Game: Klonoa
Platform: Wii; PS2
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Developer: Paon Corp
ESRB: E
Genre: Platforming
Players: 1-4
What's Hot: Offers incredibly satisfying, creative gameplay. The revamped graphics are gorgeous
What's Not: The game is quite short – and there are more than a few cheap deaths that will annoy all but the most hardened platform fans
Review by: Danielle Riendeau
When I first heard that the criminally underappreciated Klonoa: The Door to Phantomile would be receiving a Wii-make, I have to admit—I was excited. The PlayStation original was one of the very best games of 1997 – a quirky, colorful platformer that bridged the 2D and 3D worlds that were both so in vogue at the time and gave every cartoon mascot short of Mario a serious run for their money. Namco Bandai has brought the title to the Wii with a full graphical overhaul and a few new features – the most promising of which is a blessed lack of annoying tacked-on motion controls.
Old fans will not be disappointed; the game looks gorgeous and plays beautifully – aside from the requisite cheap deaths towards the game’s end, it’s a slice of platforming heaven. You control the titular Klonoa, a sort of anthropomorphic cat/panda/whatever creature who wields a funky ring device that allows him to grab and throw enemies around the stages. The levels themselves are sprawling 3D constructions with branching 2D paths – you’re tasked with solving the environmental puzzles, jumping, snatching up baddies and bopping your way through.
A word about the difficulty – though the game is pretty short (I clocked in at around six hours), it does get rather tough towards the end. While the graphics and the cutscenes are extremely kid-friendly (occasionally to the point of being vomit-inducing for adults – turn off the English voice acting as soon as you boot up the game), the last couple of stages will have more inexperienced gamers - say, those who were too young to be weaned on 8 or 16-bit sidescrollers - throwing the Wii-mote in frustration. For the most part, however, the game is almost Zen-like in its simplicity (and its well-paced challenge level). Though just about every controller option known to Wii (nunchuck, Wii-mote only, classic controller, Gamecube pad) is available, it’s truly a two-button game; you have an input for throwing and one for jumping, all the rest is worked out in context. This is the beauty of Klonoa.
The incredible variety of challenges and obstacles that you face over the course of the game constantly keep things interesting. You’ll float and throw enemies to cross spike-lined chasms, speed down waterfalls while collecting gems, nimbly bounce through jumping puzzles and best pattern-based bosses until the bittersweet end. Once you complete the main quest, there’s a “mirror mode” wherein you can tackle mirror versions of levels and a set of new challenge stages, adding a bit of replay value. It also helps that the price is right – the game is being offered at a very reasonable $29.99.
Compared to similar fare on the system, Klonoa can’t quite compete with Super Mario Galaxy (it’s too short and a hair too slippery), but it blows Sonic absolutely out of the water and certainly bests the very respectable Wario Land: Shake it by a wide margin. $30 is a fair price to pay for a truly excellent, old school platforming experience. Just be sure to pull that wrist strap on tight when you get to the last levels – your TV will thank you.
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