Boing! Docomodake DS Review

Puzzling how Japan loves their 'shrooms.

There are some really odd games out there. From the country that brought you Katamari Damacy comes... Boing! Docomodake! Really, what is it with the Japanese and video games and mushrooms? How many games will (and already) involve them, and yet have nothing to do with cooking? While involving puzzles? How many puzzles can you do while 'shooming like crazy, mister... uhh, Japan?

Anyway, B!D is a puzzler that fits somewhere between Yoshi's Island and a kindergarten classroom. Papa Docomodake is responsible for finding and saving his family so that they can get to the “annual festival”... whatever that really is.

The look of the whole package is uber-friendly, almost childish in nature. Even the enemies feel like they've been ripped from a six-year-old's coloring book. Primary colors litter the landscapes and every character is styled as simplistically as possible, which is a refreshing change of pace from the bulk of high-profile games for every next-gen stand-up platform on the market. Music flows over each level as gently as Grandma Mushroom rides the tide (she fell in, funny story...), but it's generally flat in the scheme of things; it just doesn't hold much... water?

Controlling the in-game action amazes me and is truly a high point for the DS library. I've yet to find a game that balances using the stylus and D-pad at the same time so fluently; the pad is responsible for the action and the stylus is in charge of character splitting.

Each of the levels can be viewed in its entirety if you so choose to search and plan your strategy, but it doesn't help much. The game involves getting from point A to point B, and everything you come across leads you down a fairly direct path. It only helps if you're attempting a perfect, and it could be fulfilling when you see that 100% pop up, but for some of the levels, you'll just want to get through and be done with them... at least for the moment.

For such a funny-looking little game, it's actually difficult to get 100% on every level. Collecting coins and defeating bumblebees can be adorable and look simple and straightforward, but can be a downright pain. Still, when you find yourself in the groove, you can make it through without much difficulty; but prepare to have your head sore from hitting the wall too much when the buzz wears off, because the difficulty is “all or nothing”, meaning that the puzzle is either extremely easy or frustratingly angrifying.

Boing! Docomodake does have some slight annoyances, but if the puzzle genre is appealing then it's worth checking out. Just don't try to explain it to some people, especially your parents... they'll probably think you're on 'shrooms something.