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It goes without saying that Hello Kitty Roller Rescue won't exactly usher in a new era of acceptance amongst the Gamecube hating misanthropes that inhabit many parts of the internet, but that's all well and good. For what the Nintendo nation takes in hits to its masculine image that we've all come to know and love, it gains points in a field that, for the obvious reasons, goes largely unnoticed by the hardcore gamers amongst us; games for children that don't flat out suck. Gaming parents out there, take heed. Your daughter wants Hello Kitty.
Hey, maybe even your Kitty curious son might want to take a swing at what could possibly be the most disturbingly cute game to come to the little purple cube. The Roller Rescue as it goes features the famous Japanese kitty doing her best Jet Set Radio impression as she straps on her blades to stop the menace of the evil Block-O and his cronies from the Block Planet from devouring the souls of all who are foolish enough to stand before them. As opposed to bludgeoning the invaders from Block with a sledgehammer, or perhaps gunning them down with dual-uzi's like most heroes today, Hello Kitty thwarts the baddies with her style of platforming power and pink sparkly pretty things.
True to the platforming power that Hello Kitty has been sworn to protect, Roller Rescue goes through the motions of all your favorite platformers. Through over 15 levels, players guide Kitty as she hops on enemies, collect coins and lays waste to all non-believers with her magical wand. As goes the new adventure game clichés, collecting is a factor as coins can be collected to buy new fanciful outfits to dress up the feline cutey, the soundtrack to listen to in your spare time as well as the actually entertaining cinematics seen throughout the game. While having to pay for unlockables that you have technically already achieved is a bit cheesy, it's something for the junior completest monkeys to strive for.
The single most important feature that I must give praise to; and I wish I could do this with more games is its game play. Everything about the game is technically sound as Kitty herself is responsive and easy to skate around, even when utilizing her dash maneuver to zip around the levels. And while it does become an issue when backed into the corner, I found myself not having to fiddle with it too much while playing through. This is particularly important when considering the target audience involved as the less complex the controls, the more enjoyment for the little ones.
In terms of difficulty, this game falls exactly where you expect it to; Easyville. Of course, folk like you and me may be bored out of their minds while putting Hello Kitty through it's paces (Unless of course you totally dig the Sanrio.), but the younger audience will feel right at home. Some boss encounters can be a tad confusing due to a lack of direction, but the fights are fair and will definitely award a sense of completion as the head honchos of Planet Block fall one by one.
Assisting Hello Kitty on her journey is your choice of one of many famous characters from the world of Sanrio; all of which have their own special ability to aid you on your journey. My Melody throws life-giving cakes around when you're low on health, while Roundabouts plows through enemies with his ramming skills just to give some examples. It's somewhat disappointing to have a CPU controlled partner assisting you on the quest as opposed to another flesh and blood player in a co-operative mode, but I suppose the unlockable second quest featuring Badtz Maru makes up for some of the bitterness felt.
With the solid game play, bright, colorful and above all extremely accurate environments and characters of the Sanrio universe fully realized, fans of Hello Kitty will feel right at home. It's not exactly God of War, but on a console where the general opinion is that it's solely for the kids, it's good to see a game for that age group that doesn't completely suck.
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