Overview- Critic & User
Reviews - Videos &
Screenshots
News- Codes
& FAQs - Gameplay
Controls - Similar
Games
Answers
Bundles
Critic & User Reviews
How do you revitalize platform games? Draw it!
posted by lazygamer (Northridge, CA) Sep 14, 2007
Member since Jan 2003
43 out of 46 gamers (93%) found this review helpful
Some of you older gamers out there may remember the Tom and Jerry cartoons that came on at 3:00pm after school. One cartoon had Jerry (the mouse) running around on Tom's "perfect" mousetrap blueprint with his blueprint counterpart. While being chased by the drawn Tom (cat) on the blueprint, they would all battle by drawing their weapons and altering themselves. Heck, Tom even drew himself some bigger, sharper teeth! And of course, hilarity ensued. So whereas that was a fresh take on cartoons (that a cartoon character would draw itself), you the gamer will draw the game. Where PS2 sleeper hit "Okami" had "the brush is mightier than the sword" ethic, here, you draw the one who wields the sword.
As the benevolent "creator", your job is to help keep the darkness from engulfing your cute furry subjects. Pretty standard story, no surprises here. But wait there's more.
The platforming aspect of the game felt pretty traditional as well: jump, collect coins, bounce-on-monster move. You'll use the stylus to remove icky darkness from houses too. Still more though.
Where the game really shines, of course, is in the drawing part. No training is needed, from doodle-on-the-phone drawings to inspired per-pixel creations, they will come to life. Small, big, fill tools, a rainbow of colors...all there! Pre-made templates are available but would be against the spirit of the game. In 30 minutes I had a pretty good Homer Simpson running around. As a bonus, if your character gets damaged, it looses part of its drawn body (the story has you "sculpting" your hero over a wooden puppet).
For kids, I really can't think of a better game on the DS right now. The often little-used zone of a child's brain, typically filled with Spongebob and Hannah Montana can be fixed. The imagination finally has a worthy mate. Kids can spend hours just drawing character after character just to see how they will move, and start over again. This will be how animators are made. Bravo THQ!
As the benevolent "creator", your job is to help keep the darkness from engulfing your cute furry subjects. Pretty standard story, no surprises here. But wait there's more.
The platforming aspect of the game felt pretty traditional as well: jump, collect coins, bounce-on-monster move. You'll use the stylus to remove icky darkness from houses too. Still more though.
Where the game really shines, of course, is in the drawing part. No training is needed, from doodle-on-the-phone drawings to inspired per-pixel creations, they will come to life. Small, big, fill tools, a rainbow of colors...all there! Pre-made templates are available but would be against the spirit of the game. In 30 minutes I had a pretty good Homer Simpson running around. As a bonus, if your character gets damaged, it looses part of its drawn body (the story has you "sculpting" your hero over a wooden puppet).
For kids, I really can't think of a better game on the DS right now. The often little-used zone of a child's brain, typically filled with Spongebob and Hannah Montana can be fixed. The imagination finally has a worthy mate. Kids can spend hours just drawing character after character just to see how they will move, and start over again. This will be how animators are made. Bravo THQ!