Boing! Docomodake Hands-On

When we first saw the Docomodakes, we thought that they'd make ideal cell-phone dongles because they were so precious and cute. As it turns out, they've already been there. These funny little mushrooms are the mascots for a Japanese mobile-phone company, and they now have their very own Nintendo DS game. It's like taking the Geico gecko and creating a video game surrounding it. Boing Docomodake is a surprisingly fun and clever platform puzzle game with endearing characters, a tale that doesn't quite make any sense, and storybook-like visuals.

The annual festival in the Docomodake forest is about to begin, except that members of the Docomodake family have disappeared. You play Papa Docomodake as he searches for his beloved mushroom family by completing the stages, which are filled with coins, enemies, and puzzles to overcome. At the beginning of each area, an image of a Docomodake family member appears in the top screen to set up the story. In the first area, we meet Mama Docomodake, who is looking for a rare ingredient to make a nice meal for her family. We assume that she ends up getting lost and that Papa sets off to look for her. In the second area, we see Grandma Docomodake floating down the riverbed upside down. She was leaning too close to the water to get a better view of her lavender-dyed cap and fell in. It's all very absurd but charming, and it's hard not to find yourself wondering what will happen if you continue on this journey.

You control Papa with the D pad, pressing up to jump, down to duck, and the XYBA buttons are all mapped to do the perform the same function. The left and right bumpers are used to split Papa Docomodake into little mushrooms so that he can fit through smaller gaps. Holding left on the D pad in combination with the A button will bring all of the mini Papas back together. These minis come in handy because you can drag them with the stylus to sit on switches or stack them on top of one another to use them as a ladder. To get rid of enemies or hit switches from a distance, you double-tap one of the minis so that it'll turn into a roly-poly, which you can then pick up and toss. There are dotted yellow squares throughout the level into which you can insert your minis so that they become a stepping stone. Your mushroom's weight also comes into play on certain platforms and bridges, so you'll have to determine when you should split up or stay together.

As you progress through the stages, the game will unveil new mechanics for you to learn to make your quest easier. It starts to get a bit tricky in the later levels, and sometimes you'll be forced to restart if you didn't set yourself up properly to get around certain obstacles. It wasn't too difficult from what we've played, but it's possible that it could get harder as time goes on. It's a very basic platformer, with ladders, switches, and moving platforms. Most of the work will appear in the puzzles as you try to figure out how to get Papa to the top ledge or past those awful spikes that are protruding out of nowhere.

If you remember sponge paintings or the slightly washed-out watercolor artwork in children's picture books, the game's visual style is very much like that, with natural, earthy tones. There's definitely an air of childlike quality to the characters and design. You can use the coins that you collect to purchase artwork and music tracks, which unlock as you progress. Strangely, this kind of defeats the purpose of unlocking things, given that you have to unlock and then buy it with your hard-earned cash. The music may be repetitive, but it's cheery and incredibly catchy.

Boing Docomodake is a delightful platforming game so far, with engaging puzzles that you'll conquer with a creative use of the minis. It's family-friendly without having Mario or Yoshi as the mascot, and it would be a good fit for a younger audience or anyone who enjoys a simple platformer with thought-provoking puzzles. There are probably bits and pieces of the story lost in translation, but the overall idea seems to center around family and being together. You'll be able to help Papa find his family when Boing Docomodake arrives on the Nintendo DS in March 2009.