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Animal Kororo DS

Format:
DS

Genre:
Minigames

Further reading:
Anya Graham

Buy/Support:
Support Clare, click to buy via us...

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Other GamePeople columnists have reviewed this from their perspective - huh?:
Family Gamer (DS)
Microcosm Gamer (DS)

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Animal Kororo DS is a bizarre puzzle game. Flicking little cretures around the screen became surprisingly addictive though. I couldn't resist the fun of having so much power over such cute little creatures.

At first glance, this was to me just another puzzle game. At least, that's what the box led me to believe with its cutesy designs that made me grin from ear to ear. In fact, there is only one kind of 'puzzle' throughout, and whilst it's the main focus of play it's not the be all and end all.

The aim of this puzzle is pretty simple - I got the hang of it in no time - and can be quite cathartic to play. You have a grid filled with little animals that you have to roll around and bump into another of the same kind.

As you progress more obstacles and animals are added until your DS screen resembles some kind of cartoon rock-garden menagerie. As I said, this can be quite cathartic, but oh my, it was a huge cause of sleep deprivation. Most of the times I play this game, it's before going to bed, which is all well and good until I realise that I've spent an hour or more playing 'just one more round' to try and get more points.

Each time you send a little Kororo flying with an aggressive flick, it eventually comes to a stop with a dazed look and little bump on its head - cuteness! Even though I'm on my second lap of the game this still makes me laugh. I do worry about the brain damage they will inevitably have, with all that rolling around without any helmets on.

After all the work you put in trying to return these little animals to their Kororo Kingdom, it would have been nice to have a little look around said Kingdom once you finish - just to see what all the fuss is about.

I'm the kind of girl who likes to feel like I'm getting what I paid for. Played purely as a puzzle challenge, Animal Kororo doesn't quite cut it. However, there is something about the mechanics and feel of it - not to mention accessorising your Kororo's home - that kept me playing.

Animal Kororo is a bit of a two-headed beast. It can be incredibly fun to just mess around with, but long stints might drive you insane. If you start trying to fling objects, pets or small children in straight lines across rooms, you are officially an addict.

Kororo's ability to draw me in and keep me playing was impressive - but the repetition does begin to wear thin after a while. Perhaps if a sequel came out, they could provide a few more activities on top of rolling things round a screen.

Guest review by Anya Graham


You can support Clare by buying Animal Kororo



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Anya Graham wrote this Eclectic Gamer article under the watchful eye of Clare Sharpe.

"I think it's probably true that most of us have grown up with computer games - I have a dark and distant memory of some sort of black box with two controllers that allowed us to play an extremely primitive and pixelated game of tennis."

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