Dolphin Up (Wii U) Review

Dolphin Up boots and the Rawkin Games logo comes up, sounds of the ocean can be heard. The screen fades in and what is seen is a flat and static piece of art depicting a beach and a poor dolphin stuck on the shore. Already the lack of effort is apparent by its title screen. Players pick between a few different porpoises, one of which is an Orca, all of which play identically from one another. Then it is onto selecting a stage from a very small amount of choices. None of them matter because all are flat and boring with every hoop randomly placed. The core game is that there are two minutes to perform tricks to get a high score… and that is it. After two minutes, gamers will have seen all that Dolphin Up has to offer.

The graphics are so very plain and simple. Things read well enough but they are very bland and forgettable. It all lacks style and feels so generic, like it could be Internet stock art. The playable porpoises do actually have some decent animation to them when they do their rotations, but that is the extent of how this game will impress. Ecco the Dolphin came out in 1992, so why does Dolphin Up have to look worse than that? Technology has improved so much and development has become so cheap to the point where almost anyone can make a game these days, so it makes no sense that Dolphin Up has to have such weak art. For what it is worth, the game does run smoothly and is actually responsive…

During the two-minute time-frame, players have to perform tricks in an endless ocean with randomly placed hoops that boost speed. There really aren't a whole lot of tricks to do either, mostly just spinning, twirling or dashing and trying to make clean landings. Controlling the game is fairly easy to do and is very forgiving when it comes to its physics. This is where Dolphin Up's casual mobile game origin reveals itself and highlights how this type of game has no real place on Wii U. It is very difficult to get invested in a game like this on a console because it is meant to be a stupid time-waster while standing in line to get a burger or to access an ATM. There just isn't anything to this game and finding the will to play it again is a tiring struggle. Does score in a game like this really matter? There are no other porpoise to unlock and no other barren oceans either. There is just the one goal every time - score points.

Every week the eShop gets more mobile ports of casual games. There is clearly an audience for these types of games, but why bother playing them on a Wii U? It seems like the type of person who would enjoy this would either already have it, or have one of its many derivatives on their mobile device anyway. Any child would get bored or frustrated by the lack of things to do in Dolphin Up!