Now, one of my earliest reviews is of Minami Lane, a brilliant small game about building a cozy lil street to the likes of the the residents. Doot (and composer Zakku, who also worked on Minami Lane) has created a wholesome game that almost comes back to Pokémon’s original roots…catching bugs.
You’re Hana, searching for bugs at your local farm, catching them if you can, and making decisions on who to keep or sell to the park service for candies. You’ll use those to level your bugs of choice, and then you use a team of three to battle in the tournament against NPCs, including Doot himself. Winning matches earns you coins, which you can use to buy better gear or bus fare to the demos second (and final) area.
Every bug has a random size range, and larger bugs tend to come with better battle stats, and some will come with enhanced stats marked by a star. I’ve seen bugs that come with two starred stats, making me wonder if it’s possible to find the perfect bug…a huge size and three starred stats. Additionally, every species has their own set of cards which you can use to affect the combat. Some species are also marked as uncommon or rare, and usually with a larger stat total, possibly heavily weighted towards one to the detriment of others. Team building means you can balance this out with your other two bugs though.
Battle consists of essentially attack and defense phases, where you’re working to push the other team off the platform, sumo style. Your teams total strength determines your push, defense will resist being pushed, and energy which allows you to play the cards. Each card has it’s own energy cost, as well as a variety of effects. Some will increase stats temporarily or permanently, others resist or cause knockback, and one even clears all timed buffs. Making sure to use the right cards in the right phases can mean even a team of good common bugs can beat the demos final battle.
Overall, it’s a wonderful little game, and will go on sale in May. You can grab the demo here, and if you’ve enjoyed Doot’s other games (Froggy’s battle is pretty fun too!), you’ll love this too. I finished the Kabuto Park’s demo in a two hours, but I spent a whole bunch of extra time grinding for leveling additional bugs and trying to chase the perfect bug. There doesn’t seem to be a save in the demo, so be warned about being attached to your team until full release.