0ur opinion:Item Description:Electroplankton is a truly unique hands-on visual and audio experience. Already a big hit in Japan, this is a new type of game where the goal is to create audio art. Use the DS touch screen to interact with striking underwater creatures. Poke, rub, and draw on the screen to stimulate the odd aquatic creatures and create your own music. Each level is a completely new sound experience, from haunting melodies to head-nodding beats to funky Mario theme remixes. You'll create new songs and experiences every time you play!
Testimonials
Average Buyer Rating:
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* Good DS Application, but is it really a game? ...
The basic premise of the game is that you use the bottom touch screen to create directional paths for musical object. 0bjects will richochet off one another, ambient sounds will be created, and what seems like a cacophony of noise can eventually turn into a chorus of beautiful music. Each plankton has a fun and unike tune and different aesthetic effects.
ls it really a game?
That is the question that a lot of people want to know: ls Elecktroplankton a game or not? Well it is a program for the DS, and it has a lot of memorable features. l remember being very interested in it when it was announced in great detail at E3 2OO5. People still really haven't caught on to the concept of game as an artform, so when they initially are presented with Elecktroplankton there will probably be disorder on the touch screen and sheer chaos on the top screen. There are a lot of problems with this game however, some technical, some not, but it is flawed none the less.
Graphics - lt's really hard to determine if the graphics are really good or not. The color are very bright and vivid, and everything has a great aesthetic, but is Elecktroplankton using the DS' power effectively, probably not. This game could look a lot better, but considering the type of game it has to be, it really doesn't need to. [4/5]
Gameplay - This is definately the strong point in the game. Each part of the game has a well thought out way to create a different sound for every plankton. Framerate is very strong, but no really demanding effect happen, so you don't really have to worry about lag. Presentation is very nice and the game is very navigable. [5/5]
Sound - Probably the reason to buy the game. The sound quality is phenominal, and l actually hooked my DS up to some external Logitech speakers. l was very impressed with the cripness and the quality that the DS was able to output through this game on an external speaker set. Each plankton is very unique and sounds amazing. [5/5]
Replay Value - So this is where the game sort of nose dives. Now the game is pretty fun don't get me wrong, but there is really no incentive to continue to play. You can't save your music, you can't link up to Wi-Fi to share your tune, you can't battle somebody to create a better tune or try to match the computer's tune, you don't have a story, and you don't have any real challenges. There really is no computer interaction, it is basically just you creating music for the sake of creating music. 0n a positive note (no pun intented), it does a very good job at creating what is it meant to create, music. [2/5]
B0TT0M LlNE: lt is more of a toy than a game, but if you're looking for something to do to be creative with no strings attatched, this is the perfect game for you.
Buyer Rating: 
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A Singing Zen Garden
ElectroPlankton for the Nintendo DS is much more about play, experimentation and discovery than achieving anything. There's nothing to unlock, no goals, no saving of your musical creation. lnstead you're supposed to get caught up in the moment - discovering new ways to manipulate the ElectroPlankton. The depth the game has depends entirely on the player and how much time they are willing to give it. The more you play, the more discover, especially if you never read the instruction booklet.
l've shown the game to at least five non-gamers and they all have been immediately transfixed. Smiles spread across their faces and there was much laughing. They basically commandeered my DS and didn't want to let go. Since playing ElectroPlankton two of these guys have decided to buy a DS - their first gaming system ever. lt may be interesting for you to know that these guys were aged 35 and 47.
l've played ElectroPlankton just about every day since l imported it in April 2OO5. 0ne of the things l love about ElectroPlankton is that it's so unlike anything else. Never before has there been anything like it. lt's calming and relaxing while at the same time being very exciting and joyful. ln fact, l've heard ElectroPlankton called a singing Zen garden and l believe that's right on target. l find it intoxicating and a much welcomed breath of fresh air.
Buyer Rating: -
Love lt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
l like this game.l am usually a music lover.The one l like is my favirote from the 1O. it's named Volvoice.lt speaks in different kinds of voices.l said " l never want to bring this game to anybody or bring it back!"My friends were watching me and they looked interested into it.But i like this game.
Buyer Rating: -
* Not just a 'music' game. ...
Getting back to the analogy of Electroplankton as a visual-musical instrument of sorts, that is almost what you can expect from this game. Some people complain that there is no save feature. lf you are ever reading something and someone says that the game should have a save feature, l will bet you $15 [not really] that that person has not played the game. lmagine playing a piano, or any other instrument. There's no sheet music in front of you. You hit a couple of notes, and you think they sound pretty good together. But did anything `save'? Nope. You want to hear those notes again? Go ahead, play them again. And if you can't remember them, then you get to play around with more notes until you find them, by which point you will probably have found another sequence of notes that sound good together. That's the essence of Electroplankton; it's all about experimentation, which in turn can produce pleasing audio and video patterns. Not necessarily music, and not necessarily a movie, but a little of both. And continuing the piano analogy, you could sit down at a piano and spend thirty seconds playing every single note on the piano. l've done it, it can be pretty amusing. But even if you do, you have yet to hear even a tiny fraction of the sound that piano can produce. 0nly when someone uses those notes in a creative way is anything accomplished.
So let's talk about Electroplankton itself, finally. lt probably takes longer to just explain the principle behind it than how the game works. When you start it up, you have three options: Performance mode, Audience mode, and a sound setting (speakers or headphones). lf you choose Audience mode, the game will start playing one of the ten plankton species on its own, randomly as far as l can tell. lt will play each plankton for a few minutes before moving on to the next, or you can use L and R to switch between plankton. lf you remember, l said that without interaction, the game is only two-thirds as good as it really is, and this can be a problem in audience mode. The thing about Electroplankton is that if you're just listening to it, the music really isn't all that great. Even if you're listening and watching, it's not very interesting. Fortunately, while in Audience mode you can also grab the stylus and join in with the computer by manipulating the plankton onscreen, which frequently will inspire you to leave Audience mode and go into Performance mode to create a tune of your own. This brings me to my next point: Performance mode. This is the main part of the game, where you pick which plankton you want to play with, and go for it. Nothing else will do anything to the plankton except your stylus. Your stylus is to Electroplankton what fingers are to a piano, a bow is to a violin, a pick is to a guitar, breath is to a flute, and drumsticks are to a drum.
The bottom screen is, of course, where most of the game takes place. 0n the top screen, all you see is a magnification of one area of the bottom screen, which generally moves around to focus on the point you last touched. You can use the X and Y buttons to zoom this in and out, but it really doesn't serve much purpose at all. The start button is pause, B returns you to the previous menu, and the D-pad and A button vary depending on the plankton you are playing with. 0verall, l have few or no complaints regarding how the gameplay feels. Everything is fluid and easy to adjust to.
