The Adventures of Cookie and Cream makes use of a very simple graphical style, more cartoony than anything else, but it does it well. Because of the viewing angle of the game--overhead and slightly tilted--there's never enough on screen for popup to be a problem, and indeed the framerate of the game never wavers from its high point. There's nothing super-complex here--anything from the Dreamcast on could pump these graphics easily--but they work very well for the type of game that it is. There are some nice subtle effects that you only notice after playing for a few hours, like the way the screen only splits after a certain distance is between the two characters, or if it's important for a tough jump. Nice.

The music in The Adventures of Cookie and Cream can only be described as unique, which is rather appropraite considering the general style of the game. It's generally very poppy, infectious, and even disturbing at times. The voice-acting, such as it is, is very similar. I'll be hearing the 'ha-cha' of the characters pulling a heavy object for days. The sound effects are good, but not spectacular. Much of this is moot, however, when you consider the fact that Cookie and Cream isn't really going for a mind-blowing presentation . . . it's all about the gameplay.

And, to put it simply, there's a whole lot of gameplay in The Adventures of Cookie and Cream. There are some caveats--the single-player game is devilishly hard (some would say impossible), and two-player can be very difficult as well if the person you're playing with isn't good, but if you play the game to have fun instead of for 'victory' absolutely anyone can have a blast with it.

The story is just as bizarre as the rest of the game. The Moon is gone, and it's up to Cookie and Cream to find it and bring it back for the moon festival. The two rabbits are forever separated (at least in the levels) by a division of the world, and they both have to get to the Goal at the end of the stage as quickly as possible.

What makes The Adventures of Cookie and Cream so unique is the fact that you have to work together to make it to the end. This isn't together in the 'cooperative game' sense, where you simply have to whack more enemies and try to help each other. The way Cookie and Cream does it is much more involved. Each character will have obstacles on their side, and only the other character can clear some of them. Oftentimes, the two characters will have to work in concert, such as when you have to paddle a canoe or drive a robot. It's fascinating, and surprisingly difficult to get a handle on.

The best way to play the game is with one other person. Each takes one of the characters, and controls them independently. The game doesn't have health or lives, per se--every time you get hit, you lose twenty seconds off of the clock, and if you stand still for too long an enemy will usually come along and suck away a lot of your time. You regain time by collecting timers scattered about the levels, and you start each stage with 100 seconds. Careful time management is necessary, especially in the later levels.

If you play the game single-player, you have to control both characters with one controller. It's very difficult at first, and while you can get used to it, it never gets easy. Some of the later levels are extremely challenging to do single-player.

There's also a Versus mode that supports up to four players at once, but it's nowhere near as entertaining as the main game. You whack each other in an attempt to collect stars; it's a pleasant enough diversion, but I'd rather play something like Crash Bash or MicroMachines v3 when I have a group of people over.

There are over half a dozen separate worlds to beat, each with four levels and a boss. You can go back and replay any of the stages that you've already completed, so when you're playing with someone new you don't have to start the game all over to teach them the basics.

Beating The Adventures of Cookie and Cream is a difficult task. You either have to spend many hours perfecting your single-player skills, or find someone with good control and play together. Either way, the last few worlds are downright devilish, and you'll find yourself restarting over and over to beat them. Some of the tricks they use are cheap, which is a shame, but many times it's just clever level design. Remember to always keep moving; you don't want to get whacked by the time-stealing enemies if you can help it, because time is the major commodity of the game.

Cookie and Cream are controlled with a stick and two buttons each. When you play single-player, they map to the two shoulder buttons; when you play two-player, you can switch them to face buttons if you're not sharing a controller. The simple controls are nonetheless complex in execution, since both characters can double-jump, and one button is 'use', which can mean a myriad of things depending on what's going on. You can pull, push, and so on. The controls are precise, and although you'll wish for more precision in the later levels it's more a consequence of evil level design and less a poor control scheme. Still, the characters move a little slower than I would have liked. Load times are minimal, and they have cute animations that will amuse you while you wait.

The Adventures of Cookie and Cream is in a class by itself, at least when it comes to modern-day gaming. It's a fully cooperative experience, and one that anyone who has friends who like to play games together should have. While the truly bizarre characters and setting may turn some people off, the solid gameplay and smooth difficulty curve makes this a winner. If you can play it before you buy it, you may want to make sure it's your cup of tea; Cookies and Cream is definitely an acquired taste, and the single-player experience may cause thrown-controller damage. But two-player games don't get any better than this.