This release took me by surprise. I knew the game would be localized, but it escaped my mind completely. This series kinda interested me when I heard about it, despite the childish look. The series has been going on for 7 years now, but only after all that time we get an english version of the game over here. So I jumped on it right when I saw it.

Has it been worth the long wait for a localized version, or is it lame?

Read on!

Looks and sounds
Graphically, the game looks very childish. Everything is very colorful, but also very kid-friendly. During conversations, the characters’ mouths move like The Muppets(and the animation is really weird…). The game itself looks pretty good. The sprites are nice and quite detailed. The animations are pretty smooth as well. Despite looking very childish, the game also looks really good. The character design is pretty fun, the level design is great, with distinctive looks for each world. The enemy design is also not too bad either, with a lot of variety in the looks. Animation in here is very well done as well, smooth and fun-looking.

The sound design is well done. Each move and animation has it’s own distinct sound. Starfy has this weird voice he does instead of talking, it’s  strange and annoying, but you get used to it fast. The music goes well with the levels, not much more to say on that one.

Story
Some day, Starfy(prince of Pufftop Kingdom) was being lazy. Suddenly, a spacesuit-wearing rabbit(named Bunston) fell through the ceiling, next to Starfy, with vilains chassing him. So Starfy decides to help him out. So here you go through 8 worlds, finding crystal shards, which  helps Bunston recover his memory. Who are chasing him? Well, minions of an evil overlord who attacked Bunston’s kingdom, killed/knocked out/enslaved everyone to steal their powers (to transform into different things). So basically the goal is to beat up that bad guy.

The story segments are shown in a comic-book style, which is relatively well done. I just find that the scenes are too slow.

The story is surprisingly dark, for a kid’s game. It’s not incredibly awesome, but it does take its audience seriously enough and delivers a kinda fun little story.

Gameplay
This is where the game gets quite interesting. There’s 2 basic things you’ll be doing: platforming on ground and exploring the ocean. Each of those has its own distinctive control scheme

In the water, you can move in any direction you want. Holding B will make you move around faster. Pressing Y will make Starfy do his spin attack (and holding a direction at the same time will make you do upgraded versions later in the game). On the ground, Y still makes you spin, but holding it makes you run. B makes you jump (and later you can double jump), and you eventually get an update which makes you glide if you hold B.
The controls are pretty good, though it is a bit confusing that “moving faster” uses a different btton on both the ground and in the water.

With those basic controls, there’s a small variety of moves you can do, and each must be used at their full potential to get to the end of each level.

The levels themselves are pretty interesting. Each world brings a new gimmick to the gameplay, and it uses that gimmick to its ull potential, making each new world really interesting to play through. The levels start up pretty basic, then you have geysers that send you to flying, to drops of water falling that you can swim through to get to different places. There’s tons of variety in the gameplay. In addition to this, each level has a bunch of secrets to find. Chests, secret doors that lead to mini-games that lead to secret levels and more. There’s a lot to do in the game, that’s for sure.

The combat is really simple. Spinning damages enemies, enough spins kills them. The normal battles are not THAT interesting, but some are actually puzzles, and it’s pretty fun overall. The boss battles, though, are pretty original. Not very hard, but there’s a lot of different tactics and attacks from bosses, with different ways to damage them. The boss fights are some of the most interesting things in the game.

Other than all this, you have a few more gameplay elements: Transforming and mini-games. Bunston’s special powers enable him to fuse with Starfy and give you different attacks and moves. You start with Monstar, a fire-breathing… thing… and get more transformations as you progress. A seal with a big ice pick when you attack, a chicken with loud scream attacks, and a ghost that can pass through obstacles and lays fireball traps. Those transformations add even more variety to the gameplay.
The game is filled with minigames, and for the most part they’re pretty fun. Not great, but not bad. Some use the in-game engine(the ones that must be played to unlock secret levels), others use the touchscreen.

Minor complaint
The game is very easy. I died once in the whole game, and it’s because I was trying something out and it failed miserably.  The boss battles, despite being really fun, are also really easy. Getting damaged is not really a problem, since pearls you find in the game give back energy. 1 big pearl refills a heart on its own, and 5 small pearls refill a heart. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s a ton of save points in each level, and each of them completely refill your hearts. Unless you really try, it’s almost impossible to die. I know the game is targetted at kids, but a bit more difficulty wouldn’t have been THAT bad.

Overall
This is a pretty fun game. The fact that it took 7 years for Nintendo to bring this over across the ocean is a bit strange. The childish look might put you off, but the gameplay is solid and fun. It’s a really easy game, but it’s fun enough not to be a big problem.

If you’re looking for a fun and original platformer on the DS, definitely check this out.

jobocan ds, Games, Handheld, Review