Not to beat a horse into dust, but there are other problems as well. When you die, you lose all of the coins you’ve collected, and with save points spread far apart, the game often throws you back quite a ways from where you last left off. Though all of the action is mapped to the DS’ buttons, talking to other characters in the game requires use of the touch screen. There’s simply no rhyme or reason to most of the game’s component parts, and Legend of Kay’s promising premise ultimately gets buried beneath a heaving mass of design flaws.

The world is big enough to house a grand adventure, but it’s left in a state of emptiness and disrepair. In spite of an attractive comic-book-style story presentation, it’s impossible to care about any of the game’s characters. The story is steeped in mysticism, but the gameplay is simply stuck in the mud.

The visuals are decent – the character model for Kay looks good and he animates nicely – but environments are barren and bland.Without much going on in the game, it’s no great distinction to say the framerate is steady. There’s an underlying look and feel to Legend of Kay that’s inviting, even if the game’s color palette is dull and washed out.

The sounds and music that accompany the gameplay do precious little to enhance the experience, as themes are sedate and the sound effects uninspired. Like almost every other element of this misfire of a game, the aural presentation is barely functional.

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Legend of Kay started out on PS2 as an overlooked, albeit mildly fun, adventure, but it comes to DS as tattered code that left me utterly disappointed. Aside from decent controls and a fairly impressive world to run around in, there’s scarcely anything here that can be labeled as fun gameplay. It’s a shame to see Kay’s second chance at stardom squandered so recklessly. There are glimpses of a decent game that could have been, but it’s clear from the very beginning the adventure is far from legendary. Folks in search of something more substantial may want to consider The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks or Dragon Ball Origins instead. This feline, however, has used up all of its nine lives.

By Tony Capri
CCC Freelance Writer