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Hunt down Solatorobo: Red the Hunter starting September 27
The Nintendo DS will get at least one more grand adventure, in CyberConnect2's Solatorobo: Red the Hunter. The action-adventure game about a treasure-hunting dog man and his hulking robot vehicle will be released in North America on September 27, eleven months after its Japanese release. The first print run will include a soundtrack. On CD, we mean. Every copy will have sound. While you wait for September to just end already so you can check it out, take a minute to watch the new trailer. It's heavy on combat -- an aspect of the game that shows a lot of variety.
Pick up info on Solatorobo's combat with these videos
We've talked about Solatorobo: Red the Hunter, but we haven't seen much of how the game works. In these videos (one above, two after the break) you can actually see for yourself what the combat is like, including the basic action of picking up and throwing enemies, and even a shooting match with a pirate airship. In this gameplay footage, you'll also see that the camera is sufficiently zoomed out for you to ignore that your character is a dog-man. That's helpful.%Gallery-132519%
Solatorobo ships with soundtrack
Solatorobo: Red The Hunter, now the best shot at a light-hearted, island-based treasure hunting adventure (with Mega Man Legends 3 gone), will come with a nice bonus if you purchase one of the first-run copies: a soundtrack. In a distinctly Atlus-like move, XSEED is bundling a 24-track soundtrack CD with the initial shipment of the DS game. XSEED also shared some new images of the beautiful floating-island locations in CyberConnect2's game, along with a couple of in-game screenshots. What lovely places to instruct a walking robot to pick up and throw every single available piece of scenery.%Gallery-130259%
Solatorobo: Red the Hunter flies to North America, published by XSEED
Namco Bandai published CyberConnect2's DS action-RPG, Solatorobo: Red the Hunter, in Japan. Nintendo itself picked the game up for Europe and now, finally, XSEED has announced that it'll bring the game to North America this fall. The Tail Concerto-esque Solatorobo stars Red Savarin, a dog-man with a walking robot that he uses to explore a series of floating islands. His quest starts as a treasure hunt, but ends up tangled in bigger events (as all RPG undertakings are destined to). Luckily, it all leads to plenty of opportunities for that robot to pick up and throw heavy objects and enemies. Check out a trailer after the break and try not to focus on the fact that the game stars anthropomorphic animals.%Gallery-127106%
Nintendo distributing Solatorobo in Europe this year
Namco Bandai's Solatorobo: And Then to Coda was entirely charming, mechanically interesting, and technically impressive, based on our brief demo at TGS last year. So, of course, there are no signs that Namco Bandai plans to localize the DS mech action RPG for North America. However, Europe is a different story, one that ends with "Solatorobo lived happily ever after on a retailer's shelf." Nintendo just announced that it will market and distribute the game itself in PAL territories as Solatorobo: Red the Hunter "later this year." Cyberconnect2's Solatorobo, a sort of spiritual sequel to Tail Concerto, follows Red Savarin, a treasure hunter (who is also a dog person), who uses a mech to toss enemies and obstacles around as he explores floating islands.
Solatorobo preview: Robot trumps furry
Solatorobo: And Then to Coda for DS is kind of an unofficial sequel to the PlayStation furry/mech adventure Tail Concerto. It's apparently set in the same universe, featuring cameos from Tail Concerto characters. It's also developed by the same studio, CyberConnect2, which most recently made news for hooking up with Capcom on the weird Asura's Wrath. But even for people like me who never got around to playing Tail Concerto -- and even for people who avoid anthropomorphic animals -- Solatorobo is a surprisingly engaging game that is fun just to interact with.
Retailer: Solatorobo is DSi-enhanced
Cyberconnect2's Solatorobo: And Then To Coda (previously known as Solarobo) will feature support for the DSi camera, according to a listing from Japanese retailer Game Star. The listing doesn't offer any detail on how the functionality will work, except to note that you can take pictures that will be used in the game. This adventure, a semi-official followup to Tail Concerto, will not require the use of a DSi. Siliconera also points out a new video from the official site (see it after the break) of a multiplayer mode available over Download Play, in which up to four players can race in an Air Robo Gran Prix.
