Ivy the Kiwi?

Joseph Luster November 8, 2010

While Sonic the Hedgehog thrashes about in one of the many foster homes he’s been carelessly transferred to over the years, the blue blur’s original creator, Yuji Naka, has moved on rather gracefully. His latest creation also happens to involve a cartoon critter, but Ivy the Kiwi? takes platforming in a different direction, making for a vine-hopping experience specifically catered to what Wii has to offer. Okay, that’s not entirely true, but it’s close. They also pulled it off on DS, and you can even download a “Mini” version of Ivy via DSiWare, which is limited to half of the one hundred levels available in this retail release.

See, the titular kiwi isn’t exactly the most agile of creatures, mostly due to the fact that half of her body is still stuck in its original egg, like a collector who refuses to crack open even the most unimpressive of action figures. That doesn’t stop Ivy from running around non-stop regardless of how dangerous her environment is. And so it’s up to the player to use the wiimote to stretch vines up, down, and across the screen, eventually guiding the lost bird back to her mother. The vines can be angled to stop and reverse Ivy’s progress; get her moving up stairs and over spikes; they can even be grabbed and pulled back to slingshot her through obstructions and enemies. It’s somewhat similar to Kirby Canvas Curse, the DS-exclusive Kirby outing that had players guiding the roly-poly protag with the stylus. However, whereas Canvas Curse had you drawing all manner of wavy rainbows—a feat that would be much more difficult across a couch-to-screen valley—Ivy‘s vines are more rigid A-to-B lines.

Initially I thought it might just be fun to glide through the levels and experience them without the stress of collecting every single feather along the way. That doesn’t last long, because you’ll soon realize that it’s in this collection that Ivy the Kiwi?‘s true challenge lies. There’s no thrill in coasting to the finish line, time limit or not. The real satisfaction comes when you just beat said clock by a hair after frantically flinging your way to every feather on the map. Things start to get really interesting once the slingshotting ability is added into the mix, taking the focus away from simply avoiding spikes in your path. As the stages get more complex, the time limit makes for closer and closer calls when going for full completion.

Despite the changing backgrounds, the visuals remain fairly drab. That’s not to say they’re without their own unique flourishes, but stylized squiggles don’t make up for the relentless browns of Ivy‘s architecture. Even Ivy herself is somewhat sparsely designed; more of a footnote to a vaguely humorous greeting card than any kind of memorable mascot. It’s a good thing then that gameplay trumps all in the end. Besides, you’ll spend too much time hastily snagging vines around all sides of your fragile bird to notice the low-key levels and inoffensively forgettable soundtrack.

At a fraction of the cost, the DSiWare Mini version could almost be considered a demo for the real deal, but it’s not likely you’ll need to carefully scout this one out if you find the concept even remotely interesting. Ivy the Kiwi? isn’t going to turn a lot of heads on store shelves, which is kind of a shame, because Yuji Naka’s latest has its heart in the right place. There’s a stacked assortment of platforming goodness in here that’s just looking for the right hands to guide it home.