Boing! Docomodake Nintendo DS Review

This is Boing! Docomodake for the Nintendo DS and it’s a game that you will love or hate, especially when it comes to the music. Personally we love it.

The game is set in the Docomodake Forest and on the day of the annual mushroom festival, you control Papa Docomodake and have to travel through the Forest avoiding different obstacles while you search for your lost family. You got to be quick if you want to get Papa Docomodake’s family to the festival on time.

Most games we have played that are based on Blockbuster movies are not all that great, and Boing! Docomodake is not even based on a movie, its based on a mascot from a telecommunications network in Japan. That said, we open our mind and give it a go.

After playing for a little while you realize how special this game is, at first it looks like a basic 2D puzzle platformer that enters a saturated market, then you see that Boing! Is extremely inventive.

The magic is in controlling Papa Docomodake over the 7 different worlds on his journey to finding the Docomodake family members; it’s impressive how you can use the stylus to drag smaller mushrooms out of Papa Docomodake. You can then use the “minis” to manipulate the levels.

You can throw minis at enemies, get to unreachable areas by stacking them, and do many other things. Once you have finished with them you just double tap the hand above Papa Docomodake and all the minis rush back. Other controls include use of the directional pad for crouching, jumping, and movements. You can also roll or sprint with a double tap in either direction.

If you love puzzle games then you will love Boing! Docomodake, the minis make tasks simple at first and then gradually more complicated. The puzzles can become frustrating when you have to restart the complete level if you fail, but once mastered you may find the game quick to complete.

The ranking system is the one thing that gives this game more hours of gameplay, you will enjoy collecting treasure chests and coins around the levels and aiming for the “S” rank. This is judged on how much treasure you collect and the time it took you to do it.

Some other fun in the game includes unlocking in-level music and buying artwork with your treasure. Boing! Docomodake will be released on October 31, 2008 for the Nintendo DS (£16.99). You can see a trailer for the game below the photos.

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