Freshly Picked Tingle's Rosey Rupeeland (Hands-On) (Nintendo DS) Preview

Having already dabbled with the amazingly confusing Japanese version, firing up the DS and finding the game has been fully translated into English was a major relief indeed. But hey, the game is still as confusing and strange as ever before! However, that is definitely the point and Nintendo definitely drives that point home hard. It certainly does manage to keep itself within the boundaries of the Zelda universe, yet Tingle has definitely carved out his own niche in the gaming world and does not look like giving up his space any time soon...especially if those rumours of a Tingle game coming to the Wii hold any weight.

So how does it hold up? Well, the game does not appear to have lost anything obvious in the translation, meaning that the quirky storyline remains firmly in place. This middle-aged man, known as Tingle, who wants to be a fairy (hence the disturbingly tight green romper suit), wakes up one morning to the sound of a distant voice calling him. Off he wanders to the local spring, which just happens to be by the side of his abode (his house is basically the inside of a tree, rather like Link's in Zelda) and is greeted by an apparition of an aged man with a large head in the shape of a Rupee

Cue lots of amusing images popping into Tingle's mind, such as scoffing away at all his favourite foods, lounging around without having to do any work and being surrounded by a group of gorgeous women (that last image is particularly funny simply due to the Tingle looking so completely out of place with lovely ladies around him!). So anyway, this sets up the basis of the game

Other than puzzles, there are maps that you can collect and battles to partake in. An old lady, for instance, hands out the first map and requires you to fill in the blanks. To complete it, you must first mark on the map where the grave stone you are stood next to should be on this map, thus completing it 50%. If you traipse around further and regularly keep an eye on the map on the top screen, you will quickly find another location that needs to be drawn and bingo, the first map is all sorted! Once each map is all sorted you are rewarded by a little old lady in town. Talk to her again and she promptly takes a chunk of money back from you! I was more interested in getting through to the first dungeon, though, so was not too bothered by the cranky-looking hag.

On the way there you are likely to encounter wandering enemies, not random battles, though. These are little critters (or not-so-little ones in some cases) that you run into and start tumble around on the ground with. The aim is to rapidly tap on the enemy until it dies, normally leaving behind an ingredient or some rupees. Whilst tapping on enemies might sound repetitive, it was fun in the time I had with the game as you could roll into other enemies and whilst energy is lost quicker, you can receive a much bigger bonus at the end for your plight.

After playing around with these little fights, saving the girl's doll and meeting her where she tells you to do so, it is time to start the first main dungeon...but guess what? Yes, you have to pay entry! Finally inside it all becomes more Zelda-like again, but with a twist. Tingle cannot use a weapon, so to break jars he jumps inside them to smash them open and since he is a bit of a weakling, you have to hire a body-guard part the way into the dungeon, who helps defeat enemies much quicker as well as solve familiar 'standing on switches' puzzles. He also whips out a boom box that plays the celebratory tune from regular Zelda games (like when you solve a puzzle or gain an important item). Which brings me to a quick diversion