Game Review: Electroplankton
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What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this is an open-ended game with no
goal other than to explore making music and art. It contains no
objectionable content, and can even spawn creativity and
interest in the arts. One downside to be aware of: Kids can't
save their work.
Families can talk about which plankton they like best and why. Families may want to play together: Since you can't save the amazing sights and sounds you create, it's good to have an audience while you play. Parents of older kids can talk about this innovative title. How is it unique? Are you bothered by not having a goal here -- or do you find it refreshing?
Common Sense Media Review
A sea of music awaits your conducting on the Nintendo DS.
With ELECTROPLANKTON, players use both the stylus and their
voice to compose music.
Electroplankton are tiny musical creatures that live in an ocean inside your Nintendo DS. By touching them with your stylus or singing to them, you can help them to compose music. This software is the latest creation of Toshio Iwai, the talent behind the 1996 award-winning "SimTunes" computer simulation game. It's a fascinating way to play around with sounds and accompanying visuals, and the most innovative title for the Nintendo DS currently on the market.
While Electroplankton is not a traditional game with the goal of winning, it's compelling because it provides a playground in which to explore music. The software opens with the option of watching musical plankton in the audience mode or jumping in to interact with the plankton in the performance mode. While most adults will enjoy viewing the audience mode first, most kids will want to go directly to creating their own master works.
In the performance mode, players can choose to create music with 10 different kinds of plankton. With the Tracy plankton, when you draw a line on the touch-sensitive screen, the Tracy plankton will follow or "trace" the lines. There are six different-colored Tracy plankton, each producing their own tone; and the player can influence the tone by drawing the line from left to right (making the sound go higher) or from right to left (making the sound go lower).
The Rec-Rec plankton can listen to what you sing or speak into the Nintendo DS microphone, and then incorporate your voice into their pulsing-beat production of music. They swim in schools of four, but each Rec-Rec can absorb a unique sound, so the four create interesting combinations of the sounds that you have provided.
What is fascinating about playing with the plankton is that each of the 10 kinds of plankton produces music in different ways, and all of the music is accompanied by mesmerizing visuals. One of the plankton can even be spun like a top to create pulsing waves of color that expand across the screen while it sings.
Electroplankton will enthrall kids who enjoy exploring sights and sounds in an unstructured environment. It will not hold the interest of kids seeking structure and winning.
A minor frustration with this otherwise unique software is that kids can't save their compositions, nor can they combine two different kinds of plankton. Nonetheless, this software creates a magical way to explore the components of music.
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
