Now you may be asking yourself, “What is a Kotomon”? No, it's not a Pokemon that's wearing a jacket, although that would be a good guess. All you need to know is that whatever it is, it contains cute monsters and plays like Katamari Damacy mixed up with some sort of pinball shooter.

Each level has a number of monsters that need to be herded towards the gated goal. To help them along, you can pick them up, and tap the screen to fling them out onto the world like a lifeless projectile. Not only is this a good way to cover ground, but you may notice that there are all sorts of little bad monsters blocking your path. Shooting your buddies in their direction will destroy these obstacles, and if enough are disappeared out of existence in a puff of smoke, you get bonus points for a great score combo (which will help you achieve the coveted three star rating).

Shooting sort of adheres to a homing system that allows your monsters to curve along with the stream of baddies to obtain the combos (also, they can destroy stragglers on the way back by running into them). This system has its quirks though, and more often than not you'll be short an enemy or two and will have to run backwards blind (as the camera only ever shows the land ahead of you). What it does show however is an intriguing host of alien worlds full of glow-ey, colored lights and mountainous terrain accompanied by a soundtrack that's pleasant to listen to.

Kotomon is a game of intrigue over execution. The initial game idea, different effects of your monster friends, and curious atmosphere do a lot to entice the player, but the gameplay just doesn't match up with these positives enough to hold the player's interest for very long. With a little tightening up and polish it would be easier to recommend, but nevertheless this is a unique gaming experience if nothing else.