Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi: The Genie & the Amp

"Puffy Ami Yumi Are Back"

Nintendo and D3 Publishers of Europe have decided to release Puffy Ami Yumi's second game. Genie And The Amp is a Side-Scrolling/Fighting game for the Nintendo DS. With similar controls to the Game Boy Advance game Kaznapped, Genie And The Amp is a game you can learn to play very quickly. The story-line follows Ami and Yumi on a Time-Tour with Gene The Genie as they search to get their musical inspiration back.

Story-line 8/10

A basic Story-line that goes with the characters. The Story-line is actually similar to some of the Puffy Ami Yumi episodes. Ami and Yumi are featured in the game along with some of the other well known characters such as their greedy manager Kaz, but also introduces two new characters. They are Gene the genie, who helps you through out the game and old man Mei-Pie who teaches you how to play. the cut-scenes feature some funny jokes as well.

Sound 8/10

Nice music but some of it does not fit. After the title song 'Hi Hi' the music goes a bit downhill, the In-game music is a bit dull and it doesn't seem to fit in with some of the levels. Maybe you could select a background song it would be better. Hopefully something like that is in the next Puffy game. A new one is supposed to be scheduled in for a Game Cube release before the Nintendo Wii is in shops.

Graphics 10/10

Graphics are this games strong point as it features many well designed backgrounds, characters, enemies and the game is even in 3-D. The Ami and Yumi In-game sprites are well detailed and perfected. There should be more games with graphics like this on the Nintendo DS. No signs of lagging at all in any part of the game. during cut-scenes the characters move only by single frame like for instance only their mouths would move.

Controls 6/10

Another let down in this game are the controls as they get a bit boring after a while due to having to tap the screen so many times,it sometimes does not do anything and your hand gets sore very quick. You can use the A,B,X and Y buttons as well. Depending on what buttons/ strings you press the attacks change. Each attack is different between Ami and yumi.

Difficulty 9/10

To quite a few peoples surprise, this game is actually quite hard. You get two difficulty modes, Easy Listener and Hard Rocker. It's fairly obvious which one is easy and which one is hard. Hard mode is a living hell as your stats do not go up as much and the enemies are tougher.

game Play 6/10

Quite a short game in general with only a few extras such as Mini-games, costumes and guitars. Not much to unlock in this game so you might see yourself returning within a few days. Some of the games however are fun such as the ask a Koi Fish game and the sushi making game at the end of every level.

Over All Rating 8/10

I was rather disappointed with this game actually. I thought it would be as good as Kaznapped but it seems I was wrong. I would only recommend buying this game is if you are a fan of Puffy Ami Yumi and if you want a game that is really hard. I would also recommend renting it first.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/07/06