Archaeology, I choose you! Fossil Fighters adds Jurassic Park to Pokemon formula

By Joe Fourhman | June 8, 2009

A new IP but an old concept from Nintendo… collect creatures and make them battle. Fossil Fighters is coming to DS this August. The gimmick here is using the stylus to dig up and clean off the fossils. You even have to locate all the major body parts to get a complete working “vivosaur.” Not to mention that the game tracks how careful you were in handling and cleaning the fossil, so the more OCD you are, the better your creature’s battlefield abilities.

The developer is RED Entertainment, whom we might know best from… Gungrave?

Finding, Cleaning, Collecting and Fighting Dinosaurs

Fossil Fighters blends the timeless human fascination with dinosaurs with the fun of building a collection. The game lets players build a collection of more than 100 fantastical dinosaurs known as “vivosaurs.” This new game incorporates elements of discovery, tactics and strategy as players try to get the best vivosaurs on their teams to battle it out on the field.

1-2 players, rated E, release date: August 10, 2009

FEATURES:
• Players dig for fossils and use the touch screen of the Nintendo DS or Nintendo DSi™ system to hammer, chip, drill and brush away the bits of rock around the fossil. When their efforts result in the buildup of dust, players blow into the Nintendo DS microphone to blow the dust away.
• The game rates players on how well they handle the fossils during the cleaning process. The more carefully and completely a player cleans a fossil, the more powerful the vivosaur will be in battle. Vivosaurs can also gain more power through battles.
• Players must collect various parts of each vivosaur. The head must be found first to bring a vivosaur to life while the body, arms and legs can be added to increase its power on the battlefield and imbue it with special powers.
• The game features an engrossing role-playing storyline and vast environments for players to explore.
• Players can connect wirelessly with friends to battle or trade their fossils.