it. Rocks can be found all over Vivosaur Island. There are five main locations including Mt. Lavaflow, Bottomsup Bay, Knotwood Forest, Rivet Ravine, and Greenhorn Plains.
Revive
You'll revive the vivosaur be heading to the Fossil Center on Vivosaur Island. If you find a vivosaur's skull, then that vivosaur will join your party. Other parts of a body can also be found to increase the power of the vivosaur. In order to revive a vivosuar, you must get rid of the excess rock by cleaning it. A successful cleaning job is indicated by reaching the blue line before time runs out or by getting rid of all the rock.
The tools of the trade include the hammer and the drill. The hammer is used after the player uses an X-ray to determine where the fossil is in the rock. Following this, the player is required to hit the rock with their hammer which is initiated by touching the rock on the touch screen. Hitting the fossil directly can result in a broken bone. The drill is used after most of the rock is gone to get rid of the smaller rocks. Blowing in the mic will clear the fossil of dust.
Fight
In each battle you'll be able to unite three vivosaurs to take on an opposing team. There are four spaces on each battlefield, and when fighting with three vivosaurs most of the spaces will be taken up. Each space is a different zone.
The zones are AZ (attack) zone, SZ (support) zone, and EZ (escape) zone. When your vivosaur is placed on the attack zone, it'll deliver much more damage than if it was on another space, though the vivosaur will also be more vulnerable here.
On the support zone your attacks won't be as potent, though you'll be able to support other vivosuars here. Finally on the escape zone your vivosaur can't fight though at the same time can't be attacked either. Once a vivosaur moves into an escape zone, it can't go out until two turns pass.
Launch campaign
Nintendo of America held a pre-launch event at The Great Lawn at Hancock Park in Los Angeles on August 6 of 2009. There players could experience the game near the La Brea Tar Pits. Prizes were given away to winners of game-based events. Families who attended the event were granted free admission to the Page Museum near the tar pit. Tours of the museum were based around Fossil Fighters.
Reception
Famitsu gave this game a 32 out of 40. The game received a 68 on Metacritic and a 73.87% on Game Rankings. The critics called it quite repetitive and pretty similar to the Pokemon series.
In terms of sales, it did pretty alright for a new IP. It sold about 35,000 in its first week, becoming the 3rd highest selling game for the week. It went on to sell 240,176 copies for the year and the 45th best selling game for 2008. For the month of August 2009, it sold about 92000, making it the tenth best selling game for the month.