Each level feels unique and the boss fights offer a good challenge that is very rewarding to over come. The game never feels like it repeats itself in order to artificially lengthen the experience. It may be short but nothing feels wasted. The game only has six stages which each feature two levels and a boss fight. Its a clever design showing that the 3D effects are not just there for show but also cleverly incorporated into the gameplay. This means you’ll often need to fling ballooned enemies into the background to progress in the level. The game also expects you to be very aware of your environment as hidden items and switches are often hidden in the background 3D environment.
It feels like there is some light puzzle solving elements to the game as you will have to use this mechanic regularly to figure out how to progress through the levels such as hitting switches and reaching higher platforms. You can then use these ballooned enemies to take out other enemies or jump on them to reach higher platforms. You use an enchanted ring to attack enemies but instead of killing them it blows them up like a balloon. There are many mechanics that make Klonoa stand out from the crowd. Although the graphics are dated the levels look vast in scale and at times quite stunning if you’ve appreciation for the original Playstation platform. It’s odd for me to play a game where I kinda feel bad for killing the enemies. Klonoa and even the enemies called “Moos” are just adorable in this game. That doesn’t deter from the fact that this game is incredibly colourful and cute. I felt like I had to learn the games own gravity. I consider myself quite an experienced platform gamer and I found myself over estimating jumps. The problem it causes especially in Klonoa is it’s quite hard to navigate platforms when you’re regularly spinning around on a 3D plane. Though this design was quite common for the Playstation since many developers were still getting to grips with 3D. The game looks a little odd today with this style as the sprites clearly look like they don’t quite fit into the world they’re walking across. The character sprites are 2D traversing across a 3D environment, think Donkey Kong Country on SNES only the backgrounds are all in blocky 3D.
Fortunately with the power of PSN, I was able to download the game to my PSP and see what this cuddly adventure has to offer and what we folk in the West failed to see. I was lucky enough to rent this game back in 1998. Klonona failed to perform well and in turn the game become very rare and sought after to Playstation collectors in the West. If we have a platformer it better have attitude like Crash Bandicoot or be in 3D like Spyro the Dragon. Gamers here are hungry for blood like vicious hyenas, and that’s why games like Tomb Raider did well. The problem you see is we are horrible people over here in the West. Then Klonoa made his happy debut in the West and things just didn’t seem to fair well for the poor guy.
In Japan this cute fella was incredibly popular and his Playstation game rocketed to the top of the charts for sales. Klonoa is a cute cuddly anthropomorphic animal, he kinda looks like he’s a cross between a dog, a cat and maybe a rabbit. But if you've got no connection to the original, you'll likely wonder what all of the fuss is about.Some titles just never seem to fair well in the West. It's faithful to a fault, and I can think of plenty of older niche games that I would love to see get similar treatment. Despite all of these complaints, I can see fans of the original game enjoying this revival. Most of the stages are tremendously easy, with the challenge focused around late boss battles and cheap bottomless pit deaths.Ī few new features appear when you finish the main quest - boss rush mode, lame costume changes, hidden challenge rooms, and mirror mode.
The game consists of only 13 levels, so it's easy to blow through quickly. The faux 3D mechanic allows for multiple branching paths and other snazzy tricks while maintaining the feel of a 2D platformer. Instead of jumping on enemies' heads, Klonoa picks them up and throws them at each other. It's obvious what's going on the whole time except to the idiot characters in the story. The dialogue and story are ridiculous don't feel guilty about skipping the cutscenes. But times have changed, and despite a visual overhaul and some meager additions, Klonoa feels behind the times in the modern gaming climate. When the original Klonoa: Door to Phantomile came out over 10 years ago, the 2.5D mechanic was innovative, the graphics were slick, and anthropomorphic animals with 'tude were so in.