Pocky & Rocky 2

"Just as cute as the first game."

Japanese shooters aren't something that we in the Western world have a huge collection of. However one series that made it to our part of the world is the Pocky & rocky series, which is called Kiki Kaikai in Japan. However this series is also a little bit different than the regular shooters. Instead of controlling a space ship, you are in this game little japanese temple girl who throws magic cards against her enemies.

The American and European title in this game seems a little wrong, since unlike the first Pocky & Rocky, Pocky is the only main character and Rocky is just one of her friends that the second player can control. But I guess the game wouldn't be to popular if they named it Kiki Kaikai here.

The story in this game about as complicated as the first game. During a festival, the moon Princess Luna visits Pocky's kingdom. However since a king in the neighbour kingdom wants to marry Princess Luna, he sends his underling Impy to kidnapp her. Pocky and her friends sees all this, and decides to go on a quest to save Princess Luna.

The first stage is actually a tutorial stage that can be skipped if the player already knows how to play this game. You can still throw magic cards to defeat the enemies, and the wand to hit away the enemy bullets. However the slide and the powerful bombs that you could use in the first Pocky & Rocky is no longer here.

Instead you have a partner that either the second player or an AI can control. Player 1 can also turn into the partner for a short period or throw them as a bomb on an enemy. Turning into your partner can allow you different things depending on who you picked as your partner. As you might have guessed, throwing your partner against the boss is the best way to fast do a lot of damage on the boss.

In the first Pocky & Rocky you had a life bar, but there's no longer such thing in this game. Instead Pocky can take 2 hits before she losses a life, unless she finds clothes that allows her to take one more hit. This clothes can either be bought for money that the enemy drops or found in chests that are all each stage.

Another thing that has been changed is the power up system. Instead of choosing between throwing many cards at different directions or less but more powerful cards at the same direction there's only one type of power up in this game which is a mix of the two. Just like in the first game, you lose your power ups when you take one hit.

While the difficulty is still a small challenge, this game is actually easier than the first Pocky & Rocky. There are a few stages that can be a pain, but you will complete them after a few tries. The stages that I really hate in this game those where you are either riding on a dog or a dragon. In these two stages, it's very difficult to move where you want to and that makes it harder to dodge the enemy bullets. But you still have unlimited of continues so if you just want to then you will sooner or later finish the stage.

The character design and stage design is however just as cute as in the first Pocky & Rocky. All the monsters are still inspired by the Japanese culture. It might be a good idea to explore each stage as good as you can, since there are a few hidden characters in this game that can join Pocky and her friends in the quest to find Princess Luna.

In the first Pocky & Rocky both players hade the same role and both players were just as important if you played with a friend. I wish it was the same in this game, but thanks to the partner system that I mentioned before, the second player will never be anything else than just a helper to Player 1. In some stages the 2nd player won't be able to do anything at all.

But then it's a good thing that you can change partner before each stage you can use one and even in some places during each stage. You also select if you want to play alone or with a friend before you start on a new stage, which means that a second player can join almost at any time.

Pocky & Rocky is absolutely not a bad game, and I can understand if some actually think it's better than the first Pocky & Rocky. But since it's not as fun to play with a friend (which was one of the things that I loved the most about Pocky & Rocky) I prefer the original over this sequel. But it's still a fun game to play.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/21/07