Tag Archives: Platformer

Kao The Kangaroo Review

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I always enjoy myself a good platformer. It has to be the safest genre out there aside from fighting games in that you know you’ll always have a good time here. It’s a very non risky gameplay style because whether it’s high budget or cheap you’ll be having some fun. Now this one may not be AAA but it was good. The game could be a little glitchy but at the end of the day I had a good time. It’s a short game but one that makes the most of each hour.

The game revolves around a kangaroo named Kao who was having a good time in the village but unfortunately his father and sister have both vanished. His mom pleads with him to stay but Kao has to learn what happened to them. He finds a pair of gloves with incredible magic power and decides that he will save the world and reunite his family. He is warned by a wise old man that the gloves may corrupt him and even turn Kao evil but he isn’t worried. Kao knows that he is strong of heart and can accomplish anything.

So the game has 4 worlds and each one has 3 levels and then a boss. You should have the game completed within a few hours max so it’s not very long but the levels are well designed. I had a fun time playing through them and I may even go back for the Platinum at some point. You can run, jump, and punch so all the basic controls are here. You can also wield elements to solve puzzles and of course take down enemies. I would have liked to have seen more elements but it was probably hard to fit too much in before the game was ending.

Now I mentioned that the game is glitchy. For the most part I don’t really care about glitches much as long as they don’t really impact the game. Sonic 2006, Frontiers, and Pokemon Scarlet are all known as games with glitches but they never impacted the gameplay so I wouldn’t really take note of them. The only reason why I note it for Kao is because I had to redo an entire level due to a glitch at one point. Basically the game doesn’t freeze time while you are talking to someone so I got attacked by minions before I could finish the cutscene. As a result the guy didn’t give me the gem and I couldn’t talk to him again so I had to restart.

Then other times the audio would cut out and you would get these loud static noises so I had to really lower the volume on the TV. These things are pretty noticeable so I would say the game could have used some more time on the debugging phase. Fortunately these are still rare in the end so they won’t really hold the score back either. At the end of the day I would have liked the game to have been longer but it still delivered on giving me a fun adventure which is all that I can ask for. As long as I can have fun then that means that the game did something right.

The story may not be the most original out there but it works out. Kao’s sister is one of those tough characters with a lot of personality so I can appreciate that. The old guy is very wise with all of his teachings so he’s about what you would expect as well. Kao’s father looks bad since he couldn’t master the gloves and got wrecked so easily but I’m sure he’s a good guy. The main villain is super forgettable though so you won’t be afraid of him or anything. I liked the gloves though, he made for a fun side kick.

There are a lot of elements here that would lend themselves over to a sequel really well. I can’t say that I’d be there day 1 or anything like that but I would definitely have a good time with a sequel and would buy it at some point. There isn’t a lot of replay value here though. I suppose you can go for the Platinum trophy which involves getting all of the collectibles. This should take you a few extra hours I’d say but even then not a whole lot of them. You’ll be done with this in a flash

The graphics look good. The character models are on point and I do think that they put a good amount of effort into the backgrounds. It’s a game that visually holds its own at all points. Then the soundtrack is also good. I’d give a special shoutout to the voices though. I loved Kao’s accent and he had this gimmick of overaccentuating the accent on every other word. It made for fun listening and it also makes the character more memorable. He’s not afraid to take risks and go after the villain so I’d give him some good props there. He won’t be winning any awards but he’s better than characters like Crash and Knack.

Overall, Kao The Kangaroo is a fun game that I could recommend to gamers of all ages. It’s a fun platformer that is very simple and straight forward. So you can just appreciate the levels as you jump around and get to the end of the game. I’d have appreciated a few more hours of content to really make this one last but at the very least you can’t say that they wanted to pad things out. The game does what it wants and then just ends after that. No dragging things out or just going on to keep going on and I can respect that.

