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Four in February #3 - The Adventures of Cookie & Cream [PS2]

Though it seems so long ago, I remember my Four in February challenge like it was only yesterday. And, it was only last week that I completed my third game, so that makes sense.


My partner, Kaiti, and I finished The Adventures of  Cookie & Cream on February 27th. We had played it a few times earlier in the month and in January. The game was released for the PlayStation 2 on April 30th, 2001 in North America. In Japan and Europe it was called Kuri Kuri Mix and came out on December 7th, 2000 and May 4th, 2001, respectively. The game was also ported to the DS in all of those regions in 2007. It's a game about cute rabbits solving puzzles to find the moon, and it was made by FromSoftware (Armored Core, Dark Souls, King's Field). It won't be an easy trip to restore the moon to the night's sky.


The cover art is pretty goofy, but I don't mind it. It's just the game graphics, Cookie (the friendlier, male, orange rabbit), and Cream (the bossier, female, pink rabbit) are bouncing off of crocodile heads. The Japanese and European artwork is a little better, with clean linework of the two characters staring at the viewer. I really wish that FromSoftware had gone with some of the opening art from the game. It's kind of like the cartoon artwork, but with nice textures. The weird cover art may have unfortunately decreased the sales for this game.



Graphically, The Adventures of  Cookie & Cream is a bright, colorful game viewed from behind and above the characters. The characters and worlds are very populated and animated, but the game does not go for intense graphics; it looks like a cartoon. It might have been nice to see this in a cel-shaded style, sort of like Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil. It looks pretty good anyway.



Bounce! Bounce! Bounce! Then there is a chicken sound. This is the music on the title screen for The Adventures of  Cookie & Cream. In-game music goes for similar light-hearted fair that matches the environment of cool snow or crispy desert. The sound effects include numerous boinks, squashes, and pops - it really sounds like you are playing a cartoon!



The Adventures of  Cookie & Cream plays like a cartoon too. That's both good and bad. The game is basically for two-players, with each player controlling either Cookie or Cream. You can share a controller or use two controllers. Kaiti and I shared; she was Cookie, and I was Cream. If you are very skilled, you could also play the game solo, but the puzzles get pretty tough as you progress through the various worlds. Thankfully, the duo's rooster advisers will give some hints to help them.



Each level has a few puzzles based on teamwork. The characters need to coordinate their actions: jumping on platforms, flipping switches, pulling ropes and interacting with other objects. There are also enemies moving about the level to avoid, and flying creatures will attack our heroes if they stand still. Jumping on an enemy smooshes them away from the rabbits. The last level of each world is a boss that requires a unique trick to defeat them. Getting hit does not make the characters lose a life or lose health; instead, it causes the players to lose 20 seconds of time. Thankfully, time clocks are scattered throughout each level, some hidden, that will grant 20 seconds (silver) or 50 seconds (gold). In addition to the clocks, players can also find objects to decorate the title screen and puzzle pieces. Collecting four puzzle pieces activates a new character in versus mode where different characters have different strengths and weaknesses that help or hinder them in collecting points. Many of these hidden items are tough to find without careful searching.



Kaiti and I had a lot of fun playing the game, though it was a little aggravating at times to coordinate everything. One of us might have been good at, let's say, moving on a ball backwards, while the other player struggled. The game does also have some odd collision detection that can make enemies awkward to deal with and some switches hard to interact with unless situated perfectly. Finally, the camera is pretty good but hangs in some areas (based on how close each character is to one another). None of these were serious issues. The Adventures of  Cookie & Cream is a fun and unique game that's fun for all ages.

The Adventures of  Cookie & Cream receives a Good (8).


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