Whenever a project is tied to a big name, whether the project is a movie, album, or video game, expectations soar. We expect greatness, huge production values, and unparalleled quality. You see, these big names attained that prestige by being great at their craft. However, these expectations are usually inappropriate. For example, Yuji Naka is one of the biggest names in the gaming realm as he is the father of the iconic character Sonic the Hedgehog. So, as you can imagine, the fact that Ivy the Kiwi is tied to Yuji Naka immediately raises expectations in the minds of many gamers. I can tell you now that Ivy the Kiwi is not great, it does not have huge production values, and it is not unparalleled. What it does have is an innovative, simple, and elegant game mechanic that is worthy of the Yuji Naka name; a mechanic that far exceeds anything you’d expect.

It is not unusual for a side scrolling platformer to have the bare minimum of story, since all the story has to do is motivate you to move from left to right. Ivy the Kiwi’s story follows suit and turns out to be cute but ultimately unnecessary. Ivy is a newly hatched bird, who still has most of her eggshell on, which is in search of her mother. Spoiler alert - the game ends when you find Ivy’s mother.

Ivy the Kiwi's graphics perfectly fit the story. The color palette is faded and sepia-toned. The overall aesthetic is like an old storybook with rustic pages. The backgrounds are static and pretty low resolution, while the levels are in the foreground, and the camera is set up so that the levels seem to float over the background instead of the two parts being a single scene. The graphics are dated, but the net result is charming and workable. This is not a game that is designed to be a visual stunner.

The music is just as utilitarian as the graphics, if not more so. Each level has a slightly altered score, but it is pretty monotonous, and the sound effects are standard fare. The game does not have the production values for sound that would make for a memorable soundtrack, but it is also not grating. It finds that middle ground and camps there.

As soon as you start playing Ivy the Kiwi you will thank Prope for making the difficult decision to sacrifice presentation for gameplay. The premise is simple: guide Ivy through hazardous levels and reach the goal. In classic platformers the characters are guided directly by the player. In this game, however, the character is guided indirectly as the player creates and moves platforms. Platforms are created by drawing a platform made of ivy with the DS stylus. Each ivy platform is a simple straight line and there are no curves or turns. However, the end point can be stretched and moved as you see fit. This lets you make lines that can pivot around the starting point and be used as a flipper, or stretch a platform that can overcome multiple obstacles and hazards. How you use the ivy platforms is up to your skill and style.

Since Ivy will always be in motion with no regard to her safety, it is up to you to get her to the goal. The platform mechanic is perfect, but Ivy’s constant moving makes it frantic. Also, you can only have three ivy platforms at a time. If you add a fourth then the oldest platform will be removed from the stage. As the game progresses, you will get better at controlling Ivy’s direction and movement, but at that moment a slew of hazards are thrown at you. These include crows that block your way and require you to find ways to control Ivy’s speed, rats which make dropping Ivy a deadly mistake, and falling water drops that will force you to use one of your ivy platforms as a shield. The game is only 50 levels long, but the difficulty does ramp up fast.

You are given other tools in your journey. You can grab the ivy platform that Ivy is walking on and launch her. This allows you to kill rats and crows, but it is a hard attack to control. The only issue with control is that sometimes the game will confuse your desire to grab an ivy with creating a new one, and vice versa. Another tool provided are boulders which are used to overcome obstacles and solve simple puzzles. Again, this extra tool has controls that are not as polished as the ivy platforms, which causes the wielding of a boulder to be more frustrating than enjoyable.

The ivy platform design is one of Yuji Naka’s greatest contributions to gaming. But he also follows it up with slick level designs. The levels are simple enough to easily discern how to proceed forward, but always make moving forward a unique challenge. Each level has features that will force you to think of different and creative ways to use the ivy platforms, making trial and error an exciting road to discovery. All 50 levels have ten feathers to collect which require speed and skill, never exploration, to obtain. Prope also found ways to change up your focus immediately as you progress through a stage. From one moment to another you could be focused on racing forward while avoiding spikes and water drops, to suddenly having to take control of a boulder to solve puzzles and plow through obstacles.

Ivy the Kiwi is a short game with only 50 levels. Even if you find the game particularly difficult, this should take no more than three hours to complete. The bonus is the unlockable 50 additional levels. These stages are more satisfying than the main ones because they offer more of a challenge and include a key that must be collected to move to the goal. The game has two multiplayer modes that let you play with a friend, either cooperatively or competitively. It finds a way to pack plenty of value for its $19.99 USD price tag.

Ivy the Kiwi may not have the pomp and circumstance you imagine would accompany a Yuji Naka game, but it does have plenty of innovation and refreshing gameplay. It could even be argued that the elegance Yuji Naka built into this game shows how much he has matured as a developer since Sonic the Hedgehog. This doesn’t mean that Ivy the Kiwi is a flawless experience; the game does have some control issues. But, despite any flaws, it manages to be an enjoyable experience. If you are a platforming fan, which is probably why you bothered to read this review, then Ivy the Kiwi is a must own on the DS for $19.99 USD.