Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs

Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs (ポケモンレンジャー 光の軌跡, Pokemon Renjā Hikari no Kiseki, "Pokémon Ranger: Tracks of Light") is an action role-playing video game developed by Creatures Inc., published by The Pokémon Company and distributed by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It is the sequel to Pokémon Ranger and Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia and it is the third installment of its series. It was released in Japan on March 6, 2010, North America on October 4, 2010, and Europe on November 5, 2010. It was released on the European Wii U Virtual Console on June 9, 2016. Gameplay revolves around capturing Pokémon with the Capture Styler by drawing circles around them. The game received mixed or average reviews, with Metacritic and GameRankings both giving it a 69%.

Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs
North American version cover art
Developer(s)Creatures Inc.
Publisher(s)Nintendo
The Pokémon Company
Director(s)Yukinori Torii
Producer(s)Hiroyuki Jinnai
Hiroaki Tsuru
Designer(s)Hiroshi Igarashi
Yasuhiro Ito
Satoko Harigaya
Hiroshi Munekiyo
Yuusuke Yamaguchi
Takahiro Sawai
Yohei Asaoka
Yuko Shoji
Satoru Tsuji
Ryōji Tanaka
Composer(s)Kenichi Koyano
Shigerou Yoshida
Keisuke Oku
SeriesPokémon
Platform(s)Nintendo DS
Release
  • JP: March 6, 2010
  • NA: October 4, 2010
  • EU: November 5, 2010
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs is an action role-playing game in which gameplay revolves around capturing Pokémon with the Capture Styler by drawing circles around them. If the Pokémon breaks through the drawn circles by using attacks on them, then the styler's health goes down, and runs out of energy. When energy reaches 0, the styler breaks and the game resumes from the last save point. However, if, for example, the Pokémon walks through the styler's line without using an attack, the styler's line will break, but the styler does not take damage. Capturing Pokémon and completing missions increases XP, which can lead to styler upgrades, such as power upgrade and energy upgrade. After a certain point, the styler can be charged in order to be more effective.[1] One of the new features lets you call out your Pokémon for support and to help in captures.[2] The player can use "Guardian Signs" (also referred to in the game as "Ranger Signs" or "Emblems" by drawing certain symbols, to summon Legendary Pokémon like Entei, Raikou, and Suicune and use them outside of battle. Other features include four player cooperative play with unique missions.[1] The game also includes Wi-Fi mission downloads, one of which gives you access to Deoxys, which can be moved to the DS's other Pokémon games.[3]

Plot

The game takes place on the island region of Oblivia. The player, and a friend and fellow Ranger, Ben (Summer, if the player is male), are flying on Staraptors in the clouds, chasing after Pokémon Pinchers after Latias (Latios for male players). The player allows Latios/Latias to escape by distracting the Pinchers. However, when their squad leader, Red Eyes comes in, the player's partner taunts Red Eyes. He responds by shooting a plasma gun. The player moves forward and shields their partner from the blow, and is sent into the sea below, where the player loses and eventually recovers their styler. (The player's partner is then kidnapped.) The player washes up on a beach- the shores of Dolce Island. The player meets a Pichu with a ukulele,[3] who is known throughout the game as the Ukulele Pichu. This Pichu becomes the partner Pokémon of this game. It will join the player as their Partner Pokémon, after they fix its broken ukulele. As a newly recruited Pokémon Ranger, the player would go on various missions and encounter friends, foes, and rivals, not to mention hordes of Pokémon. The new enemy, the Pokémon Pinchers, are controlling Pokémon and using them to their advantage. With newly found Pokémon companions at their side, the player begins their journey to put a stop to the Pokémon Pinchers and restore peace in Oblivia.

Development

Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs was developed by Creatures Inc. for the Nintendo DS. It was first revealed on January 13, 2010 by Japan's CoroCoro Comic, which had first details about the games.[3] On January 15, Nintendo Japan made an official announcement for the game, and provided screenshots and artwork.[2] It was released in Japan on March 6, 2010, North America on October 4, 2010, and Europe on November 5, 2010.[4]

Reception
Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic68/100[5]
Review scores
PublicationScore
GamePro[6]
GamesRadar+6/10[7]
GameZone6.5/10[8]
IGN7/10[1]
Nintendo Power7/10[9]

The game received mixed or average reviews according to the review aggregator Metacritic.[5] GamePro rated the game 3/5 stars, stating "Guardian Signs isn't much of a departure from the last two titles in the series".[6] IGN's Kristine Steimer rated the game 7/10, stating the graphics of "the different environments look really sharp" and "The music depicts the mood of the story very well".[1] GamesRadar+ rated the game 6/10, stating that the "Guardian Signs is a great game for small children, but is too simplistic for the rest of us."[7] GameZone rated the game 6.5/10, and commented "The visuals of Guardian Signs actually surprised me... both the characters and the world of Oblivia contain more details than the main Pokemon games."[8]

It was the top selling game in Japan for the week of March 1 through March 7, selling 161,000 copies.[10] It stayed at the top the next week, selling 65,000 copies.[11] It continued to stay on the charts, selling 360,000 copies in the game's first month.[12]

gollark: No, I mean "safe" as in "you can't lose more than that".
gollark: Ħmm.
gollark: !quote 708948631381737483
gollark: Limited liability is good because it makes it safer to invest in things/have shares, but government bailouts of failing companies are bad because a company that cannot support itself on its own merits deserves to die.
gollark: It seems like a cruel strategy to apply to people, but these are limited liability corporations and thus probably incapable of suffering.

References
  1. Kristine Steimer (October 4, 2010). "Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs Review - Nintendo DS Review at IGN". IGN. News Corporation. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  2. Anoop Gantayat (January 15, 2010). "First Look: Pokemon Ranger: Path of Light - Nintendo DS story". IGN. News Corporation. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  3. Anoop Gantayat (January 13, 2010). "Pokemon Ranger Returns - Nintendo DS story - at IGN". IGN. News Corporation. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  4. "Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs release date announced". September 2, 2010. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  5. "Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs Critic Reviews for DS at Metacritic.com". Metacritic. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  6. McKinley Noble (October 5, 2010). "Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Sign Review". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2010-10-11. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  7. Alan Kim (October 5, 2010). "Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs review, Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs Review, DS Reviews". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  8. Mike Splechta (October 22, 2010). "Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs review". GameZone.com. Archived from the original on November 3, 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  9. "Nintendo Power" (260). Future US. November 2010: 89. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. Anoop Gantayat (March 12, 2010). "Pokemon Ranger Tops the Japanese Charts - DS News at IGN". IGN. Retrieved 2010-03-22.
  11. IGN Staff (March 19, 2010). "Two Weeks at Top For Pokemon Ranger - DS News at IGN". IGN. Retrieved 2010-03-22.
  12. Anoop Gantayat (April 9, 2010). "Etrian Odyssey 3 Tops Japanese Charts". IGN. News Corporation. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
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