Nintendo has announced an all-new DS game starring Tingle, the lovable 35-year-old “man-fairy” from the Zelda series. This new game, Color-Changing Tingle’s Balloon Trip of Love, is a sequel to Tingle’s previous DS hit, Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland, which was only released in Japan and Europe.
The game is a point-and-click-styled adventure game of sorts where Tingle is on a quest for love, as the title states. In the game you don’t control Tingle directly but instead click on objects in the environment that you want to interact with. The plot involves Tingle purchasing a mysterious book off an infomercial that purports to show him how to find love. He then sets off on his quest to get a woman.
The game is not a straight-up adventure title but appears to be a sort of Animal Crossing-styled game where conversations are the main event. Screenshots of the game show Tingle searching for a job, giving presents to various woman, and being locked up for pervertry.
The game has yet to get a Japanese release date, and as expected has not been announced for release anywhere outside of Japan. Japanese magazine Famitsu rated the game (9/8/8/9, 34 points) saying: “Tingle’s horrible personality (I mean that as a compliment) and the unique game world are exquisitely put together.” This loony adventure was applauded for its humor and “stressless interface” to the hard-but-not-unfair puzzle aspects. “I like the toy box-like design,” translates 1UP.
Take a look at a Japanese trailer for Tingle’s second adventure:
As for the upcoming DSiWare titles based on Tingle: Titled “Dekisugi Tingle Pack” in Japan, priced at 500 DSi Points, it’s a collection of five “tools”:
1. A tarot card fortune teller that predicts your love and financial fortune,
2. A timer featuring alerts from a robot Tingle,
3. A calculator which can be used to split the bill unevenly (in case you want to play gentleman or boss),
4. A music program where a marionette Tingle dances to music in front of your DSi pictures,
5. A coin game that’s playable by up to 20.