I'm not going to waste time writing huge elaborate things about it, so this will be a pretty mediocre official thread.
As a game from publisher THQ, and first-time Nintendo DS developer 5th Cell, you wouldn't be mistaken if you took a step back and was skeptical that the end product could be anything decent!
This is wrong!
This game is a standard platformer wrapped up in a unique "creation" twist: you draw your vehicles, your platforms, even your hero and his weapons. The platforming elements, while not exactly amazing, do the job well - there is a charming style to the proceedings, some surprisingly memorable music, and a decent array of jumping challenges. Most of them are pretty simple... this is clearly a game designed with the younger crowd in mind as far as difficulty goes... but being lighthearted and simple doesn't really distract in this case.
The core and focus is that you're creating parts of this world. You can choose to be as creative as you like, within the 'outlines' the game gives you, and this leads to all sorts of interesting things. As I had chosen a Earthbound theme, my Ness has a baseball bat gun, the platforming clouds look like those from Dalaam. It's pretty much just a joy to see these things come to life in such a fantastic way. If I had any complaint, it's that your drawings don't impact much from a gameplay perspective outside of their built-in functions. For example, if you draw a really shitty platform it's not going to make jumps harder to make. It's just 'filling in the blanks', in that way. I guess this makes things easier for the young'uns who pick up the game, but that's it!
In the end, you're creating these pieces of the world and when it all comes together it is really cool. It's also neat how when you get hit, you lose pieces of your clothing. Naked Ness *tee hee*
Also the game makes you feel bad 'cause whenever you close the game into sleep mode the creatures go "oh awwwwwwwww" and then when you open it you're greeted with a "yaaaaaaaay!" Why do they make me feel so guilty?
As an aside, this game should be rated M+ for MATURE THEMATIC ELEMENTS. These kids are gonna be taught some hard lessons about creationism and a dopey God who ignores his subjects, which might be a bit early if you're under 10!
I think the game is probably a 8/10, or a 4/5 or whatever the arbitrary rating scale is.
