Platform games that start with one simple mechanic and add depth by giving you new ways to use that ability are becoming a genre unto themselves lately, and "Ivy the Kiwi?" (Yes, it has a question mark in its title) is a pretty good example of its kind. In this game you don’t control a character at all; the main character is a recently hatched bird that is desperately seeking its mother. There are three major things about the bird and game world: The bird will always try to move (at a full running speed) if it has any room to do so, just about everything is able to kill it, and all you can do is draw vines to guide and protect it. It starts out simple, but new concepts are added every few levels to keep things interesting.
Things start with you just drawing vines to act as bridges, platforms, and ramps for your bird to cross, but it gets more complex over time. You will soon find yourself having to grab a drawn vine and swing it like a pendulum to get your bird to new locations, pull on a vine to use it like a slingshot, draw ’vine walls’ to trap enemies, and even have to quickly draw surfaces to make sure your bird doesn’t slam into a pit of spikes. There are also items to find along the way, but for the most part your focus will be on guiding your bird to the end of each stage and there are about a hundred of them.
Each stage is pretty short, able to be completed within just a few minutes... and indeed you have to finish in about that long since you’re on a time limit. While this makes Ivy the Kiwi? less than ideal for long sessions it does make it perfect for a quick game here and there, one of the major perks of having something like this on a portable system. You can also get some more play time out of Ivy the Kiwi? through score-attack and speed-run play (a "Stage Trial" mode lets you do this easily), and multiplayer options including a hunt to gather more medals than the other player or a straight race to the finish. You can even let other players download these modes if they have a DS but not their own copy of Ivy the Kiwi?.
Ivy the Kiwi?’s presentation is also pretty good. While the sounds and music are pretty simple, they do their job and go together nicely with the faded yet colorful art style; it’s clearly meant to look cute and resemble a child’s story book, and that sort of look really works with this game. You may not have too much time to admire the scenery given how fast-paced Ivy the Kiwi? is, but what you do get to see is certainly nice to look at.
$20 is a ’just right’ price for this game, and is about what it’s retailing for currently. If you’d like to try a platformer with an interesting twist, a nice visual style, and a stage length that is perfect for portable play then give Ivy the Kiwi? a try.
