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Platform: Nintendo DS
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Publisher: Buena Vista Games
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Developer: A2M
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Medium: Cartridge
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Players: 1
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Online: No
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Also on: (n/a)
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A surprisingly good licensed platformer for the Nintendo DS.
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Any other time you'd be 100% right. This time, you're 100% wrong.
Shortly after sighting the boxart of Kim Possible: Kimmunicator, I somehow knew I was destined to have it hit my desk at one point or another. Needless to say, I was right. I looked at it, gave the obligatory “oh god, a licensed game for girls” exclamation, and hesitantly started it up. On boot, there’s a screen that you have to touch for a few moments to even start up the game—at this point, it was looking worse and worse by the moment.
Kimmunicator, however, has a charm that grows on you. Everything up to the point where the grappling hook is accessed is training for the basics of the game: it’s alright, nothing offensive, but should have been skippable. When the grappling hook does come into play, however, the gameplay tightens up and makes for an excellent platformer.
Kimmunicator plays somewhat like a crossbreed of Prince of Persia and Bionic Commando. Its levels are a veritable playground of places to hop, jump, swing, and wall-bounce. In fact, not having fun with the nicely designed platforming sections and gameplay is somewhat hard…but there are drawbacks.
But first, it has to be mentioned that a new 3D engine graces the game. Although everything moves in two dimensions, environments and characters are fully 3D. This even extends to the backgrounds, which are fully polygonal. Combining the attention to detail and the simplistic color scheme that hearkens to the cartoon’s style make Kimmunicator one of the best looking games on the DS.
This comes as a price, sadly. With the 3D engine, hit detection between Kim and enemies is spotty at best. It essentially kills the combat of the title, which is a huge black mark on everything the platforming sets up for the game.
Furthermore, the game is embarrassingly short. Not counting the training level, Kimmunicator covers three boss battles and the same amount of levels. Even though levels are split into multiple stages, the game can easily be finished in 1-2 hours. Replay value is average, as the levels are rather fun to traverse, but there's not much to get after you finish the game other than a few extra outfits.
Kim Possible: Kimmunicator is a mixed bag—platforming and presentation are exceptional, making for one of the better games I’ve played on the DS. On the other hand, the combat and length detract so much from the overall package. Looking at A2M’s portfolio inspires hope, as the first Kim Possible game for the Game Boy Advance was somewhat rough, with the second one was touted as one of the best platformers on the system. If A2M’s second DS title can make a similar hop in quality, it’s safe to say that the series will go from good to truly essential.
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