Yuji Naka, the man who used to be the lead programmer for Sonic during his days at SEGA, is now working on a game called Ivy the Kiwi? (what is it with developers using punctuation at the end of game names lately - first Pirates!, now this!) with his new studio, Prope.
Ivy the Kiwi? is a platforming game, that seems to be a fairly large step away from the Sonic formula. In contrast to Sonic the Hedgehog's bright and colourful looks, and incredibly fast gameplay, Ivy the Kiwi? is a much refined game, with a muted pallet, and hand drawn style accompanying some much slower, and more puzzle based gameplay.
Draw a bridge with the Ivy to help er, Ivy get to a higher place.
In Ivy the Kiwi? you don't get control over the Kiwi (who, somwhat confusingly, is also called Ivy) itself, as it moves on its own - instead, you help out by dragging ivy (the plant, not the Kiwi) across the screen, to help your bird friend get by. Using the ivy as a springboard or a ramp, to reach higher areas, or even as a trap to entangle enemies, you'll be forced to stay constantly on your toes, to stop the apparently mindless Kiwi from wandering to its inevitable doom.
With an intriguing idea behind the gameplay, over 100 stages to complete, and some rather unique graphical stylings, we're going to be keeping a close eye on this one. Ivy the Kiwi? is set to be released on the Wii and DS in the US this summer, but at the time of writing, there's sadly no news of a UK release.
