Elebits: The Adventures of Kai & Zero

The Elebits series started out on the Wii as a cute and clever action title that enabled players to manipulate the world around them by capturing little creatures and utilizing their energy. That idea has been moved to the Nintendo DS in an original title that brings a lot of the same elements of the Wii game to a top-down adventure. Konami had a near final version of the game on display at its Electronic Entertainment Expo booth this week.

Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero puts players in control of Kai and his elebit buddy Zero. This game is entirely stylus driven -- players control Kai by sliding the stylus around on the touch screen. When players encounter elebits critters, they'll have to tap on them with the stylus and send Zero out to suck them up in order to utilize their energy. The more the player can scoop up in a single shot (a countdown starts as soon as one elebits is tapped), the more energy they'll earn when Zero goes out to get them. Just like in the Wii version, elebits hide under and inside items and must be shaken out. You can pick up rocks and shake trees to uncover elebits by tapping and dragging the items. Rocks can be moved around the world to unblock dead ends, and we're guessing that other items will be able to be lifted as your character's power grows.

These elebits are used as "currency" to activate doors and switches. You'll need a set amount of elebits for specific tasks. In the demo, a door with the number 100 blocks the way. You'll need 100 elebits to get through the passageway and continue the storyline. There are also platforms that can be grabbed and manipulated, but you'll need to spend 10 elebits to power them up. In the demo you can acquire an omega elebit by solving a switch puzzle -- this guy has a special fire ability that can set things ablaze -- a route is blocked that can only be opened by setting the brush afire.

The E3 version of the game is a cool adventure that holds lots of promise. We can't wait to tinker around with it after the show.

It's hard to deny that the original Elebits on the Wii wasn't much more than a concept and tech demo expanded to a full game, but at the very least the title was one of the more ambitious launch titles to hit the console at its launch window. It was also a world unique and fleshed out enough to warrant a sequel from the publisher, but instead of building upon the gameplay in a second Wii title, Konami decided to instead expand the Elebits universe in a kid-friendly adventure design. It may skew a little young with some silly "go green" undertones that bubble a bit too much to the surface, but Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero is a charming, fun, and satisfying game that takes a few of the Wii items and bulks them up into something a bit more significant.

The Nintendo DS adventure picks up where the Wii game leaves off, so if you've held off completing the original title, you might want to stop reading and finish up. We'll wait. Done? Good. Kai's decided to make the Omega elebit he found his pet of sorts, and at the start of the Nintendo DS adventure Zero (that's his name) accidentally charges up a bus (an invention created by Kai's dad) and whisks them off to an alternate universe. To get back, Kai needs to power the bus up with specific items, including what's known as Omega elebits – but each leap through space and time sends them to a different parallel universe. At least in story, it's kind of like "Sliders" without Jerry O'Connell.

Every world that Kai and Zero visit are independent areas that have their own separate maps to explore and puzzles to solve, and this works well to keep your interest since each jump offers something unique to experience – and each world lasts at least a couple of hours of gameplay. But within each world you pretty much do the same thing: wander the world and collect elebits, tiny rodent-like beings that pulse with energy. By shaking trees or lifting rocks, you'll send flocks/packs/swarms of these little guys scattering, and by tapping on them you'll scoop them up and the energy they hold. This is the game's main mechanic, and it takes quick control of the stylus to tap on as many as you can in a short amount of time to snag 'em for as much energy as you can nab. The more you get in a single swoop, the more energy you'll receive: higher combos reward more energy.

Energy is used mainly to activate doors or elevators, or to use Omega elebits' abilities. Throughout the game you'll gain an army of these unique partner creatures that have the ability to breathe fire (handy to burn down shrubs), shoot ice (which can build bridges in water), shatter boulders, magnetically attract giant metal spheres, uncover hidden holes in the earth, just to name a few. To accomplish certain puzzles and tasks you need to master these Omega elebits' abilities, and the further into the game you get, the more you'll have to swap in and out to complete certain goals.

The adventure isn't extremely difficult, and there are only a handful of puzzles that will really get you stuck, so it's pretty obvious that the designers are targeting a slightly younger audience for the Elebits sequel. That's not to say that older gamers aren't going to have a good time with Elebits, because there's a lot to like about this Nintendo DS adventure: the "action" of snagging huge combos of elebits can be very rewarding, and there's a really good sense of accomplishment with all the different worlds to complete, hidden items to uncover, and Omega elebits to collect and evolve.

And even when you've finished the adventure, Konami's offered up a multiplayer mode that gives the game a bit more of a competitive edge. Up to four players, locally or over the internet, can compete to collect the most elebits in a specific timeframe. It's a fun secondary mode to the main adventure, even if it's just slightly unbalanced in favor of players who've upgraded their Omegas to their evolved form.

Closing Comments

I was actually a pretty big fan of the original Elebits on Wii – I absolutely loved the idea of boosting up a gun so powerful that I could toss cars over fences and lift houses over my head. That sort of gameplay's scaled back on the Nintendo DS -- oh, sure, you can use your gun to lift and move boulders to send elebits scattering, but that's pretty much where the similarities between the Wii original and the Nintendo DS sequel end. I think that the console game is a more ambitious design, but the Nintendo DS title – a non-violent, kid-friendly adventure -- is pretty rewarding too.