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Dewy's Adventure Wii Review

13/03/2009 Family Returning Gamer Review
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Dewy's Adventure Nintendo Wii

Dewy's Adventure

Format:
Nintendo Wii

Genre:
Platforming

Style:
Assistance
Singleplayer

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

This one has been around for a while now, a year and a bit in fact. It is a reasonably standard platform game with a Motorway Service Station arcade feel (and a hero that looks like a cute Little Chef after a dip in the North Sea).

Konami had debuted with Elebits Wii and earned a reasonable smattering of compliments. Essentially this is a first person platformer. But we all know it would be criminal not to provide a bizarre storyline recounting the dastardly deeds of a bad dude. The bad guy in question Don Hedron could have come from an anagram generator meltdown after someone typed in Rhododendron. I doubt other reviewers have picked up on this, but we like to be unique.

Back to the plot - our hero Dewy is a cuddly looking drop of water in a World where he and all the other lovely colourful water drops are protected by a Magical Tree. After a long and peaceful era, the magical tree loses strength and hopes are pinned on Dewy. Dewy must navigate this magical World freeing up the colourful Eau and beat a few bosses along the way.

Dewy's movements are controlled by tilting the Wii-mote. You tilt, and he slides. You can also jump and attack. The only problem is that tilting and sliding doesn't work all that well. In the first main level, one of the pathways is frustratingly thin (think Monkey Ball thin) and this theme continues throughout the game. Within 5 minutes, and after a bit of assistance from my youngest, I concluded that this 3+ PEGI rated title is unsuitable for under six's. My four and a half year old daughter can happily traverse at least half the levels on Little Big Planet, that includes jumping from Windmill to Windmill, but here she was flummoxed.

Not a washout, but not really one for a rainy day either.

After 10 minutes I turned the background music off. It is the kind of cheery dross used on purpose by call centres to encourage those waiting to hang up. Again, my daughter's input helped justify this decision. This notwithstanding I have to say that the levels are very well designed and pleasing on the eye. You feel like you want to hug the television and give it a big kiss. I particularly enjoyed the caves section. And the bosses are also fun - in an intimidating way and certainly demand a level of skill to defeat.

Another novel part of the game is the temperature control. This enables Dewy to vary his attacks, and is a welcome innovation. By turning yourself into an ice cool or hot Dewy you have access to certain moves and can blast the enemy accordingly. For instance, you can levitate and use lightnight, or freeze and treble attack.

You need to master these controls in order to progress. This offsets some of the frustrations with the tilting and fixed camera. Upon dying or falling off the screen you will have to make your way back to where you were from the beginning and this gets a bit tiresome. My Daughter lost interest in this game very quickly (20 minutes). To give a comparison, she has played Dogz on the Wii for over 30 hours.

Ultimately, Dewey is a mixed bag. It looks lovely but the controls are too poor. It should really be a children's game but it is too difficult. Adults are unlikely to keep coming back for more. Essentially, this is one to have a quick go at if you are waiting for something in the background. Not a washout, but not really one for a rainy day either.

Written by Sinan Kubba

You can support Sinan by buying Dewy's Adventure



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Sinan Kubba writes the Returning Gamer column.

"As an 80s kid I was obsessed with gaming. But university, stress and life relegated my hobby to the backseat. After years in the wilderness, I'm back into video games. I don't just want to play games that remind of a happy youth though. I'm just as excited about games that take things forward, experiences that re-ignite that curiosity and fascination I had years ago."

Here are the games I've been playing recently:




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