Foto Showdown (DSi) Review

Welcome to the first official Gammabit Video Game review! This time we're looking at Konami's DSi-exclusive

Foto Showdown is an interesting game with a unique game mechanic, but the lack of any sort of adventure mode and derivative game play keep the game from reaching it's full potential.

Being the first DSi-exclusive title released, the game can be seen as an example of what developers are capable of doing with the DSi's camera function. Unfortunately, that's all the game really has going for it.

That's right kids, Only on DSi!

To summarize the game's concept, take the monster-creating functions of Monster Rancher and combine it with any monster-battling card game. You use the DSi's camera to take pictures which in turn creates one of over 150 monsters. The game plays like a card game in that there's no development of any the monsters you create through picture taking, they keep the same stats and same two abilities throughout the game, forcing you to think carefully when choosing your line-up for each battle.


The game takes place on the mysterious "Obscura Island" a mysterious island that has the ability to jump between dimensions. On top of it is a city. There, you battle monsters. Simple as that. You play as an "investigator" named Takeru (Or in my case, Kyle.) Right away you're introduced to your partner, Yuika, who clearly wears the pants in their strange relationship, considering that Takeru is a timid little bitch. Right away you're thrown into your first battle and get your first taste of the game's main feature. Making monsters with cameras! Woohoo!





After the tutorial, the game is essentially split up into three parts. Battling, taking photos or navigating menus. The game lacks any sort of exploration mode and the only way to navigate your way through the rather ridiculous story is to fight battle, after battle, after battle, after battle. As you'd assume, this gets boring fast and the generic battle system doesn't do much to keep things exciting. Let's take a look at that, shall we?

The battle system is your basic turn-based RPG affair. All battles take place on field made up of six squares. Up to three monsters from each player are allowed on the field at one time and players can swap to any of the remaining 3 backup monsters, which will also automatically replace any of the their fallen comrades. Monsters take turns either moving, using of their two abilities, using items or swapping with one of the back-ups. That makes up the core of the gameplay. Certain abilities have elemental affinities, but the game is vague on what is effective against what, so you'll have to experiment with a variety of abilities to properly plan out an easy route to victory. Though battles are fun, they often drag on for an extensive period of time and you'll get tired of fighting very fast.

3-on-3! That's more than Pokémon!

But what about the game's key feature? The ability to generate monsters using the camera? well, it's neat but it needs a few improvements. The camera generates a monster based on what color stands out most in a picture. From there, it randomly takes into account what camera you used and the quality of the camera bullet (Foto Showdown's version of Pokéballs) to determine the rarity of the resulting monster. Unfortunately, this isn't the most effective system and you'll find yourself stuck with a large number of crappy monsters, regardless of how good your camera or bullet is. Dark photos always result in a Wyvern, a monster you are given at the very start of the game. Getting a rare and cool-looking monster takes a lot of effort and will cost you a lot of the in-game currency to get one.

You'll be finding this bastard again and again.

Fortunately for the game, there is one positive thing. The artwork is vibrant and colorful and there are some unique and awesome-looking monsters. But with the finicky camera function and generic game play, the game isn't able to live up to it's full potential. I'd like to see a sequel, with a more intricate battle system and the ability to explore the mysterious Obscura Island. But until then, we're stuck with just an average game.

-Kyle K.