For the Good of All Anime

Nendoroid Planet iPhone App!

So, I just got an iPhone the other day, and was looking for some nice apps to download. Lo and behold, I found out that the Good Smile Company released an app of their own — and what makes it even better is that it features the always-adorable Nendoroids!

Nendoroid Planet is a strategy game — you place the Nendoroids you collect around a grid with a path running through it. Monsters will come through that path, and you’ve got to use your collection to destroy the monsters before they get all the way across the path. Depending on where you place your Nendoroids and who you choose to level up and when, this can either go very well or horribly wrong — hence the strategy.

You start out with a Saber (from Fate/Stay Night) Nendoroid, and some little birds to place around the grid that will help you out until your collection builds up (after you’ve gotten a fair amount of Nendoroids, you won’t really need these birds).

After you beat a stage (assuming you do), you are granted some tokens (bronze, silver, and gold) depending on how well you did. You’re going to go to a little prize machine, and this is how you’re going to build up your Nendoroid army. When it comes to bronze coin prize machines, you aren’t going to get anything you can use — rather, you’re going to be able to add little Nendoroids to the museum, so you can look at them and stuff. (I don’t really see the point to this… I’d rather use them in battle.)

However, silver coin prize machines will give you a little bit of both. There’s a chance you’ll get a battle-ready Nendoroid, and a chance you’ll get a sit-there-and-look-pretty Nendoroid.

And, as for gold, you will always get a battle Nendoroid.

Unfortunately, there are very few battle Nendoroids. 16 of them, to be exact. This is why it’s a real shame that they decided to make more useless Nendoroids than useful.

But hey, it’s still a fun game, and can actually be quite challenging. Best part? The entire app is free. And no, it’s not one of those “sucky-incomplete-free-version-of-the-original” app, it is the full app, and is completely free.

But there’s one more slight drawback — it’s completely in Japanese. This doesn’t prevent players from other countries from playing it, but it may take a little while for you to figure it out. Unless, that is, you take a look at this English guide to it, in which case, you’re all set.

http://hummerbob1.wordpress.com/2011/07/19/nendoroid-planet-iphone-app-mini-guide/

All in all, this is a really great app. While not as awesome as it could have been, it’ll definitely keep you busy and entertained for awhile, provided that you’re not a rage-quitter.