A little bird stars in a compact but fulfilling platformer.
Ivy the Kiwi? (DS)
[starreview]
Developer: Prope
Publisher: XSeed Games
Release date: August 24, 2010
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
This review was based on a review copy of the game and not a retail copy, generously furnished by XSEED Games. Screenshots are from Ivy the Kiwi? Mini.
Ivy the Kiwi? is the newest brainchild from Yuji Naka, creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, the fastest icon in gaming. Though if you’ve seen anything about the game, you probably know not to expect a white-and-red blur racing across the screen, but a somewhat unorthodox platforming game with vines and blocks and adorable rat monsters. Yuji Naka’s no guarantee of speed. He is, however, very good at putting together a well-controlling, innovative, and entertaining platformer.
Ivy the Kiwi? feels a lot like a storybook in its art style, and the story is told sort of like a children’s book as well. You’ll only get a glimpse of it at the beginning (Ivy is only half-hatched from her egg, and goes on a quest to find her mother), and then you don’t really get any story updates until the end of the game. It then recaps everything you saw, storybook style, adding in fun touches and wrapping it up with a nice ending that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.
Contrary to platformer convention, you don’t have direct control over Ivy. Ivy is constantly moving forward on her own, boneheadedly charging into rats, spikes, raindrops or anything else that poses a threat. Your job is to use the touch screen to draw vines under Ivy for her to walk on so she can reach the goal, but there are several things you can do with this. You can draw a simple vine to act as a bridge or a slope. You can also swing a vine upward as you draw it, launching Ivy a little bit into the air. You can also pull back on a vine and then let go, which will spring Ivy forward as she drills through the air, taking out blocks or enemies in her way.
A game like Ivy the Kiwi? isn’t really something I would expect to have a learning curve, but the game actually isn’t as intuitive as it sounds. The first time I played, I ended up flinging Ivy all over the place without a whole lot of control; it takes practice to really learn the physics engine and get control over that bird. I never did get the hang of launching Ivy into enemies, though; I would inevitably draw a new vine when trying to pull one back, or else I’d pull it too late and Ivy would end up hurt. I eventually learned not to bother with enemies unless I absolutely had to.
Once I realized that, and got the hang of the physics engine, the game actually became an awful lot of fun. Once you start effortlessly controlling Ivy, or the boulders you need to bring along to smash blocks or other enemies, you get a sense of mastery and it makes you feel awesome, which is a great thing for a game to do. Of course, if you want to be more challenged, the game can certainly take care of that. Scattered through the level are ten feathers for you to obtain, and getting each one is generally a much trickier feat. There’s also a coin hidden inside one of the blocks in every level, but good luck finding it because I came across maybe two in fifty levels, on accident.
The music is fairly pleasant to listen to, nicely complimenting the game’s art style. While the Wii version of the game is drawn in a sort of “Squigglevision”, the DS is not quite so powerful, and everything has a more solid look. The color schemes and general art style really lend the game its storybook feel, and while there might be a little too much yellow for my tastes, I’d say the game looks very nice. As for replay value, you’ll end up with 100 levels to play through, though you only need to beat 50 to see the game’s end; each one of these also challenges you to collect feathers and coins, and you can even challenge your best scores and times.
Overall, Ivy the Kiwi? is a simple and straightforward affair, but one that’s very well designed and refined. There are a couple of control gripes (flinging Ivy still drives me crazy), and the package feels a little bit bare-bones, but it’s still a great game that you can play in short bursts of one or two levels, or for longer periods of time as well. If you’re looking for a more innovative style of platformer that gets you engaged, you could definitely do worse than this; at a mere $20, this game is an excellent value. And if you’re short on cash, you could pick up Ivy the Kiwi? Mini on DSiWare for a paltry $5; it’s the same game, but with only 50 levels to play. Either way, it’s hard to go wrong.
