Google Doodles — those funky little illustrated bars you see above the world-famous Google search bar — are often eye-catching, informative, and timely. Plenty of bloggers have taken notice of them over the years, but today’s Google Doodle has a special place in our weeb hearts.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics have begun, and to celebrate, Google released a Japanese-themed adventure game featuring a cute neko (cat) character, sports, and an island of challenge.
A Full-Feature Doodle
This particular Google Doodle is massive, featuring seven mini-games within a sprawling adventure game. Take part in archery, artistic swimming, skateboarding, climbing, table tennis, rugby, and marathon. Oh, and then help find fire arrows, re-unit three sisters, and pick up driftwood on the beach. There’s a lot to do, and it’s all seamless and entertaining.
The game includes an animated intro sequence, seven cut scenes, and a final victory scene. But that’s just what we found, there might well be more hidden within the game. Here are some screenshots from the intro. You might recognize some of the characters from Japanese mythology too.
My retro controllers, which have been notoriously difficult to use, worked without a hitch here as the game has excellent plug-and-play controller support. Take that, Steam! The music is great too. Far from being monotonous, as you might expect from a free game, it was a real joy, and surprisingly appropriate considering the music that was featured during the Parade of Nations this year.
Doodle Champion Island Games has a lot of appeal for a wide audience, just like the games in Tokyo, which has taken notable steps to increase the audience of the Olympics with the addition of new sports. Young kids will have a blast with the game, though they’ll need someone to help with reading if they’re not reading yet. Older players and casual gamers will likely find that the mini-games are simple to learn but hard to master, so be ready to spend a few hours trying to top your high score.
All in all, I give the game three out of three dango balls! When’s it coming to GOG?
Lifting Our Spirits in a Time of Need
These Olympic Games might seem cursed, but we can all still get behind the pomp and ceremony and the trial and triumph of the games. History is being made, with skateboarding, sports climbing, and surfing all featuring for the first time in Tokyo. On the other hand, there’s more than enough controversy to go around, on top of all the anarchy Covid caused in delaying the game for a year. With both Keigo Oyamada and Kentaro Kobayashi having recently left the Tokyo Olympic effort due to issues surfacing from their distant history, you have to wonder if someone isn’t sitting in some bullet-proof bunker, searching the Internet for anything they can use to build a smear campaign against Tokyo’s efforts.
And so, just maybe, we needed Google to remind us what the games are really about. It’s not about winning. It’s not about who has the weirdest outfit in the opening parade. It’s not about the scandal or the politics.
It’s about taking part and doing your best, no matter the odds.