Overall 7/10

Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair Update

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I’ve finally achieved the Platinum trophy in this one! Always fun to finally get up to 100% and safely take another game off the list. This was a solid game all around and hopefully they make another one soon.

New Super Lucky’s Tale Update

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I’ve got my next platinum! The trophies in this game aren’t too hard to get so I’d recommend it if you’re looking for your next conquest. Feels good, this was definitely a fun game so getting the Platinum trophy was a pleasant experience. Definitely a well crafted game that I would recommend all the way. You really can’t go wrong with this one.

Pac Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 Review

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I had this game on my list for so many years before finally taking the plunge and buying it. The TV show wasn’t great to say the least but the series always had a lot of potential in video game format. How can you mess up a solid platformer experience right? In the end this one’s not great by any means and just goes through the motions but I would say it’s a smooth experience and a title you’ll want to check out.

The story starts with Betrayus plotting a whole new scheme. This time he really may take over the entire planet. Pac Man and his friends will have to try and take this guy down a few steps but when it turns out that Pac’s parents may be hostages that changes things. Pac will have to handle some fairly high stakes here and make difficult decisions but whether he makes the right ones remains to be seen.

The story’s definitely not going to be the selling point here. I mean it’s cool that the cutscenes are fully animated and all but at the same time it’s still going for the show’s vibe which is a comedy that’s not super funny. At times it can be just campy enough where it turns into being funny though. This may not be the proudest version of Pac Man for his fans but at least he’s a good kid at heart. If he was just a little smarter then things would have been easier for him. At least one credit you can give to the guy is that he’s always ready to jump into action.

There are 5 worlds here and each one has about 10 levels. Then you have challenge levels in most of the worlds and also a hub world where you can talk to people. So there’s a reasonable amount of gameplay here but I still wouldn’t call the game very long. I beat it in about 2 batches. Each level is bite sized so even though there are a lot of them, you shouldn’t have too much trouble here. At most the glitches might slow you down. I ran into level ending glitches 2-3 times where I was caught in an eternal death loop and just had to quit out. Another time I jumped far enough where I made it to the next checkpoint but I bypassed the power up I needed. So with no way to go forward or backwards I was just stuck.

I would say the gameplay is very smooth outside of the glitches though so you could say I just had a little case of bad luck here. The various power up forms do help to spice up the gameplay. I’m not a big fan of the magnetic form as I felt like it would just slow things down whenever it appeared but the rest are fun. The bosses all have actual strategies and unique features to them so those were handled well. You may even find yourself losing a life or two here and there.

You’re never in danger of a game over though as you accumulate lives faster than you can lose them. In that way I think the game was a little too generous. I’m sure it was aiming fairly young given how the story is but you could ramp up the game’s difficulty level just a bit if you ask me. The Platinum trophy looks easy to obtain though which I’m glad about. One day I see myself going back to this one to get that Platinum.

In terms of graphics I would say the game holds up well. It has a colorful atmosphere to it that just tends to age well. The character designs are good and the levels are on point. Then for the soundtrack it’s a bit limited but you’ll remember the songs from the show which is certainly nostalgic. The series really did well on a technical level, it just wasn’t able to ultimately seal the deal and that’s why it works better as a game. There is less to mess up you could say.

At the end of the day this is a fairly simple platformer and not one that you would buy over Mario and Sonic. That said, it is certainly a good game and if you can find it for a good price then it’s worth it. I’ll never forget seeing it compared to Mario Galaxy way back in the day. I wouldn’t say this one is quite as good and polished as Mario but it’s a platformer that should be able to hold its head high. Throw in a more engaging story and I dare say it could have really started to do some numbers. At the end of the day the story just wasn’t super engaging here.

Overall, Pac Man and the Ghostly Adventures is a period in time that is pretty much forgotten at this point. Now Pac has gone back to his roots with the World series and I don’t see the Ghostly Adventures ever playing much of a part again. I’m afraid that this era is probably completely over and technically that’s a good thing. It would have been nice if we could have gotten just one more game to end the saga though. That would have been enough to tie everything together instead of the loose ends. I suppose you can always imagine how it would have played out though.

