Solarobo Shines onto Nintendo DS

CyberConnect2 has finally confirmed its first Nintendo DS project as being a game entitled Solarobo that will be published in Japan later this year by Bandai Namco. The team behind the .hack series, has lifted the lid on its new action game with the main star being none other than a robot. Solarobo marks the 15th anniversary of the developer and looks very reminiscent of CyberConnect2's first release, the 1998 PlayStation game Tail Concerto (the intro of which can be seen here).

Solarobo's official website gives off the feel of a spiritual successor to Tail Concerto, whilst also may well have some aspects that look similar to the .hack games that have been so popular on the PlayStation 2 and, more recently, the PlayStation Portable, with .hack// Link. This DS adventure is set to the backdrop of floating islands where humans with dog- and cat-like features have joined forces to make the world a better place. Players take the role of Red Savarin in this 3D action adventure, with the canine bounty hunter, his sister (Chocolat) and personal robot, DAHAK-AZI03, taking on numerous jobs and fighting mech-enemies.

I'm not joking when I say that this game's been in conception for ten years and in development for three. Crazy, isn't it? Three years for a Nintendo DS game! I'm impressed Namco Bandai waited that long for us. You fight battles while piloting your robot, but the DAHAK doesn't have any weapons. You use it to pick up big things and throw them, or grab enemy missiles out of the air and throw them back, and so on. You can also pick up and throw the enemies themselves and damage them that way. It's easier to do this if you can get behind their back and mash the DS buttons, but it's a difficult task from the front.
- Hiroshi Matsuyama, the Head of CyberConnect 2, speaking with Famitsu magazine.