(www.plasticpals.com) Electroplankton is undoubtedly one of the most original creations on the Nintendo DS. Designed by Toshio Iwai (the creator of the electronic step-sequencer called the Tenori-On), Electroplankton is more of a musical toy than a video game. Besides his love of video games and music, Iwai's primary inspiration came from his childhood memories looking through a microscope. When playing, the top screen shows an enlarged view of the cartoony plankton floating around on the bottom screen. Players can use the DS's touch screen and microphone to interact with 10 species of colorful plankton, each with their own unique musical functions. There are no goals or time limits; you simply select one of the available plankton from the title screen and play to your heart's content. Some of my favorite plankton are described below...
Tracy: 6 different plankton appear on the screen, each representing different instruments (piano, xylophone, music box, etc.). You trace lines from the plankton, and they will follow it exactly the way you drew it. The plankton emit different sounds depending on the line's direction (low pitch when swimming to the right, high pitch when swimming to the left). You can also change the overall tempo by pressing the left and right buttons.
Hanenbow: Small tadpole-like plankton launch out of the water from a leaf towards a plant. When they land on the plant's leaves, they emit different notes. By changing the angle of the leaves you can cause the plankton to bounce and ricochet from leaf to leaf in complex patterns. Also, the more a leaf is "played", it will gradually change color from green to red. Each time it changes color, its sound changes to a different instrument. Pressing the Select button will change the aquarium to one of four varieties, some of which have more than one plant to play around with. You can also increase the number of plankton jumping out of the water by pressing left and right.
Luminaria / Luminarrow: A matrix of arrows appears on the screen which 4 plankton follow at their own predetermined speed. Every time they hit an arrow, they emit a sound (piano, vibraphone, music box, celesta). You can tweak the direction of the arrows by tapping on them to create complex pathways for the plankton to follow. If you tap and hold on an arrow, it will spin causing the plankton to move in a random direction. You can also simultaneously change the direction of all the arrows by pressing up, down, left, or right.
Rec-Rec: 4 fish-like plankton swim from right to left across the screen, and reset after they disappear. By tapping on them, you have 4 seconds to record whatever you want through the DS microphone. After recording, that plankton will play back the recording until you tap it again. This allows you to layer 4 recordings on top of one another. Pressing up and down will change the background rhythm into one of 8 styles, and you can speed up or slow down the whole "song" using the left and right buttons.
Lumiloop: 5 disc-like plankton appear on the screen. They'll start glowing and hum in harmony (called a pentatonic scale) when you spin them using the stylus. The sound changes depending on what direction they're spinning, and it gets louder the faster you spin them. If you stop spinning them, they'll gradually lose speed and come to a stop. Pressing the Select button changes the environment and the sounds they make.
Beatnes: 5 plankton with long tails wiggle back and forth. Tap the top and bottom of each plankton, as well as the 8 individual segments in between, to create sounds based on classic 8-bit Nintendo games. The background beat and sound effects are taken from Super Mario Bros., Kid Icarus, and others (changed using the Select button). Furthermore, the sounds you make will repeat several times, allowing you to create harmonies and more complex beats. You can also change the tempo using the left and right buttons.
Each of the electroplankton has its own distinct appearance and are very cute and colorful. The game has a simple but streamlined appearance, since normally the background is just a soothing color with bubbles floating around. The sounds that the plankton make are perfectly clear, based on high-quality recordings of real instruments (besides the 8-bit Beatnes). I wouldn't change a thing about the way it looks or sounds.
Electroplankton is a relaxing experience, allowing you to create soothing musical patterns out of chaotic randomness. The main problem is you can't save one configuration and overlap it with the others. Once you exit to the menu your "work" is erased. It would have been fun to keep one set of plankton repeating their pattern in the background while playing with a different set. The 4 and 8 second time limitations on the plankton that record sounds through the microphone is also a bit of a bummer.
If you own a DSi or 3DS and are shopping in the download store, the best options are probably Tracy, Hanenbow, Luminarrow, Rec-Rec, or Beatnes. The other 5 plankton are enjoyable in their own way, but are somewhat limited by comparison. As one of the most creative and unique titles available on the DS, it is certainly worth checking out, but your mileage may vary.
Tracy: 6 different plankton appear on the screen, each representing different instruments (piano, xylophone, music box, etc.). You trace lines from the plankton, and they will follow it exactly the way you drew it. The plankton emit different sounds depending on the line's direction (low pitch when swimming to the right, high pitch when swimming to the left). You can also change the overall tempo by pressing the left and right buttons.
Hanenbow: Small tadpole-like plankton launch out of the water from a leaf towards a plant. When they land on the plant's leaves, they emit different notes. By changing the angle of the leaves you can cause the plankton to bounce and ricochet from leaf to leaf in complex patterns. Also, the more a leaf is "played", it will gradually change color from green to red. Each time it changes color, its sound changes to a different instrument. Pressing the Select button will change the aquarium to one of four varieties, some of which have more than one plant to play around with. You can also increase the number of plankton jumping out of the water by pressing left and right.
Luminaria / Luminarrow: A matrix of arrows appears on the screen which 4 plankton follow at their own predetermined speed. Every time they hit an arrow, they emit a sound (piano, vibraphone, music box, celesta). You can tweak the direction of the arrows by tapping on them to create complex pathways for the plankton to follow. If you tap and hold on an arrow, it will spin causing the plankton to move in a random direction. You can also simultaneously change the direction of all the arrows by pressing up, down, left, or right.
Rec-Rec: 4 fish-like plankton swim from right to left across the screen, and reset after they disappear. By tapping on them, you have 4 seconds to record whatever you want through the DS microphone. After recording, that plankton will play back the recording until you tap it again. This allows you to layer 4 recordings on top of one another. Pressing up and down will change the background rhythm into one of 8 styles, and you can speed up or slow down the whole "song" using the left and right buttons.
Lumiloop: 5 disc-like plankton appear on the screen. They'll start glowing and hum in harmony (called a pentatonic scale) when you spin them using the stylus. The sound changes depending on what direction they're spinning, and it gets louder the faster you spin them. If you stop spinning them, they'll gradually lose speed and come to a stop. Pressing the Select button changes the environment and the sounds they make.
Beatnes: 5 plankton with long tails wiggle back and forth. Tap the top and bottom of each plankton, as well as the 8 individual segments in between, to create sounds based on classic 8-bit Nintendo games. The background beat and sound effects are taken from Super Mario Bros., Kid Icarus, and others (changed using the Select button). Furthermore, the sounds you make will repeat several times, allowing you to create harmonies and more complex beats. You can also change the tempo using the left and right buttons.
Each of the electroplankton has its own distinct appearance and are very cute and colorful. The game has a simple but streamlined appearance, since normally the background is just a soothing color with bubbles floating around. The sounds that the plankton make are perfectly clear, based on high-quality recordings of real instruments (besides the 8-bit Beatnes). I wouldn't change a thing about the way it looks or sounds.
Electroplankton is a relaxing experience, allowing you to create soothing musical patterns out of chaotic randomness. The main problem is you can't save one configuration and overlap it with the others. Once you exit to the menu your "work" is erased. It would have been fun to keep one set of plankton repeating their pattern in the background while playing with a different set. The 4 and 8 second time limitations on the plankton that record sounds through the microphone is also a bit of a bummer.
If you own a DSi or 3DS and are shopping in the download store, the best options are probably Tracy, Hanenbow, Luminarrow, Rec-Rec, or Beatnes. The other 5 plankton are enjoyable in their own way, but are somewhat limited by comparison. As one of the most creative and unique titles available on the DS, it is certainly worth checking out, but your mileage may vary.
