Before I can recommend Ivy the Kiwi? Mini, I have to ask one simple question: can you handle a little frustration in your games? If you don’t mind pulling your hair out occasionally because you died for the Nth time on a set of spikes or because you ran out of time
just as you were reaching the end of a stage, you will find this game very fun and rewarding. If not, don’t curse my name and say I didn’t warn you.
In this game, you have to guide Ivy the presumed kiwi through a series of 2D stages, but you don’t directly control the flightless bird, instead you can draw up to three vines with which you can not only block her path or create safe ground for her to walk on, but nudge her or catapult her around. Because as soon as you start creating the vine, it is an actual object in the game that will affect Ivy or the enemies, and as long as you don’t let go, you can swivel it around to push Ivy where you want her to go.
In this case, it’s much easier to show than to tell.
So you can see that Ivy moves automatically forward, and that the vines can be stretched to send Ivy into a drill attack that kill enemies and smash certain blocks, but part of the frustration I talked about earlier comes from the fact that these attacks are not that easy to set-up, given Ivy’s tendency to run away. Moreover, it happens very often that you’ll accidentally pull on a vine you already laid down when trying to lay down another, or vice versa. No matter how careful you try to be, Ivy the Kiwi? is a fast-paced game, and in the heat of the action you WILL make these mistakes that feel utterly unfair and frustrating.
But to its credit, these frustrating moments never kept me away from the game for too long. I was always back eventually to plough through a few more levels. The game as this “just one more try/level” quality that makes it hard to put down when you’re in the zone.
Presentation-wise, the music really stands out. It’s a disappointment when tracks start to repeat in later worlds, but the quality of the music is undeniable. Some tunes are very upbeat, others strangely melancholic… I’d definitely be interested in purchasing the soundtrack.
Visually, well, the game looks very nice, but the name of this game is not “variety”. The backgrounds change from world to world, but those blocks that make up the levels are always the same, and you’ll see the same 2 enemies throughout the whole 50 levels.
Now if you’ve decided to get the game, the last question is: how are you going to get your fix? The game is available at retail as a DS and as a Wii game, as DSiware, and soon as Wiiware. The game looks better on the Wii, and while some may prefer the tactile feeling of drawing vines with the stylus on the DS, I think the Wii version uses different buttons to lay down vines, and to stretch them, thus eliminating the problem I described earlier.
Beyond that, the -ware versions of the game contain half the levels of the retail versions. Literally, because they’re the same levels. So while the downloadable versions offer tremendous value with 50% of the levels at 25% the price, if you end up craving more of the game and decide to purchase one of the retail versions, then you’ll have to play through those levels again. Just be aware of that. Personally I’m kind of thinking of getting my hands on the retail Wii copy, but I’d hardly call the 50 levels I just played unsatisfying. It might be just enough Ivy the Kiwi? to most people.
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