is a video game for the

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

game based on the ''

Dinosaur King is a Japanese card-based arcade game from Sega that uses similar gameplay mechanics to '' Mushiking''. The game was revealed in JAMMA 2005. A Nintendo DS version was also later released. In the fall of 2008, Upper Deck Company released ...

'' TV series.

Plot

The game's story is about Max, Rex, and Zoe, the members of the D-Team (of whom only Max and Rex are available as player characters). One day, they find mysterious stones that allow them to summon

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s, after creating special cards from fossils, using a special device called a Dinoshot. However, an evil group called the Alpha Gang steals a Dinoshot in order to create a dinosaur empire. It is the D-Team's job to stop the Alpha Gang.

Gameplay

The gameplay is much like that of the ''

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

'' game series. Players collect dinosaurs by excavating and then cleaning fossils. Fossils are cleaned using a pick. However, the pick will only last a short time before it breaks. In addition to this, a perfectly clean fossil will produce a higher leveled dinosaur than one that is not, making it important for players to carefully use the pick. Battles take place as

random encounter A random encounter is a feature commonly used in various role-playing games whereby combat encounters with non-player character (NPC) enemies or other dangers occur sporadically and at random, usually without the enemy being physically detected b ...

s on the overworld map. Each side has a maximum of three dinosaurs which they can send out. The battle system is based on the game of rock, paper, and scissors-winning allows the dinosaur to attack, losing allows the opponent dinosaur to attack, and a tie inflicts neutral damage to either side. Several of the moves in the game become more powerful according to wins or losses, or they allow attacks on a tie. Dinosaurs become stronger as they gain levels through experience. At certain levels, they generate move cards, which can be attached to dinosaurs as the player desires. Moves vary in function from dealing damage, inflicting status effects, summoning other creatures to assist the dinosaur, or changing the battlefield itself to power up a specific type. Dinosaurs in the game are categorised according to elemental types, which include specific types of dinosaurs. Each type also has a strength and a weakness against another type. There are 72 dinosaurs available normally in the game, not including Secret type dinosaurs or dinosaurs which can only be obtained through entering a special code at a specific place in the game.

Reception

The game received "mixed" reviews according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

. ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' journalist Mark Bozon embraced the game's gameplay that he found nostalgic and its 3D animations, while dismissing the sound effects and bland 2D overworld.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dinosaur King (Video Game) 2007 video games Nintendo DS games Nintendo DS-only games Dinosaurs in video games Role-playing video games Video games based on anime and manga Video games developed in Japan