Games for Lunch: Noby Noby Boy
In a nutshell: What Katamari Damacy would be like if it wasn't much fun.
2/20/2009 7:11 PM | 7 Comments | Page 1 of 4
Developer: Namco Bandai
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Release Date: Feb. 19, 2009
System: PS3
ESRB Rating: E
Official Web site (Japanese)
0:00 I've loved
Katamari Damacy ever since I first saw it at E3 2004 (and that was before it was
cool to like it!), so I'm obviously psyched about this latest release from that game's creator. Still, I'm a bit worried about how empty and content-free the
teaser videos have been.
0:01 Oompah-heavy tuba music plays as "2/20/2009 Friday" is spelled out in small flowers. A standard warning about auto-saving and only features, and then a little yellow sprite with a halo flies in. "Okay! I'm going to create new save data now," he says. Thanks for the info, little guy!
0:02 In the corner, a sleeping 3-D parrot dreams of a flapping 2-D parrot. Then he flies away. "Hang on ... Now loading ... Almost done ... Now loading ... Wait a sec ... Now loading..." says the helpful sprite.
0:03 There's a house with a Pinocchio-like nose, two windows for eyes and a roof that looks like a rainbow wig. The house spins in a void and then sprouts a yard with some Katamari-style figures moving about: a dog with a cat on its back, a person jogging, a bunch of soccer balls, etc. The sprite flies in again. "Are you ready. Let's start with the BOY quiz. Guess the controls for BOY. Question 1: How do you make BOY walk?" On the bottom of the screen is a helpful hint: Q: Move the left and ***** sticks." Hmm ... what's the opposite of left again?
0:05 So the left stick moves the head of BOY's snakelike, rainbow-colored body, while the right stick moves the tail. Both controls feel a little loose, but I guess precision isn't the name of the game here. As I move around, a dog gets stuck to my body and starts riding around.
0:06 Holding R2 puts up "resistance" by planting my tail on the spot, letting me stretch out my body easily. Tapping L2 or R2 does a quick little jump, which I can continue in mid-air seemingly as long as I want. This is all very neat, but I still have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing.
0:08 The camera is controlled with L1 and R1, plus some judicious controller tilting for the zooming (ugh). "Great work! You've now completed the BOY quiz." There are more controls available in a text manual if I hit Select. Maybe later...
0:09 "Oh, I almost forgot. I'm the Fairy." Hi, the Fairy. "Oh! So that means ... YOU PURCHASED NOBY NOBY BOY? GREAT!!! I'm so glad! I feel like crying ... Anyway, thanks a lot!" Wow, I can't remember another game that was so happy to get my $5.
0:10 The Fairy goes on to explain that the game is all about stretching BOY. "There are no missions or enemies... You don't collect objects by rolling a ball... This game doesn't have any of that stuff." You mean the fun stuff? "In this game you stretch and shrink ... stretch and eat objects. That's all there is to it. ... It may sound simple, but it's a lot of fun." That remains to be seen...
