Skip to main content

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).


Follow EfreetEater on Facebook

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Convention Dimension: 3 Rivers Comicon

DISCLAIMER: I received a press pass to attend this event. The opinions here are still mine. Also, please consider reading this brief article about my various illnesses and such over the last several months. This article is very late, but things have been difficult. Originally, I had also planned to publish these pfotos to Instagram, again, in a more timely manner. Here we are though! At the beginning of June, I attended 3 Rivers Comicon at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh. I was surprised to see this event at the convention center, as I couldn't recall seeing it advertised in years past (I later heard that it was held at the Century III and Waterfront Malls in previous years). American comic book stuff is really not a huge thing on my radar, so it's not a surprise that I missed out on the earlier events. My friend Tyler wanted to check out this convention, so I decided to check it out as well. Anyway, 3 Rivers Comicon is held by local chain New Di...

PlayStation Basement #35 - Spin Jam

This review was originally published on the  Console Purist  Facebook group on April 27th, 2019. It’s Saturday, and that means it’s time for PlayStation Basement! PlayStation Basement is a weekly review of an odd or obscure game for the original PlayStation. Games are rated Good, Bad, or Neutral. Now, let’s go! Today, I’m thinking about brightly colored Easter eggs and also flowers. My partner and I are planning to do some gardening today, so here is a game about flowers and bright colors. It’s Spin Jam , a puzzle game developed by Empire Interactive and published by Take-Two Interactive. It was released in Europe and North America in the year 2000. Spin Jam is about matching brightly colored balls to launch other balls into matching petals. That might sound pretty weird, and that’s why it’s a perfect match for the PlayStation Basement. The cover art is basically the same in both regions. Spin Jam shows Lemondrop and some bubbles flying about in a swirl of...

Tekko Together

EDIT: This article was originally published on June 30th, 2022 but has been updated on July 8th. I was not initially happy with everything. Unfortunately, due to being extremely busy and not feeling well, and now having developed COVID in the last few days, I am only now getting everything together. My apologies! Tekko (formerly Tekkoshocon) is Pittsburgh's anime convention since 2003. In the almost 20 years of existence, Tekko has grown from just a few hundred people in a hotel to over 10,000 attendees inhabiting the David L. Lawrence Convention Center for four days! Despite this growth, Tekko has fallen on some hard times recently, and, should you choose to accept this mission, requires the assistance of the community. COVID has done a number on several conventions, and Tekko is no different. Convention Center regulations have caused what historically been a spring convention to occur in the summer. Now also the DLLCC is requiring significantly more payment upfront, causing Tekko...