Developer: Rising Star Games
Publisher: UFO Interactive
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Release Date: Available now
Review by: Michael Rabalais

When I received my copy of Pucca Power Up in the mail, I was drawn to a phrase on the back: “Pucca and Garu’s action romance story.” Personally, I can’t think of a more exciting sentence. The possibilities of such a statement drive me absolutely wild. Are they driving monster trucks through the Arc de Triomphe while feeding each other chocolate covered strawberries? Are they searching for the Ark of the Covenant while drawing scented bubble baths? It’s incredible! So it leaves the question, is Pucca Power Up the Expendables mixed with the Royal Wedding, or Hudson Hawk hanging out with my high school girlfriend?

Based on a South Korean media franchise, Pucca Power Up delivers several vignettes, one for each of the game’s six levels. These vignettes feature Pucca’s frenzied attempts to gain the love of Garu, a ninja guy unaccustomed to such attention. Pucca’s attempts take her from towns, to cities, to caves and beyond.

As mentioned before, there are six levels to guide Pucca or Garu through. Players guide their character, a choice dictated by the level, through various platforming stages. On the way they’ll encounter enemies ranging from cats to enemy ninjas, which can be handled using either projectiles or a melee weapon. Occasional boss fights are sprinkled throughout, and a mini-game caps off each world.

The standout quality of Pucca Power Up, in my humble opinion, is how obtusely Korean it is. Pucca attacks enemies using a “steel bag” which appears to be a purse made of metal. No character raises any issue to that. Players collect “Smile Men” throughout levels, which act as currency in the shop. The manual calls these collectables Gingerbread Men, though that doesn’t make much more sense. I’m certainly not bemoaning the foreigneness of Pucca Power Up, because it’s the only thing that sets it apart from any other tedious platformer. There’s really nothing exciting to spend time on, as levels are exclusively switch and jumping puzzles, and there’s literally no depth to the combat. I also found that the game seemed to expect more of its controls than it could deliver. I was expected to jump, duck, and weave through enemy attacks, and I found myself absolutely incapable of such feats. It seems clear that Pucca Power Up is a game meant for children, but the reality is a game too boring for adults and too difficult for kids.

It doesn’t help matters that Pucca Power Up feels like a completely loveless affair. The box and manual show that the game’s source material has a very distinctive art style which barely comes across during play. Background textures are blocky and bland, and characters don’t boast much fluidity in their animations. When each level ends up being the same tired grind, featuring the same bland platforming, a charmless environment only adds to the tedium. The game’s platforming may be solid, but it doesn’t mean that it’s fun to play.

There’s nothing especially offensive about Pucca Power Up, but I still can’t recommend it. Unless you absolutely can’t live without a new platformer on the DS, or your children have literally nothing else to play, Pucca Power Up is negligible at best. The game’s one-dimensional combat and bland level design aren’t any fun, and there are plenty of DS titles out there more worthy of your time.

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