There are some DS games out there that are obviously made for a very young age group; the ‘Imagine’ series comes instantly to mind. From a marketing point of view, they’re safe games aimed at parents to buy for their impressionable ickle ones. These are the types of games that the more ‘mature’ players wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot cattle prod due to their simplicity (and in some cases, the downright scary 3D babies).
However, there are some that’ll fool ya, some games you’d instantly ignore that aren’t actually that bad. Upon passing a particularly girly looking game, I suddenly recognised a certain art style and brand name and got curious…

After a bit of a demo play, I ended up buying ‘Kira Kira Pop Princess’ despite its rather off-putting title. The original Japanese title of ‘Pinky Street: Kira Kira Music Hour’ sounds so much better, and if they had kept it as such, it would have at least made my purchase of the game a tad less embarrassing. Various character and location names have also been changed, but that’s standard I guess.

Kira Kira (roughly translated as ‘sparkling’) features characters based on the popular ‘Pinky Street’ plastic figures designed by BabySue and manufactured by the Japanese company Vance Project. Yeah, I had bought a couple based on ‘Haruhi Suzumiya’ and ‘Street Fighter II’ during an anime convention. Their distinguishing feature is the interchangeable parts that can easily be switched between figures according to taste. In the DS game, players can do the same and completely customise their character with a huge range of heads, hairstyles, clothing, and accessories, all of which can be unlocked throughout the game by winning dance competitions across the city.

It’s a fun rhythm action game that actually has a fair amount of hidden depth. Dressing in clothes that are popular in a particular district is just as important as your timing with the stylus on the touch screen and can also affect what rewards you gain from a win or a loss. There are also hidden dance moves you can pull off in most songs to gain that extra edge towards a higher score (and better prizes).

Two of our female friends also have the game and they keep kicking my ass on the multiplayer mode (although after comparing stats after each competition I’m not that far behind). The nice touch is that even if you lose, you will still gain in-game currency for the shops, tokens for the capsule machines, and other items. Hitting near-to-perfect scores and impressing your audience can sometimes unlock some of the most sought-after items in the game.
On the less competitive side, you can also trade photos you took of your character, profile/stats sheets, and whatever items you’ve collected so far.

So anyway, since this game seems to be going for less than a tenner in some places, I really think it’s worth a bash. Rather surprising how addictive the game is for some people (and those with OCD tendencies to ‘collect everything’). The tunes are very catchy too.

Pinky Street: Kira Kira Music Night – the Japanese sequel, has been out for a while and has supposedly been released in Europe under the title ‘Pop Town’, just no one can find it and online shops are currently clueless.
You play the rival character with a whole new set of music and clothing, plus a daft spin on the plot and dialogue from the previous game. There were limited edition versions of both games in Japan packaged with Pinky:St figures…
Why do I have this sudden urge to go to jlist and ebay? *searches* What the?! Is that a Pinky in a chibi version of a Tiger I tank? Brilliant! XD

Here, have some hyperlinks;

*Vance Project – Manufacturer of Pinky:St (Japanese)
*BabySue – Designer of Pinky:St (Japanese)
*Pinky-Street.com – English Pinky Street reference and fan site