Go! Go! Island Rescue!
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DSi
| Go! Go! Island Rescue

Anyone who is familiar with DSiWare knows that if you grab a random game, you'll most likely get burnt.

The online store isn't exactly bursting with quality titles. However, check out the excitable Go! Go! Island Rescue! and you may well find your DSi hunger satisfied.

Previously successfully released on mobile and iPhone, it's a very solid experience that has you running a firefighting squad saving little people known as Darwins who are trapped in a variety of smoking buildings. Your task is to deliver each of them safely to the exit.

Showering infernos

The action plays out a little like Lemmings, in that each Darwin will walk back and forth on their platform until interacted with.

However, rather than dish out the special powers, you need to run around the level carrying them to the finish or lobbing objects to fulfil their needs.

Each Darwin has his or her unique characteristic. Your run-of-the-mill Darwin will simply run left and right, while a glasses-wearing Darwin climbs ladders and uses fire extinguishers to put out fires.

For the most part, though, you'll be picking each of them up, aiming with the stylus or D-pad and flinging them across the danger, making sure that their landing is safe.

Slow burning

The game starts off rather slowly, with multiple tutorials explaining each character and ability. The pace is suitable, but perhaps sucks some of the fun out of proceedings. I was still learning new elements long after wishing the game would let me get on with the fullscale firefighting.

Yet give Island Rescue the time it deserves and you'll find an enthralling platform puzzler that will keep you entertained for several hours and beyond. With each new Darwin introduced, new depths are unleashed and the gameplay really comes into its own.

Time's hose

Another example of this is the ability to rewind time. At any point, you can pause the game and go back a few seconds before continuing play, enabling you to resurrect dead characters.

Using rewinds means giving up a potential gold medal score, and what's the point when you can simply hit 'Restart level' with no penalty? Yet later in the game when the puzzles become far more challenging and longer in length, that rewind option will be your best friend.

This is Island Rescue's only real issue - you do need to put a couple of hours into play before its real quality shines through. New game modes are discovered over time as well, including the tension-ridden Panic Rooms, which put a time limit on the action.

Still, for all these reasons, Go! Go! Island Rescue is exactly the kind of game that the DSiWare store needs - it's largescale, enjoyable, wonderfully presented and will provide your head with a good old scratch if you can push past the tutorials.

Go! Go! Island Rescue!

Go! Go! Island Rescue is slow to get going, but eventually blooms into a quality DSi platform puzzler
Score
Mike Rose
Mike Rose
An expert in the indie games scene, Mike comes to Pocket Gamer as our handheld gaming correspondent. He is the author of 250 Indie Games You Must Play.