Overall 7/10

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn Review

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This is a game that I just decided to buy on impulse after watching the movie. It was only 99 cents so why not take the plunge right? You really couldn’t get much of a better deal than that and in the end it worked out. The game’s actually more fun than you would expect and holds its own as a proper platformer. It tries a whole lot of different gameplay techniques throughout its run and each of them felt rather polished. Ultimately I would say that this is a title that I could recommend to anyone for the right price. That’s because the downside is that the game is fairly short.

I’d say the actual story mode for the game is under 4 hours. It only took me 2 batches to knock it out. So you won’t be here for the main campaign all that long. After that you could have fun in challenge mode and the 2 player campaign options which will help you gather trophies. The Platinum could end up being a little on the long side but it’s not a particularly difficult one to achieve by any means. You’ll get it if you put your mind to it. If you intend to go for the Platinum then that helps with the replay value a whole lot.

As for the story itself, it’s fairly basic. You play as a character named Tintin who goes around trying to sniff out stories and doing his best to make sure that he’s always on top. One day he buys a toy ship and suddenly everyone is after him and he even gets kidnapped. He must now team up with a drunk captain to find out what this whole conspiracy is all about so he can get it into the papers. This may be his most dangerous adventure yet.

The game loves to change up the gameplay every level or two so get ready to experience a lot of different things. You have the 3D platforming sections where you have to jump over things as you typically run away from a large obstacle. There are the dog sections where you bark at enemies to keep them away and bolt to the ending. There are the plane levels where you shoot other fighters down, car levels where you have to drive to the end, sword fighting levels where you have to block and parry in order to win, and finally the 2D levels where you fight off enemies in hand to hand combat while maneuvering through more obstacles.

It’s impressive that the game came up with so many styles. You just never know what to expect and that’s in a very good way. Of course because the game is short as it is, that means you won’t be able to work on these gameplay styles for too long which is why they keep switching. It’s all very polished though and I particularly liked the hand to hand combat. It has those 1960s Batman kind of sound effects as you punch everyone out. There are even some unique gameplay mechanics like trying to get opponents to slip on bananas and such in order to get them to lower their defenses.

This is a very easy game though so don’t expect much of a challenge. Whenever you die you end up respawning at almost the same spot since the respawn points are virtually everywhere. You have unlimited lives as well so you won’t run out and your health points quickly regenerate during fights if you don’t get hit too quickly. This game is absolutely more about the adventure itself than challenging you. So keep that in mind while you’re playing but it evens out quite nicely I would say.

The graphics are rather bad here. It’s trying to go for a very realistic look which absolutely backfires. It’s why you never want to look like a live action product. The whole point of animation is that it’s a million times better than live action so embrace it and make the colors stand out. I think it would have been good if the game tried to look like the old comics. That would have been nostalgic but also very effective in getting the look across. I would have given that a thumbs up, that’s for sure.

The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side. I can’t really recall any specific tunes. It’s more on the generic side so it could have used a rock track or two. Nothing too bad but at the end of the day if your music isn’t memorable then that’s not a good sign. You need something that audiences will be talking about for years to come and this wasn’t it. At least they put more effort into the gameplay than all of that. There are a lot of cinematics which is always nice since I feel like they make the game feel a lot fancier. You should always try to have a lot of cutscenes and a full story mode in any game. Trust me when I say that it enhances the entire product.

Overall, The Adventures of Tintin rises above what you would expect for the average movie type game. It’s ultimately a solid platformer that can hold out on its own and deliver some solid content. I’d say to give it a chance and check it out. You won’t be playing for very long as it ends quickly but at least you will have had a really fun adventure so that’s worth it right? Quality over quantity and all that. If they ever make another Tintin game I’ll definitely be ready to check it out. I’ll be expecting big things there.

Overall 7/10