Gamertell

Title: Boing! Docomodake DS
Price: $19.99
System(s): DS
Release Date: March 10, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Ignition Entertainment (AQ Interactive)
ESRB Rating: “Everyone”
Pros: Adorable characters. Interesting premise. A good starting point for beginners. Good touch screen controls. Relaxed atmosphere.
Cons: Isn’t terribly challenging. Controls take getting used to. Short.
Overall Score: One thumb up, one sideways; 80/100; B-; * * * out of 5

Somebody must have been leaving DSes in warm, dark and dry places, because mushrooms are popping up everywhere. First there was Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi, and now there’s Boing! Docomodake DS - both of which have mushroom protagonists.

Fortunately, they’re very different in tone. While Mushroom Men is very dark and serious, Docomodake isn’t. Boing! Docomodake DS is a classic platformer starring an adorable mushroom character making his way through stages by dividing up into tiny versions of himself. It’s a relaxing and entertaining romp through a colorful, relatively safe forest.

Even cell phone company mascots have private lives.

Boing! Docomodake DS is basically a story about the NTT DoCoMo mushroom mascot Docomodake and his family. A festival is coming up, and all of the members of the family, save for Papa Docomodake, have ventured into the forest either purposely or accidentally. Now it’s almost time for the festival to start, and Papa Docomodake has to retrieve Mama Docomodake, Grandma Docomodake, Grandpa Docomodake, Grade School Docomodake, Junior High Docomodake and Daughter Docomodake.

This is accomplished by visiting several sections of the forest and simply helping Papa Docomodake get from the start to the goal. There aren’t any bosses and enemies only rarely pop up. What there are, are tricky challenges to navigate, coins to collect and a screen at the end of the level that grades you based on whether you collected every coin and treasure in the level, and how quickly you did it.

Sit back, relax and take a walk with Docomodake.

Boing! Docomodake DS is a relaxing and entertaining game. It’s really more about solving the puzzles and making sure Papa Docomodake gets all of the coins/treasures in a level, then it is about racing through as fast as possible. The characters are absolutely adorable, and prologues and epilogues that appear before and after each area seem to inspire warm, fuzzy feelings.

A nice touch is that the clock, which keeps track of how long you’re spending on a level, doesn’t appear until you’ve finished. That way, you don’t feel pressured to meet a certain requirement and perhaps miss something important.

The game doesn’t really start getting challenging until the third area, when Papa Docomodake sets out to bring Grandpa Docomodake back home. Thats where I found the first puzzle that made me stop and think. (I wasn’t stumped for long, but it’s still worth noting the point where it first began challenging me.)

The downside, aside from the fact that the whole adventure isn’t some epic odyssey, is the controls may initially confound players. You expect A to be jump, B to dig, in a game like this, with left and right moving the character. Instead, up or X makes Papa Docomodake jump, pressing left, right, Y or B twice will make him move left or right, double pressing the direction buttons makes him roll and pressing down or B makes him dig. Initially, it can be frustrating.

After you start playing, those controls can be a blessing. I found the most comfortable control scheme was to use the stylus in my right hand (dealing with the arrangement of little Docomodakes) and control Papa Docomodake with my left using the D-pad. Left-handed players could then, very easily, use the other arrangement to progress through the game.

Papa Docomodake puts the “fun” in fungus.

Boing! Docomodake DS isn’t absurdly challenging. It isn’t like Contra 4. It also isn’t focused on beating up anything in Papa Docomodake’s path to make it through a level, like New Super Mario Bros.. It’s just a gentle, occasionally challenging, sometimes heartwarming adventure that will keep you entertained for a few evenings.

If you know someone who’s never owned a game system before, and the DS is their first, or someone who’s a sucker for games starting cute characters, Boing! Docomodake DS could be a match made in heaven.

Read [Gamertell] Site [Boing! Docomodake DS]