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omgExclusive: Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals

Oct. 6 5:24 PM by Alicia Ashby

Last year's Spectrobes seemed like it should've been a forgettable little thing, yet another new-IP monster training RPG. That said, I've never seen a game with review scores so low - a Metacritic ranking of 63% - get so much praise in the actual text of those same reviews. Buena Vista was clearly on to something here. Perhaps not incidentally, Spectrobes was the product of Jupiter, the dev house that managed a grand slam on DS earlier this year with The World Ends With You.

The sequel to Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals streets this week, and if for no other reason than Jupiter's involvement, it's a game to watch in this crowded fall season. The advance buzz for the title is also surprisingly good all around, and in general it feels like a game that's going to be interesting even if the gameplay - as in the original - still has some rough edges. We'll see for sure when the reviews come in, but for now, jump behind the cut to enjoy some exclusive art, screens, and info that Disney Interactive saw fit to send omgNintendo's way, and see if this looks like a game that might interest you.

Spectrobes Planets

Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals introduces the ability to explore different planets and look for loot and new Spectrobes there. Here's a rundown of them:

• Kollin - Third planet in the Nanairo System. This is the home planet and location of the NPP (National Planetary Patrol) Headquarters.
• Genshi - First planet in the Nanairo System. It is volcanically active and covered in lush jungles.
• Nox - The center of this dead planet in the Hakaba System looks like it has been gouged out.
• Fons - Located in the Kagero System, Fons is a lush planet of forests and lakes. There is dark lake in the center.
• Fons Satellite - An ancient satellite floating in space above the planet Fons.

Spectrobes Spaceships

• Sky Wing  NPP (National Planetary Patrol) Standard Patrol Spaceship
• Jet Wing - NPP Elite Patrol Force special mobile unit. The story's protagonist, Rallen, has dreamt of joining a special mobile unit for some time.
• Spaceship Customization - Each Spaceship is constructed from a cockpit unit, front nose, side and rear engines. The front nose, side and rear engine parts can be customized and painted different colors. A spaceship's functionality, such as performance and speed, can be affected by customization. Special minerals must be used to synthesize customized parts. Players can control their customized spaceship in a mini-game, and also earn spaceships through specific events and special cart inputs.




Using Jeena



Preliminary concept artwork of Rallen's teammate, Jeena, who is now a playable character in Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals.The gadget on Jeena's right arm can scan multiple things. With it, she can solve the mysteries of the ancient ruins.



You play as Jeena in one of Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals's many mini-games. Control Jeena while she searches for nearby doors. If it's locked, you can try to discover the secret that lets you open it.



Jeena has her own mini-game, too, that you sometimes play to unlock doors. The mini-game is a puzzle game similar to Honeycomb Beat. Match all the tiles to clear the lock, but when you flip tiles, the whole board flips! You can't Game Over during these mini-games, but you'll have to try and try again if you want to advance. Remember that Corona tiles change to Aurora tiles and Aurora tiles change to Flash tiles whenever there's a flip. Sometimes instead of matching all the tiles together, you have to match a specific pattern displayed on the top screen.

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