Pokemon clone Zenform: Protectors hitting the App Store tomorrow

We've seen an influx of portable Pokemon clones over the past few months, but Zenform: Protectors looks like one of the more intriguing examples. It's hitting the App Store tomorrow.

Calis Projects's Zenform might sound like a brand of ladies' sanitary product, but it's actually a Pokemon-style 2D RPG. You can expect to see the same animal-collecting, -breeding, and -battling gameplay here, plus a familiar cutesy anime art style, with assorted spiky-backed dinosaurs and ill-tempered rodents.

But, there are one or two interesting elements that stand out. We like the idea of your battling creature evolving differently depending on the skills you choose to focus on - all Zenforms spring from three basic types, by the way.

We also like the fact that Calis Projects will update, and add to, the game at no extra charge. Remember when all iOS developers used to do that?

There's also the hint of something a little more open and freeform about Zenform's gameworld. "Shape how your story unfolds by making choices in the game," the developer says, "becoming famous or infamous, becoming good or bad, or even forming relationships and friendships."

Zenforms: Protectors is out now on the New Zealand App Store, so will hit the UK and US at midnight. It'll cost £1.49 / $1.99. It seems to have been designed with iPhone in mind, so no iPad-optimised version in sight as yet.

Subscribe to Pocket Gamer on