Update: October 25, 2007
«©NCSX» It's been a while since Gainax has developed a new property. The company has been coasting along on the winds of the wildly successful Evangelion series which has permeated Japanese culture for the better part of a decade. Earlier this year, Gainax released Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann on TV Tokyo and captured a reasonably strong viewership. As is common with popular franchises, the seeding of other forms of media follows the primary property and we get a crack at the portable video game version this week. The NDS action-adventure follows the storyline of the animation but introduces new characters and stylus-based interaction/action. The game is broken up into interaction sequences where Simon speaks to fellow diggers and non-player characters encountered during the course of the adventure. When certain junctures are reached, players engage in action-packed Gunmen mech battles where the touchpen is used to control the movement, firepower, and defensive maneuvers. Battles are fought on the top NDS screen while the touch screen shows the control panel as well as a grid-based local area map. Occasionally, a mini-game pops up for some quick stylus-based interaction. Background Information
In the far-flung future, a contingent of the human population has moved from an unwelcome surface to underground cities deep within the womb of the Earth. Isolated from the topsiders as well as other underground cities, the subterranean civilizations are self sufficient. Due to the wreckage caused by constant earthquakes, service people known as diggers excavate new living quarters deeper into the Earth. The story of Toppa Gurren Lagann begins in Jiiha Village where a teenage digger named Simon finds a special key and is eventually brought into the fold of a digger group known as the Gurren Brigade which is led by an eccentric youth named Kamina. One day while digging, Simon discovers a robot in a tunnel. As he runs to notify Kamina about his discovery, a massive cave-in occurs from overhead where a robot tumbles down into Jiiha Village. A villager named Yoko tries to fend off the robot with a gun but she can't do much with a peashooter against a giant. Simon recalls the robot he found earlier and discovers that the key he found can be used to power-up the robot. With deft handling and skill, Simon takes control of the robot and destroys the interloper. In the process, Simon is able to power up into the surface world. Soon, the trio of Simon, Yoko, and Kamina discover that robots known as Gunmen run rampant and cause trouble for the surface dwellers. With Yoko's guidance, Simon and Kamina pilot the robot and destroy a few more Gunmen and resolve to help the topsiders rid the menace of the Gunmen once and for all. Along their travels, Simon and Kamina meet others to form the Great Gurren Brigade which eventually demolish the Gunmen and allow peace to reign once more. Bonus Schwag
Every copy of Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann is bundled with a special edition animation DVD which features an original 13-minute episode that serves as a prologue to the story in the animation series. Please note the DVD is region-2 and will only play on Japanese territory DVD players or modified all-region DVD players which are about as common as grains of sand on the beach nowadays. Jan Code: 4988602136258 View the back cover and screenshots on the main NCSX website. This document is ©NCSX 2007. All rights reserved. No reproduction in whole or in part of this document may be made without express written consent of National Console Support, Inc.
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