Take a bowl of Katamari Damacy, stir in some Pikmin, add a dash of Ghostbusters, and then drop in just a pinch of Pokemon. Bake for several months in Konami’s oven, then serve hot on the Wii. You’ve just baked up a healthy helping of Elebits, a charming “gotta catch ’em all” first person shooter.
Features
- Ransack rooms and neighborhoods to catch those little critters known as Elebits
- Follow the plot in Story Mode
- Design custom levels in Edit Mode
- Replay levels for points with Score Attack
- Hunt Elebits with up to four players in Multiplayer Mode
- Swap and share custom levels and screenshots with friends via WiiConnect24
An Elebit Of This And An Elebit Of That
Elebits casts the player as Kai, the preteen son of two prominent researchers in the field of Elebit study. This mystical critters appeared some time ago via a mighty lightning strike, and now they power the world’s lights, appliances, and basically anything that requires electricity or a battery. One day the world goes dark as all of the Elebits go missing. Kai is left home alone while his parents try to solve the mystery of the missing Elebits, but our hero isn’t content to stay put. Armed with his father’s special Capture Gun, Kai sets out to find and catch missing Elebits himself.
While Kai may be the hero, the real stars of Elebits are the little critters themselves. Elebits can be found hiding all over the place: inside desk drawers, under pizza box lids, on top of carefully stacked wine glasses, and just about anywhere else visible on screen. The basic object of each level is to catch the specified number of Elebits before time runs out. Captured Elebits are measured in watts, and different kinds of Elebits are worth more watts than others. Blue Elebits, for instance, tend to wander around in the open. They’re easy to find and catch, so they’re wattage count is lower compared to, say, an orange Elebit that flies away the exact moment it is discovered.
When it comes to catching Elebits, learning to use the Capture Gun like a pro is a necessity. The nunchuk’s control stick moves Kai, the Z button causes him to crouch, and the C button causes him to “stretch” (that is, rise up slightly as if he were standing on tip toes). The Wii remote held in “pointer†orientation serves as the gun itself, as moving it moves the corresponding target reticule (and the camera angle) onscreen. Mastering movement is a must, as initially it’s all too easy to end up walking in circles while starring at the ceiling. There is a minor learning curve to consider when it comes to simply walking around. With a press of the A or B button a stream of energy fires at the reticule in such a manner that recalls a Ghostbusters particle thrower. Elebits caught in the beam are captured, thereby adding to the wattage meter. Objects caught in the beam’s path, however, can be lifted, turned, shaken, dropped, or thrown as the player sees fit just by moving the remote around. At first the gun only has enough power to lift small objects such as books or toilet paper rolls, but the gun’s power upgrades after capturing enough Elebits. Before long it’s possible to toss around chairs, tables, and even entire trees as if they were mere toys.
Maintaining Objectivity
Each level begins in the dark (after all, the Elebits are missing and the power is out). As more Elebits are captured, however, lights begin to turn back on and appliances begin to function again. For example, a dishwasher may need 3000 watts to function. Once those watts are collected, players can turn it on which in turn causes a bunch of Elebits to fall out after running a thirty second cleaning cycle. There are numerous appliances and gadgets that can be turned on, such as computers, coffeemakers, DVD players, automatic cleaning robots, and even the toilet. Some appliances and electronics need a little work before the power switch can be flipped. Consider the toaster as an example. In order to turn it on and get the Elebits inside to spring forth, players must first grab a piece of bread from elsewhere in the level, bring it to the toaster, turn it to fit into the slot, and then drop it in. Hit the switch with bread at the ready and the Elebits appear with the toast. Players can also interact with environments in other ways, such as twisting faucet handles with the Capture Gun to turn on the water (and flush out any Elebits hiding in the pipes) and even open doors and drawers by locking onto a handle with the Capture Gun and yanking or twisting as if turning a knob and pulling open a door.
