Fossil Fighter Champions for the Nintendo DS – review

Fossil Fighter Champions for the Nintendo DS is finally here, just in time for the Christmas season, so fans of the original Fossil Fighters, rejoice! It’s a very addictive fun game that both fans of the original game or ones playing it for the first time will enjoy immensely. You dig up your own skeletons of Vivosaurs, bring them back to life, and than pit them in head-to-head battles. You can play against friends locally, or even use the Nintendo Wi-Fi connect to play against people around the world!

I would say at first glance, this game is somewhat similar to the various Pokemon games for sale everywhere. That’s because you often have to search for Pokemons (or their eggs) and train them, and pit them against each other. I’d say that if you’re a fan of Pokemon games, you’d probably like playing this one, as well. While the Vivosaurs you dig up and revive have tons of varied shapes and talents, there is still a touch more realism in this game than in the Pokemon ones. You get to be a paleontologist (fossil hunter), and even if the fossils are not exactly like ones currently in museums, it seems more realistic.

You can be either a boy or a girl Fossil Fighter. You are on the mysterious Caliosteo Islands, which are basically a huge fossil park containing over a hundred different Vivosaur skeletons for you to find, clean up, and revive, and then use to battle in teams against your friends. The fossil park is owned and ran by Joe Wildwest, who is a legendary fossil fighter himself, and a former cowboy. The fossil park is hosting a large-scale tournament and Fossil Fighters from all over the world compete against one another to find out who is the best Fossil Fighter.

Each stage of the game is fun in its own way. Locating the buried bones and cleaning them up is fun, but you have to clean the bones carefully. How well you clean them influences how powerful your Vivosaur will be. You can even sometimes locate complete skeletons of Vivosaurs (in what are known as “Giant Rocks”), unlike in the original game, and ones that are rare fossils that make discovering every fossil and vivosaur in the game a challenge. Also, another cool addition to this game is that if you’re playing with a friend and want to send him/her a fossil he/she needs to complete a Vivosaur skeleton, you can use a Fossil Cannon to send it to your friend. And, there are special “golden fossils,” which you can use to evolve your current Vivosaurs and make them more powerful.

Sound interesting so far? I haven’t even got to the actual fighting of the battles, yet! Strategy is key to the battles, as it is in most Pokemon games. The battles are turn-based, and you wait for the other player(s) to take their turn(s) before you take another one. To do battle, you must put forth teams of three Vivosaurs, then rotate their positions to maximize their power advantage over opponents. You can compete in matchmaking battles or upload your best team to see how it fares against others. Players can also download additional Vivosaurs and events.

Also, you can use what’s called Download Play to link up wirelessly with another Nintendo DS owner within range so both can cooperate to expertly clean fossils together. That’s in addition to being able to use the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to connect with players around the world. After you have successfully cleaned a Vivosaur skull, then you can revive the Vivosaur and prepare it for battle. To win, you must defeat each Vivosaur on the opposing team. You can also square off against each other in multiplayer battle modes, which I found to be a fun way to do battle.

The great thing about playing this game if you have broadband Internet access is that you can use Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection to download additional Vivosaurs and events that offer unique challenges and surprises, including a number of vivosaurs that cannot be found elsewhere in the game. You can connect wirelessly with up to three other Nintendo DS owners within range and cooperate to expertly clean fossils together. What I especially liked about it is that you can use Download Play to download special Vivosaurs you can’t find any other way, and you can participate in special online events for the chance to take part in upcoming unique Vivosaur battles.

There haven’t yet been many tips, cheats, and tricks posted about this super-cool game, but one that you might enjoy involves how to get the Vivosaurs Igno and Frigi. You first have to beat the game, then battle the Vivosaur called Saurhead for the second time,and beat all three waves of very strong Vivosaurs you’ll face. It’s probably better to get Frigi first, because the Vivosaurs you’ll have to battle are extremely strong and Frigi will probably be the most useful of the two in battle against them.You do not have to dig these two up or clean them to be able to use them, which is a good thing. If you win against all three waves, you automatically get Igno. To get Frigi, you go to the BB base’s seventh floor and battle the BB trios.

The graphics in the game are excellent, though two-dimensional and cartoony (kind of like Pokemon graphics), and the music and sound effects are also pretty cool and help add to the enjoyment of playing Fossil Fighters Champions.

I was very surprised, really, by how much I “dug” (Get it? Ya, I know–that was a lame pun) playing Fossil Fighters Champions. It’s a fantastic sequel to the original, and I have a feeling it’ll be on the christmas wish lists of millions of kids who own the Nintendo DS. It’s received ratings of 9/10 or better at several websites already, and I can vouch from having played it that it’s an awesome game. Check it out today!