Review by: Brandon "Dark Curious" Cackowski-Schnell

The Fossil Fighters games are, in a nutshell, Pokémon with dinosaurs. In fact, the newest release takes so many cues from Pokémon that it’s kind of strange that Nintendo would agree to publish it. You pick a trainer from a pre-generated boy or girl as in Pokémon. You fight your way towards the top of a sport based on having magical creatures fight as in Pokémon. You face an “evil” group of enemies that seem to be more bothersome than murderous as in Pokémon and you find yourself paired up with annoying sidekicks and haughty rivals, just like in Pokémon.

Granted, the Pokémon games are all quality creature fighting RPGs, so if you’re looking to build your own brand of monster battling games, it’s not a bad template to follow. I just wish it didn’t hew so close to the Pokémon formula as it makes it harder for the differences to shine through. Rather than throw magical balls to bring your creatures to battle, here you first find fossil rocks and then clean them off using a drill, a hammer and your own breath. The better a job you do, the better a beastie you’ll get in return. Similarly, finding all four of a dinosaur’s parts will bring a more capable thunder lizard to the table rather than just restoring the head. New to the mix are dark fossil rocks that can’t be mapped out with X-rays, curious fossil rocks that must be cleaned on both sides and giant fossil rocks that require four people to clean it at once through the magic of wireless communications lest you end up with a poorly cleaned pile of mastodon bones.

Having a part in the outcome of your revived monster is a nice touch; however it comes at the price of some pacing issues. Early on, frequent trips back to town are important as you can only carry so many fossil rocks at a time. Later on, as your increasing funds allow you to invest in storage case upgrades, you don’t have to visit town as often but when you do you’re forced to engage in marathon cleaning sessions. Forced is a strong word, but why bother looking for fossils if you’re not going to turn them into blood thirsty battle beasts? Sure you can drop them off with the cleaning robot but the ‘bot can only clean to a certain quality level—a level only raised by watching you clean manually, and any fossils dropped off for cleaning aren’t available for immediate use. It’s the “fish or cut bait” dilemma just with giant monsters.

The same great battle system from the previous game returns allowing for matches to be as strategic or straightforward as your ability level dictates. Along with the usual elemental strengths and weaknesses, monsters are classified as either short range or long range, allowing them bonuses or penalties for certain attack positions relative to their enemies. Placing beasties in the support zone may prevent them from doing as much damage as if they were on the front lines, but what they lose in combat effectiveness they may gain in either a bonus to teammates or penalties to enemies. Knowing what monsters work best in what formations is as important as having a varied elemental team.

Unfortunately, unlike the Pokémon games where obtaining every Pokémon save your first comes as a result of battle, random battles aren’t as prevalent here. Occasionally a rival fossil fighter will pop up when you find a fossil and demand that you best them in battle before you can claim your petrified prize and the fossil grounds have one or two people to fight, but the preponderance of random battles found in the Pokémon games isn’t here. Luckily the AI is pretty stupid as well as under-leveled, even in tournament bouts, so you rarely find yourself under-prepared for a match.

For kids with a serious dinosaur affectation, playing Fossil Fighters: Champions will feel like discovering a buried treasure, and there’s something to be said for a monster fighting RPG that doesn’t require the same time commitment as the Pokemon games. For everyone else though, there are better monster battling RPGs out there, published by the same company, and once you’ve played them it’s hard to see imitators, even ones with dinosaurs, in the same light.