The Gormiti franchise, which spawned collectible cards and action figures, has finally made its way to the Nintendo Wii. Instead of developing a card-based game like Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh, the developers decided to create a 3rd person platform brawler that is easy to play.
You control the four elements: Earth, Fire, Wind and Nature. These Gormiti are actually the souls of Earth children, appointed by The Old Sage of Gorm. Their purpose is to battle the evil Magmion and his army before they destroy planet Earth.
Nick, Toby, Lucas and Jessica – the four heroes of the story- discover that Earth is under attack by events triggered on Gorm. After being teleported to the lush, green environment of Gorm, our four heros are transformed into powerful Lords of Nature. The player will assume the role of 3 Lords at any given time. Certain objectives may require a specific element, and these are indicated by the element’s symbol.
For example: some areas need bridges for your team of Lords to cross, and the Element of Nature can create a bridge of tree branches to solve this problem. The Element of Earth can use its strength to break through blocked passageways; Water can swim across rivers and activate damns; and Wind can reach incredibly high places.
The game mechanics are pretty straight-forward. With your chosen Lord, you can punch and kick in-coming enemies, climb platforms, and solve puzzles based on elemental power. When the situation arises and a different Lord is needed, it’s as simple as pressing the C button on the nunchuk. Your Lords are not limited to punching and kicking however. You can execute Charged Shots by holding the Z button and then releasing it, and you can perform Super Attacks by shaking the Wii remote.
Surprisingly, the game controls quite well, and this is usually the biggest complaint most gamers have about Wii action titles. Even younger gamers can pick up the controls and enjoy the game without frustration.
Boss battles hardly pose a challenge for older gamers. They usually consist of easy-to-remember patterns and repetitive attacks that require little strategy. The cinematics (during the boss battles) are pretty impressive, though, and resemble the cartoon closely. Fans of the cartoon will be impressed, and appreciate the attention paid to detail.
As far as graphics are concerned, they are decent with a good array of coloring that pays tribute to Saturday morning cartoons. The Lords of Nature themselves look really good, like they walked right out of a cartoon. The same can be said for the minions and bosses encountered throughout the small island of Gorm.
While it may not keep hardcore gamers entertained for any length of time, fans of the cartoon will find plenty of enjoyment in Gormiti: Lords of Nature! . Its basic platform elements, puzzles, and solid controls are perfect for gamers of all ages.
Mike ‘STGuy1040’ Pittaro
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Developer / Publisher: Konami
Price: $39.99
Konami’s website
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |   |
| The graphics are decent; they're colorful and look very cartoonish. | |
| Sound | |
| There's plenty of crushing sound effects to accompany the action, but the music is a bit on the repetitive side. | |
| Gameplay | |
| Good puzzles and solid controls keep the game from growing stale. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| There's enough here to keep fans of the cartoon entertained. | |