Players will spend a lot of time moving objects in the hunt for stray Elebits. The creatures love to hide inside of things, and the only way to reveal them is to grab their hiding places and shake until they fall out. Objects remain where they are dropped as well, meaning that if a player drops a table in front of a door, that door cannot be opened until the table is moved out of the way. Some objects such as goblets and vases are breakable, and if knocked over or dropped will shatter and then vanish from the environment. Some objectives take this into account, challenging the player to avoid breaking a certain number of objects in addition to capturing Elebits and beating the clock. As if all of that isn’t enough, tossing and breaking objects tends to generate noise, and loud noises scare away Elebits. Another objective tossed into the mix involves keeping quiet while trashing rooms in search of the critters. Make too many loud noises and the Elebits flee, ending the level. Fortunately the game keeps track of these requirements onscreen, indicating the remaining time, the wattage collected so far, how many more items can be broken before the level ends, and how many more loud noises the player can get away with before all is lost. Adding to the madness is a series of special items that temporarily upgrade the Capture Gun with a homing function, drive out Elebits hiding nearby, and offer other such useful abilities. If this sounds much too complex then take heart, for the game includes a series of tutorials that teach basic gameplay skills and introduces new concepts over time.
Earth Really Is Full Of Elebits
While the game’s Story Mode makes up the bulk of the experience, there are a few extras included to help beef up the replay value. The most immersive of those extras has to be Edit Mode in which players can create their own custom levels. After completing certain objectives in Story Mode a selection of locations and objects become available for use. The editor makes a blank environment available from Story Mode as well as a selection of objects that can be placed with the Wii remote. Custom levels can have the same kinds of requirements as the Story Mode levels, such as limits on how many items can be broken during play or the maximum allowable volume. Adding to the fun is the ability to send custom levels to friends via WiiConnect24. Elebits uses the Wii address book for this purpose, so players will have to jump through the familiar Friend Code hoops before sending a single bit of data to a buddy (note that refers to the Wii’s number and not an Elebits-specific Friend Code). Once the ability is set up the game will alert players that new custom levels are available at startup. Other modes include Score Attack for replaying completed levels for high scores and Multiplayer Mode in which up to four players compete to catch more Elebits than the others. An Elebit species guide rounds things out, providing a primitive character index reminiscent of a Pokedex from Nintendo’s Pokemon series.
Playing a few rounds of Elebits calls to mind Namco’s Katamari Damacy series. As in Katamari, Elebits tosses players into a big world teeming with movable objects. A time limit keeps bounds on both experiences along with a goal of collecting a certain number of “things†from the game world. Exploration is a must. Some of Katamari’s core issues somehow carry over to Elebits as well, surprisingly. In both games it seems that time runs out just as the player has figured out a level’s gimmick or grows in power. While Katamari offers the Eternal levels for exploring without the time constraint, Elebits offers up something similar if players can catch the rare pink Elebits in each level (a frustrating task if ever there was one, as the pink critters vanish just as soon as they’re revealed). Moreover, both games offer the chance to continue playing until time elapses after completing an objective.
The world of Elebits isn’t all that visually striking, as objects appear rather simplistic. There are few detailed textures applied to objects, and despite the immense interactivity going on in each level, the objects themselves look rather flat and lifeless. The cartoonish style works for the game, however, when it comes to the Elebits themselves. Get close enough to a group of the little guys and it’s possible to see that some Elebits are all smiles, others throw a temper tantrum, and still others gasp in fear at being spotted. A variety of squealing sounds round out the Elebits’ personalities. Completing each level also unlocks new background music, and even if the songs aren’t all that memorable, they suit the game well enough. Players can even choose which song plays during each level.
Final Word
It’s difficult to say anything horrendously negative about Elebits given that tearing up rooms by tossing items and furniture everywhere is just so much fun. Edit Mode adds a little extra staying power to the game, and the ability to share custom levels is just icing on the cake. While there are a few minor gameplay issues to consider, on the whole Elebits is one of the better games released during the Wii launch window. Anyone looking to make good use of the Wii remote’s capabilities should definitely give Elebits a try.
