Boing! Docomodake DS
Ever wonder what would happen if you mixed Mario with puzzle solving and the mascot of Japanese telecommunications giant NTT Docomo? Me neither, but then Boing Docomodake fell on my lap and I got to find out. You play as the excessively long-named title character, a giant walking mushroom with a wry smile that suggests he knows something you don’t. The story isn’t exactly Tolstoy; Docomodake has planned a festival to celebrate all things Docomodake, unfortunately every last member of his Docomodake family has managed to conveniently disappear and it’s up to Papa Docomodake to go find them and force them to return to his festival.
To do this you’ll be introduced to the wide range of abilities Papa D has. The most basic is his capacity to break himself down into smaller pieces or reassemble into his former glory, not unlike the Megazord from Power Rangers. The smaller Docomodakes can be used for a variety of tasks from bridging gaps to being stacked atop each other to create a temporary ladder. Hilariously they can also be thrown as weapons although if they hit a wall they will collapse and begin to die, should you fail to reabsorb them within ten seconds they will pass away, becoming a ghost and haunting you for the duration of the level.
What sets the levels apart from a more standard platformer is the interesting puzzles therein. Early ones won’t cause you much hassle but soon you will be faced with areas which require real planning and considerable thinking to pass. Moreover the controls are perfect; all you require is the D-pad and the stylus to use all of your abilities and the touch screen certainly has more than a gimmick status.
While the game is short there is a surprising amount of replay value in that each level is stuffed with optional collectables. The game also comes with a grading system after each level determined by your speed and how many objects you pick up, in a manner obviously designed to highlight the parallels between Docomodake and Devil May Cry.
Nicely broken up into little chunks, Docomodake provides five minutes of slightly challenging fun perfect for a quick bus ride/queue/prostate examination/phone call from your mother.
This is not a complicated game, but it is fun. Not life changing, but it will bring a smile to your face. The thing is that Boing Docomodake is so unrelentingly cute it makes you feel like a bad person to say anything negative about it, although at a push I would say that the music has a tendency to grate after a while.
Overall though the game is so nice, inoffensive and heart-warming that it should brighten up any day, I enjoyed Docomodake, and if your fed up of blood and guns, and have a heart, you will too.
