Fossil Fighters

 DS
Metascore
70

Mixed or average reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 17
  3. Negative: 1 out of 17
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  1. Worth Playing
    92
    The bottom line is that Fossil Fighters takes the formula established by games like Spectrobes and Pokemon and improves on it in nearly every way.
  2. Thunderbolt
    80
    Let’s be clear – Fossil Fighters isn’t for the self-proclaimed “hardcore gamer.” No, it’s for kids – no doubt about it. That being said, it’s a quality title that, though somewhat shallow and straightforward, is a great fit for budding gamers.
  3. Nintendo Power
    80
    A great introduction to RPGs for newcomers. [Oct 2009, p.89]
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  5. AtomicGamer
    80
    Not only does it do a stellar job of walking new players through what for them could be some overly complex mechanics, it pulls them through the game with an interesting storyline and a satisfying reward system.
  6. GameSpot
    75
    Fossil Fighters' robust roster of collectible dinosaurs and its fast-paced, lightly tactical battles make it an appealing adventure.
  7. The A.V. Club
    75
    Fossil Fighters is at its most frustrating when it does try to be novel.
  8. Play Magazine
    75
    Borrowing some of the better elements from other games in the genre, Fossil Fighters manages to make it all fit together like T-Rex skeleton on display at the museum. Only with the game, you're encouraged to play with the exhibits.
    All this publication's reviews
  9. GameShark
    75
    If all of your games need to be sprung from the fountain of creativity then you might want to look elsewhere, but if you're into some casual creature combat, you may be pleastantly surprised with what you unearth.
  10. Gameplanet
    75
    It may be all a bit familiar for seasoned Pokémon gamers, but there's enough content in Fossil Fighters to keep even a cynic entertained.

Awards & Rankings

62
#62 Best DS Game of 2009
26
#26 Most Discussed DS Game of 2009
76
#76 Most Shared DS Game of 2009

