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DS Review by James Lyon
Page 5 of 5.
Page 4
Kira Kira Pop Princess
- Publisher: 505 Games
- Developer: Dimple Entertainment
There's a sense of hope to be felt down here, casting a critical eye over those anonymous DS releases, those ones that don't have a marketing budget the size of Belgium's GDP. We're picking through the trash in the vain hope of finding that quirky classic, and, what I ask, would be a better indicator of that dazzling 8/10-or-above than a Japanese rhythm-action game? It's a veritable goldmine, to be sure. So, bad news, then: Kira Kira Pop Princess ain't that. We cried out in hope, but it looks like the sunlight caught a dull pebble. Sorry.
As the name may indicate, the game's marketed towards the younger teenage girl side of the market, cooking up a story about a kooky avatar on a quest to become the, like, coolest dancer in town. And as is always the way, a series of hilarious misunderstandings and be-true-to-yourself social ambition leads to obligatory dance-offs in order to earn respect. To become more popular, you challenge girls from each fashion district to a bop battle, stunning them with your moves and earning money to buy new outfits.
By focusing on dressing to impress, is this game forcing us to equate social success with consumerist spending, or do I look cute in this top?
That's where the rhythm action part comes in. Turning the DS on its side, you tap or slide the stylus along three different bars as they light up in time to the music. It's not complicated and it doesn't take long to realise when and where it wants you to tap. Perhaps it's too simple once you get the hang of it, even if doing well and getting an A ranking are two different things.
The problem with any rhythm-action game, however, is that it lives or dies on its music. Even the simplest button-matching game can be bolstered by a quality tune. But Kira Kira's efforts are a concoction of competent yet forgettable in-game compositions I couldn't even remember right after they'd ended, let alone now.
Beyond the music, the aspirational nature of the game amounts to buying new clothes and changing your style to suit your personality. There's some visual appeal in doing so due to the game's cute 3D characters, yet there's little else to do besides play dress-up. If the songs were better, it could have been a lot more fun, but it quickly loses its appeal. Like, totally.
5/10
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Kira Kira - Pop Princess
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Comments: 1-28 of 28 in total
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Mmm. Rather harsh Bleach review. Although I do hate that whole card system thing because it distracts from what 2d fighters should be all about: the fighting. It only superficially adds some depth to the fighting, which isn't necessary in the first place because the combo and move system is tight and deep enough to warrant prolongued play. Or something.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 09/04/08 @ 11:56
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JohnnyWashnGo
09/04/08 @ 11:03
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All of these games look bloody awful - still, its good to know what to avoid buying.
Especially Kira Kira as I was thinking of getting that ;) |
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Muddtallica
09/04/08 @ 11:06
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Hmmm...I seem to remember IGN giving the Bleach game a very good write-up. Maybe it's one of those love-it or hate-it affairs.
Fish Tycoon looks hilariously atrocious. |
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StringBeanJean
09/04/08 @ 11:23
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There really is a dearth of decent games for the DS recently. I love my DS but there is very little to recommend coming out it wouls seem. Bear in mind I'm not interested in RPGs, J or otherwise. Well there's Apollo Justice I guess.
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absolutezero
09/04/08 @ 12:36
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Kira Kira is based loosely around the Japanese fashion toys Pinkt St. Its not surprising that the game would have a major dress up feature.
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JenkinsScooby
09/04/08 @ 12:37
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Bleach is a fantastic game. I'm a fan of the anime so the game had a lot to live up to. I own this version in Japanese and the sequel and they're both very good games.
At work we played everyday at lunch 4-way battles over wireless... no lag. |
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@StringBeanJean,
Ninja Gaiden is out on US import (or if you have an M3 then well erm you know ) and its pretty damn nice. Ive been playing it for the last week or so and its decent. Though have to say that there isnt that much to shout about at the mo as you rightly point out. :)
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 09/04/08 @ 15:19
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Half of the levels feel like they went through a random generator, while the other half were designed by drawing pictures of things like swords out of platforms with no thought of how they would affect play... Was this a part of the original design? I sincerely hope not.
Er... yeah, pretty much. Not so much the randomness, but there was quite a bit of the old 'blocky pictures of random items' going on, which didn't always work. Disclaimer: I am not for a single moment suggesting that Bubble Bobble is anything less than a bona fide classic (the original, I mean, not this ham-fisted DS turd). |
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Waffleaber
09/04/08 @ 14:42
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Bleach is IMO the best 2-D fighter for nigh on a decade. The balance between fighters is excellent and the one touch special system is great for beginners or pulling off supers. Having never watched the anime the story mode seemed a bit random but gameplay is top-notch. An easy 8.
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immateriaux
09/04/08 @ 21:04
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Christ on a bike... "Fish Tycoon", are some developers THAT devoid of ideas?
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Death-of-Imagination
09/04/08 @ 22:37
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@immatriaux
This is the unfortunate state of DS development when publishers (not development) want this kind of cheap tat and will only pay 3p for it. Literally a 3 month dev period (or less) with a budget of no more than £20K, sometimes less... They just farm it out to the cheapest contractor. In the present climate, it's really diffiicult for smaller devs to secure funding of more than $150K for DS titles... Over here anyway. |
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Just to chip in about Blade of Fate. I also think it's a great fighting game, especially because Treasure clearly tries to turn the tables and say: 'now you DON'T have to learn all those button combinations by heart, here are the one-press combos and you can start thinking about resources, tactics and strategy'. Perhaps this is not the textbook definition of hardcore, but it is not by any means a shallow button masher or any of the sort.
As for the two player lag, well, I can say I did experience some of it, especially with four fighters on screen and James has a good call on that one - the playing area is definitely too small for that many fighters and everything definitely dissolves into a mess. But one on one is really good. Recommended. |
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James_Lyon
10/04/08 @ 09:46
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A bit of Bleach love going on in here. What can I say? It's solid and dependable, it just didn't grab me as much as it did for reasons written. But that's the nature of opinions, I guess.
Put it this way, though: I'd rather play it again than endure another second of Fish Tycoon. :) |
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Bleach is fun, for the hardcore beat 'em up fan, you can find some joy in stringing some Guilty Gear/MvC Style combos, but you'll (righty) have no use for the ds touch screen command actions because you can't string combos together with them (as they all use the 'Hard' version of the special). The special cards do add a nice mixup in battles.
A nice buffer between hardcore beat em up sessions. |
Comments: 1-28 of 28 in total
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