There is a pleasing symmetry about Fossil Fighters: Frontier, as this 3DS adventure-RPG digs up the bones of classic games and injects them with new life. Players take on the role of Jura, a wannabe Ranger in a world populated with “vivosaurs” – dinosaurs revived by advanced technology. The aim is to travel this world collecting monsters, battling wild beasts and other rangers and proving you are the best while contending with the agents of a shadowy organisation. If that sounds like Pokémon in Jurassic Park, that’s because basically it is.
The gameplay is pleasant but unchallenging: drive around the colourful 3D world in a Bone Buggy, unearthing fragile fossils that are then converted into gladiators through mildly strategic 3D battles based around proper positioning. Digging a little deeper, the vivosaurs are based on real-world dinosaurs, the series designers having consulted palaeontologists. Fossil Fighters doesn’t break new ground, but it offers a simple, surprisingly engaging experience.
