Found: Lost in Blue 3 for DS
The nearest thing you'll get to Lost on DS... now with dolphins!
Early information and screenshots on Konami's Lost in Blue 3 have appeared on Japanese gaming sites.
Lost in Blue 2, the second game in the island survival series was released on DS earlier this year and got an average reception from us, despite the potential of its original premise. Like its predecessor, it starred two children trapped on an isolated island and forced to get back to nature to survive.
The gameplay involved all sorts of survival mini-games, featuring Ray Mear-style activities, such as lighting fires by blowing into the DS mic, chopping up vegetables and wrestling alligators. Unfortunately, food and water meters dropped fast and the whole survival experience ended up being a bit miserable as a result.
However, info on Lost in Blue 3 so far sounds promising. For a start, you can talk to dolphins! A mini-game where musical notes scroll along the touchscreen is seen in one screenshot, and you apparently use the DS mic to communicate with the big, smiley sea mammals. Hopefully they're not going to expect you to squeak into it – imagine the scene during your morning commute…
The game features the traditional boy/girl duo, with surviving and escaping the island once again being the ultimate goal. The two will need to work together and pool their skills in order to successfully explore and gather enough food to survive. It also sounds like the girl character will develop a unique personality depending on circumstances and experiences on the island.
Yes, the screenshots released do make it look like more of the same. We're just keeping our fingers crossed Konami can nail this to make it the game everyone wanted the first two times around. That and the fact the kids don't need to drink two gallons of water every hour in order to survive.
The game will be released in 2008 in Japan and while there's no confirmed western release yet, it should eventually wash up on our shores.
