First Impressions: Has Rare gone original?
Kameo, which is also the name of the female main character, has recently been highlighted at E3, Los Angeles. While astonishingly beautiful on video, and one of my personal favourites, show-goers have went away from the game with mixed impressions. Claimed to be too incomplete to fully satisfy, especially compared to other offerings from Nintendo, Kameo still wasn’t anywhere near disappointing. If one also considers that it’s set for a 2002 release, there’s no need to be alarmed about its current unfinished state.
The heroine is a fairy princess who walks the land in search of six Elemental Children, who she will try to rescue from the clutches of Thorn, the evil troll king. The game will take you through dense forests and open plains, and Kameo will encounter many different life forms. This is where the Pokémon-like aspect of the game comes into the picture: You will be able to capture and nurture up to 60 different creatures, and preferably you will seize them while they are still young, as trust comes harder with age. You should feed the small and young creatures so that they can evolve and become adults. All creatures come with different strengths, and it’s up to you how to use them. Some can run up vertical walls, some can fly, and some use brute force to slay your opponents. It’s imperative to use the creatures you have under your control to advance in the game.
You can morph into three different creatures at any one time, provided that you have captured any, and if you do so you’ll see yourself inside the creature that has now become slightly transparent. If it comes to battle, you can choose between partaking in the fight yourself or just unleash any beasts that you might have available, making them fight in your stead.
So how about graphics? Well, what can I say, as almost everything else on GameCube this game will take your breath away. Nice character design, beautiful lighting effects, splendid-looking water, which looks pretty much the same as the water in Rare’s other title displayed, Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet, lush colors, and fluid animation. When I first saw a little lizard-like animal running towards a small pond I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Oh, and I especially like the design of our main protagonist, Kameo herself.
