News: Roosday #2: Cavern and Forest Page 1

Roosday #2: Cavern and Forest

Every Tuesday SouthPeak Games will be detailing new aspects of Wii/DS puzzler Roogoo in an exclusive developer diary.

This week we find out more on the unique environments in the Wii and DS versions - and both follow onto completely different locations. Wii players head into the dark and creepy caverns, whereas DS fans venture into a mystical forest.

Environment 2: Cavern (Wii)

After exploring the lush Grasslands of Planet Roo, players plunge into the dark and creepy Caverns. The beautiful butterflies have been replaced by nimble bats that also share the same fondness for stealing Meteor shapes, so keep an eye out for them.

Roo-cuz will tell players about new meteor shapes that fall at faster rates, and will teach them how to drill through obstacles that stop meteors from reaching their destination. The distance between platforms has shrunk for some levels so players should be mindful of aligning the rapidly descending meteors and having their nets ready and able to catch stray meteors as well.

Meemoos have returned to steal more meteors from the Roogoo. The Meemoos are also joined by Barry von Pire -- a powerful vampire Meemoo that has the ability to teleport and even transform into bats in order to steal meteors. Players must utilize previously learned Roogoo techniques to defeat these enemies and safely collect meteors.

Bonus tip! After defeating Barry von Pire, players who brought their Nintendo DS with them will have a chance to play a bonus level in the Caverns.

Environment 2: Forest (DS)

The next stop for DS players is the enchanted Forest. Within the Forest, players will learn a new Roogoo technique that enables them to battle Meemoos by attacking them with the meteors while they descend. Here's an advanced tip passed down by Goo-Roos: try rotating the platform while multiple Meemoos stand guard over the holes.

Flowers are sometimes spread across platforms and they attract butterflies that will pick up collected meteor shapes. Players must be alert and ready to rotate platforms to align shapes with the correct holes because these butterflies carry the shapes upwards. As a bonus for some levels, these butterflies will instead drop the shapes downwards in rapid succession after picking them up. So, the player must be ready to align the platform as usual but at a faster rate in order to catch the shapes and achieve a better bonus score.

Players will also have the ability to build nests and snowmen between levels. A complete nest consists of a nest, an egg and a hen while the snowman consists of a base, body, and head made from mounds of snow.

Before reaching the end of the Forest, players will encounter flipping platforms. With perfect timing, players can maneuver shapes through the holes of the flipping platforms to avoid dropping items.