PixlBit

When I asked for any games people wanted me to talk about, Cary gave me a list of games I mostly don't own and in some cases, haven't even heard of. But there was one game in there I do own: Klonoa. Remember picking it up cheap, maybe even as part of a B2G1 Free sale, but never got around to it until now. 

As of now I'm at the third world and it's good, but not great. If you plopped a 9 year old me in front of this game, he'd probably think it was amazing. But I play a lot of sidescrollers nowadays, and despite it being my favorite genre, I'm a little too overloaded with them. I still am delighted every time I find a Stealth Inc or Rayman Legends, but a sidescroller nowadays has to really stand out to get my attention. Nothing against these games, I just have to review a lot of them. And I say this because what I've played of Klonoa is a good game. I'm just not in the right frame of mind to play it.

The game it reminds me most of is Kirby. The game has a bright, colorful world with designs very similar to the Kirby games. Even Klonoa's attack of grabbing and throwing enemies is reminiscent of Kirby's suck and spit abilities, though he lacks the copy ability from those games. Instead, he has the option to get a double jump out of them, which leads to some clever puzzles if you want to get all the collectables.

The game is also probably the best use of the 2.5D perspective I've ever seen. It's not just 3D characters moving on a 2D plane, the camera is always changing depending on how the path turns and it leads to some good puzzles dealing with the perspective shifts. 

But like most Kirby games, it has the same issue of being way too easy. Klonoa has a lot of health and the enemies are not that much of a threat. There aren't too many difficult jumps either, which could be in part as to why I'm having trouble finishing this game. Some people like a nice, easy game every now and then, but this feels like it goes a little too far for me.

Levels can also drag on a little too long for my taste. The average level takes me about twenty minutes and for a 2D platformer, I generally like them in the 5-10 minute range. This could just be how I am and because I was raised on Mario and Sonic, but again, it's just how I feel.

Will I finish this? Probably. It has enough charm and fun to it that I want to see what else they throw at me and I'm curious to see if they have any more fun tricks with the perspective or hiding collectables. I just need to wait until I'm in the right mood for it. But I'd recommend checking it out if you enjoy Kirby games, you'll find it's similar but different in the right ways.