The kitten sleeps tonight in DS' Dream of Neko
He's cute, tired and mighty confused
When it comes to the lives of domestic animals, there are plenty of people who'd happily swap places with their pets. Not being a dog person, I'd be less excited about chasing after sticks and jumping into muddy ponds. Existence as a cat, however, now that's something worth investigating: curled up in a chair all day, with lashing of milk and tucker ensuite, before a night out on the tiles.
Which brings us to The Dream of Neko – which sees you trying to turn a kitten called Neko, who's mysteriously turned into a blue-skinned boy, back into his original feline state. A reasonable starting point for a game for the little 'uns.
It might all sound somewhat clichéd, of course, but from the look of the first screenshots, we're hoping the game could rise above its backstory.
For one thing, the transformation theme is continued in the game's six environments, one of which sees Neko turning into a worm to tackle some Dig Dug-style underground platforming and puzzle-solving. Other locations include a colourful block puzzle area, and one which looks a bit like Green Hill Zone from Sonic.
All contain gold coins that you'll use to buy objects such as extra life, time bonuses, and ice and fire balls to throw at your enemies. The coins also whet your completist tendencies, by letting you how much further you have to go to reach 100 per cent collected. Each level will have a boss you'll have to defeat, too.
And neatly summing up the 'cute as kids' atmosphere is the fact that The Dream of Neko's developer is DK Games, which is also making My Little Flufties.
The Dream of Neko is due to be released sometime during the autumn, at the pocket money-friendly price of £20.