User Reviews

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User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 25 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 25
  3. Negative: 2 out of 25
  1. ND-Bringer
    Aug 31, 2022
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. Welcome to the underrated world of Fossil Fighters. While it is currently a fallen series, I think it's important to look back on what could've been created if done right. If this series is ever revived some day, I hope that a proper sequel unlocks its true potential as a monster battle RPG.
    At first glance, it may appear to be a generic Pokemon copycat, but in my opinion all possible pocket monster clones have the potential to give us a much more memorable experience than modern Pokemon could ever give.
    The game starts off with a nice tutorial that allows you to customize your character's color scheme depending on what Vivosaur you pick as your favorite. While it's a let down that you can't pick your gender or skin color, Fossil Fighters instead focuses on other types of customization. Like a variety of funky masks that also change the sound of your footsteps! After collecting some gift fossils and finishing the battle test, you can now head to the first dig site, Greenhorn Plains! I love this place, with its jamming tunes and wide open spaces...its always puts me in a good mood. While I appreciate that the level art is nice and colorful, its a shame that the levels overall are a cakewalk to clear. Most chapters just consist of you fighting a handful of opponents. And if you manage to find all of your Vivosaur team's parts, you've already beaten the main game. Most of these levels just contain fossils and nothing more, so unless you stay for a while the overall game itself is really quick to complete. I was expecting more puzzles after the pyramid level, but no. Instead most levels have you complete cleaning missions. And I'd like to point out, while the cleaning mechanics are alright, why is there a time limit? I know that were technically not reviving dinosaurs, but fossil cleaning is about patience. Why are you encouraging players to rush through a delicate process? Why is their a time limit while I'm cleaning the rust off of McJunker's tools!? I'd say the most annoying cleaning objective is where you have to get a perfect score on the legendary Igno fossil rock. Though I'd say the worst part of the game is where you have to avoid these annoying sharks in the underwater dig site...TWICE! Seriously, why does this exist? This mini game never shows its face again, even in the post game, so it's a pointless game mechanic. Once you get past those things, you can focus on sharpening your battle skills. Honestly, I like this battle system a lot. The attack animations have great sound effects to match. And the vivosaurs all have really colorful designs. They fight with things like basic biting attacks, fire, and...acrobatics? I've surprised of how nimble some of these guys are. The main difference between vivosaurs and dinosaurs is that vivosaurs are creatures that inherit the elemental properties of where they were born. Excluding the legendaries, every single vivosaur is based off of a real life dinosaur and you can even learn about its origins at the museum. A minor educational touch to this game that I'm quite fond of. Since your team is healed after each battle, players can focus more on strategy. This is vital to accomplish, especially in the post game where almost all of your new opponents will carry a max level team. It's a decent game, you also unlock 2 new dig sites. Though speaking of dig sites, I've always wondered why my sonar is activated if I can't dig for any fossils in the Dinaurian Star Ship. Ironically, their's a Crashed Starship dig site on the secret island level. Since you can actually dig for fossils here, I don't think the theme is completely wasted. The Crashed Starship stage is underrated as heck, it has incredible music and tons of great vivosaurs like Sopteryx, the evasion boosting healer. As for the story itself, it has a few neat plot twists and it follows up with a sci-fi story final battle in the final act. The story never goes too big though, at one point their's a dark theory that humans were created by the Dinaurians just so we can be removed years later after testing the habitat capabilities of Earth, but its immediately resolved about 1 chapter later. It would've be really interesting if they kept expanding on these ideas in the sequels, but sadly the Dinaurians only make cameos in Champions and have remained obsolete since Frontier. The game ends with a final battle against the brains of a planet-eating monster and a funny credit sequence. If you really want to test your mettle, the toughest team in the game goes the the third match against Dynal. The 3 Dinaurian commanders make a crazy tough challenge that requires a well-thought strategy in order to win. While Champions may be the superior game I'm a lot more fond of the colorful level art design in this game...that and Guhnash's brains are unplayable in Champions for some reason. I will always carry the urge to use rejected Donkey Kong Country Returns bosses in battle. It's a game that I somehow still love.    … Full Review »
  2. Gamer_the_Man
    May 1, 2020
    10
    The entire game from start to finish is amazing though I will not spoil the plot of the game I will say that the story is amazing with theThe entire game from start to finish is amazing though I will not spoil the plot of the game I will say that the story is amazing with the gameplay being even better. A fun fact about this game is it is actually published and is owned in part by Nintendo making it a Nintendo IP similar to how Pokemon is in part a Nintendo IP.

    The game obviously takes some inspiration from Pokemon such as type matchups but simplifies it down to only 6 types with two of them having no weaknesses nor strengths.

    Fire beats Earth
    Earth beats Air
    Air beats Water
    Water beats Fire
    Null has no advantages nor disadvantages.

    Each Vivasaur has it's own special moves and they all have their own battle and move animations with little to no reuse of the animations on other Vivasaurs and the animations are beautiful. Or at least better than what recent Pokemon games have shown.

    The battle system is very unique and while it utilizes the aforementioned Rock Paper Scizzors type advantage system it doesn't always compel you to use it nor is it soemthig you basically need to do like in Pokemon games where all you need to do is bring fire Pokemon to a Grass Gym. First of all you don't know what you will be up against until you get into combat unless you get information in game which is usually out of the way and kind of secret (Unless you google it). On top of all this your vivasaurs battle in a maximum of 3 per side and they are all out at once sort of like how Pokemon has Triple Battles (This game came first). But two of the 3 can give the primary vivasaur buffs if they are put in the Support Zone or debuff the opponent.

    Overall this is a great gem of a game that should have more recognition.    … Full Review »
  3. HolyJesus
    Apr 28, 2020
    9
    I only tried playing this game because of Jaiden Animations but I didn't expect it to be this good. The story is decent, the gameplay isI only tried playing this game because of Jaiden Animations but I didn't expect it to be this good. The story is decent, the gameplay is unique and the characters are really fun. This game just has a creative charm that no other game has (except maybe Pokemon mystery dungeon). It's basically a gift from god.… Full Review »
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