E3 2008: Elebits 2: The Adventure of Kai and Zero Hands-On

The original Elebits was one of the first games released for the Wii, and it gave players a tour of some of the crazy things that you could accomplish with motion controls. In that game, you would hunt down tiny Elebits--creatures bursting with energy--by manipulating the environment and taking advantage of the exaggerated physics. Elebits 2: The Adventure of Kai and Zero brings the same wacky concept and colorful visuals to the Nintendo DS. We went hands-on today with the early goings of Elebits 2 and came away impressed with its adaptation to the small screen.

Once again, you play as Kai, a small boy in big trouble. While exploring with your Elebits pal Zero, you happen upon an old bus that doubles as a time machine. Accidents happen, and you find yourself transported to some mysterious new world with no way to return. You have to collect enough Omega Elebits (superpowerful energy beings) to make your way home before your parents find out that you're missing.

The original Elebits was a first-person adventure, but Elebits 2 uses a perspective more suitable for the Nintendo DS. The camera is now positioned overheard and can not be manipulated, but the main action remains largely the same. You can still shake trees and overturn rocks to find hidden Elebits, and you still have to collect as many as you can. This time, instead of using motion controls to corral the little guys, you use the touch screen. You tap on the stray Elebits to stun them, and then tap your pal Zero to capture them. The more you capture, the higher your combo, so it pays off to get as many in one pass as possible.

The challenge comes mainly from puzzle-solving situations. You'll have to figure out how to cross a running river or put out the fire that's threatening a wooden town. You'll also have to scour the environments for all of the hidden Elebits, given that they turn up in some rather unpredictable places. We'll have to wait until this fall to see how well the transition to a portable system works, but right now, it appears to be a faithful re-creation of the Wii original.