Preview: Ivy The Kiwi? - Preview
by Alex St-Amour , posted on 20 August 2010 / 3,890 Views
This week I was introduced to Ivy the Kiwi, a newborn chick who sets out in search of her missing mother, and was instantly hooked.
On the surface Ivy The Kiwi? seems like your traditional 2D platformer. You must bring the titular Ivy to the end of the stage, all the while avoiding obstacles and enemies. The unique twist is that you never actually take control of the little bird, but instead draw vines that will form the path for Ivy to take. The vines can also be used to block paths, impede enemies or be snapped back to give Ivy an extra boost to plough through enemies. It’s a fun concept and one that is very rarely seen in games, in fact the only other game I can recall that played this way was the early DS title Kirby’s Canvas Curse.
Ivy The Kiwi?’s visual style is practically as unique as its gameplay. The entire game is presented in a classic story book style, with faded colors and subtle hues of red and brown. It really is a beautiful game which, for a DS game, is rather impressive. The animations on Ivy and her foes are also impressive; the characters are rendered in 3D to help them pop out of the 2D backgrounds, an effect which works wonders on the handheld.
The demo will run you through five levels from the DS build, each of which will introduce you to a different element of Ivy’s quest. It took me roughly 10 minutes to beat the demo on my first playthrough and my times only got better as I replayed the demo and learned the intricacies of the controls. However, it should be seen as a good sign that I wanted to replay the demo; I couldn’t get enough of the smooth free-running action and charming visuals and I wanted to keep pushing further, a sign of a hit in the making.
Ivy The Kiwi? launches sometime this fall for the Wii and DS, and mini versions will be available on WiiWare and DSiWare, but you can check the DS demo out now for free on the Nintendo Channel’s DS Download Service until August 22nd.
