Platform: Nintendo DS
ESRB: Everyone
Genre: Action/Platform/Side-scrolling
Number of Players: 1
Developer: Bitfield GmbH

RENT

Being a fan of the Mario empire, I’ve always wanted a game for us ladies based on the same premise. We kind-of got that with with Super Princess Peach, and now there is another attempt with “Giana Sisters DS”.

Unfortunately for me, the copy I received had a manual and cover with a description that was entirely in German. Das is not a good start, even if I did know a smidge of the language. Therefore, I am going to make an assumption of the storyline.

It appears to me from the beginning cut scene that Giana goes to bed and starts dreaming – so this is where the setting of the game starts. She ends up in a land of levels a la Mario, and has to avoid getting killed by various enemies – some of which cannot be jumped on or eliminated, so watch out!

Of course there are blocks for you to jump up and smack with your noggin to further your gameplay a tad. Some of these blocks are marked out and some are hidden. And yes, you get power-ups to make Giana throw fireballs. These power-ups are in the form of round stripy balls similar to candy – so while I’m making assumptions I will call them candy and silently assume they are extra strength peppermints. Mmm, minty. Anyway, these candy balls transform Giana into a punk complete with red hair, thick eyeliner, and punk rock clothing. The other blocks contain blue gems which are in place of coins in this game. You also need to collect all of the red gems in each level as this unlocks a bonus level in each stage.

You get 5 lives when you start the game, and another life is added with every hundred gem points you collect. There are a few halfway points in some of the levels, which is a wilted flower until you walk past it – then it blooms to signify that it is your starting point should you lose a life providing it’s not the last one. When your lives get used up, there is a game over sequence but after that’s done you just get 5 lives and a chance to start the level over again. The levels are also timed and if you run out of time you lose another life.

Each stage has 9 levels, depending on whether you were able to get all of the red gems. If you did, then you get 10 levels. At the 9^th level you get to do some boss battling which ends up being against a pudgy dragon who breathes fire. The challenge is to dodge the fireballs directed at Giana, and jump on his head enough times to clear the level. The amount of times you do this increases the further you get into the game.

There is a rumour that this game has been in a bit of trouble as the original development was said to have been a very close imitation of a Mario game, and the rumour claims that those who completely finish the game are able to unlock this version to give it a go. I cannot confirm nor deny such a rumour, but the similarities in this version alone compared to the Mario franchise doesn’t exactly help. Should I get over my frustration with this game and be able to finish it, then I will gladly tell you if the above is in fact a rumour. However, since I haven’t (and have defiantly placed it back in its case) my impressions are not exactly favourable.

The animation was reminiscent to that of old PC games of the 90’s. Controls for the game were pretty straightforward although jumps are highly annoying – in a lot of cases there are jumps that you think you would be able to make but don’t, and some that are too big or small to perform in the space given. The music and sound effects were clear and suitable for each element of the game.

The thing that I did like about the game (apart from the attempt to create a fun game with a female lead) was the gum and cola machines. While you can’t stock your reserves to save you going back each time either one runs out, a bottle of cola is used to blast away brick walls that are in your way and a gumball is used to create a bubble (which Giana floats inside of) through levels to places unreachable by merely jumping.

If I were to give Giana Sisters DS a rating out of 10, I would give it a 7. This is purely due to the effort and thought that went into the development of this game, however my noted frustrations are enough to make me reconsider and score it lower. This being said, if you want to give it a go then I would encourage you to. Who knows, you might get further than my attempt of Stage 7 – Level 9 before you go Hulk on it.

Review product was provided by Madman Entertainment, and does not affect the outcome of this review.

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