Noby Noby Boy (PS3)

[aruljothi]

Release Date: 2009
ESRB Rating: Rating Pending
Genre: Action
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Developer: Namco Bandai

Through titles like PixelJunk Eden, Everyday Shooter, and this month's Flower, the PlayStation Network has established itself as the console destination for adventurous, inventive downloadable experiences. And how better to validate such a statement than Noby Noby Boy, the perplexing new creation from Katamari Damacy director, Keita Takahashi? Flower is an incredibly tough act to follow, but while Noby Noby Boy lacks its effortless playability and immense beauty, it makes its own indelible impression with a heap of quirkiness and the promise of a sandbox title uninhibited by most traditional gaming archetypes.

What you won't find in Noby Noby Boy are missions, enemies, health bars, timers, or any kind of HUD. A single objective, however, guides the experience: stretch your little pink BOY creature out as far as possible by holding the analog sticks in opposite directions. Attaining great length can be difficult on the relatively small randomly generated maps, though the ability to jump and wrap BOY around various set pieces assists in the process. You'll eventually report your length to the Sun, who will then award that length to your GIRL counterpart, who emerges from the Earth's atmosphere in an attempt to reach other planets. Yeah, it's an odd duck -- but as with Katamari, the strange nature of the scenarios and character designs add to the overall appeal.

Beyond stretching and reporting to the Sun, anything else you choose to do in the game serves purely for your own amusement. Grow noticeably larger by eating fruit, animals, and humans, and then move on to cars, trees, and houses as your frame bulges further -- some ingested creatures can even be combined to create bizarre hybrids! Loop your BOY's body through the donut-shaped clouds. Lovingly transport the local wildlife on your back. Record YouTube clips. It's entirely up to you. Controlling BOY is a simple enough task, but getting a good perspective on the action can be an impossible task at times, thanks to a poorly implemented camera control system. The nonessential nature of most of the game's happenings makes it less of a fatal issue than it might be in another game, but it remains a very real frustration.