Eat your heart out Sonic!
The Charge:
Wahoo!
Opening Statement:
Klonoa is a somewhat sad case for me to talk about. The oft-forgotten franchise got its start with rather humble beginnings on the original Sony PlayStation with 1997’s Klonoa: Door to Phantomile. The general consensus of reviewers at the time was that while a solid game, Klonoa had missed out on the early nineties ‘mascot’ craze of the last generation’s console war between the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, and most gamers of the late nineties wouldn’t be terribly interested in a cute platforming adventure along the lines of Kirby or Super Mario. So while Klonoa did manage to garner enough praise to warrant an equally unappreciated sequel in 2001 on the PlayStation 2, and a handful of Game Boy Advance titles; the series has remained tragically toward the bottom rungs of the cult ladder. Luckily for gamers who missed out on a more than solid platformer that could easily hang with the Yoshi’s Islands and Sonic 2s of the gaming world, Klonoa is getting another shot at fortune and glory via a painstaking remake on the Nintendo Wii. So, twelve years after the original’s release, is there enough wind left in this wonder to capture some late-in-the-game glory?
I want every member of Sonic Team to take notice
Facts of the Case:
Klonoa is nothing more than a straight up 2D platforming game, and that’s just plain awesome! The titular protagonist is a bizarre looking cat creature with freakishly long ears that look like a cross between a mouse and a rabbit. Truth be told, twelve years after falling in love with his first game, I still have no idea as to what the hell Klonoa is supposed to be. His main source of both attack and defense is a ‘wind-bullet’ that allows him to ensnare enemies to be used as projectiles, puzzle-solving implements, or can be hurled toward the ground mid-leap to create a neat little double jump. As well, Klonoa can use his circus side-show attraction ears to flap in mid-air and hover for a second’s worth of time. It’s all pretty standard early to mid nineties style 2D game play, but it does afford the developers an opportunity to create some pretty technical challenging jumping segments in the game’s latter levels.
Oh! The platforms disappear...good luck with that
The Evidence:
Bright, filled with gorgeously colourful , sharp graphics and stuffed to the gills with light-hearted fun; Klonoa is a game that I would easily recommend to any Wii owner. The 2D perspective is bolstered with 3D graphics that twist and turn in the background as players move throughout the levels, giving the game world a lush and vibrant appearance. There is never a moment when there isn’t something wonderful going on onscreen in Klonoa. The levels aren’t terribly long, usually falling into the range of 6 minutes at a full on run. However I still find myself to this day, taking a few seconds every level to stop and take in some of the more impressive backdrops. Each stage in comprised of two levels, followed by boss battles that while not terribly taxing on the brain, do succeed at providing a few general thrills as players will have to pick their shots carefully if they want to succeed at doing any damage. Truthfully, until the fifth stage, the game is a little on the easy side; with the only real challenge being trying to rescue every imprisoned Phantomilian (the denizen’s of Klonoa’s world), and to collect the maximum number of gems in each level. That is however, the testament of 26 year old gamer who has been playing this title for 12 of his 20 year gaming career. For younger players, I don’t think there is anything else outside of Super Mario Galaxy that I would recommend more. Besides, at an accessible price of $34.99 and given the game’s general high level of quality, there aren’t many reasons for families or fans of platforming games in general to not enjoy what Klonoa has to offer.
At the exact moment you read this, Jon Mercer is humming this level's music
Rebuttal Witness:
While Klonoa is full of bright visuals, I do have to mention that the game design, and the audio are both stuck in 1997. The midi soundtrack sounds a little on the weaksauce side of the spectrum, which is sad considering the original Door to Phantomile possessed one of the great soundtracks of the PlayStation era (I wish the boss battle with Baladium in level 4 lasted longer in fact, as the accompanying music is almost painfully rad). It’s the exact same score, but I couldn’t help wishing Namco had taken the same careful approach with the music that they had in recreating Klonoa’s brilliant graphics. The option is there to play in either English or the game’s original squeaky non-language, depending on player’s preference for basic Saturday morning cartoon voices, or if they like listening to porpoises squeal.
Is that water flowing up?
As for the game play argument. I have been playing and loving this title since 1997. I love the characters, I love the way that the game’s bright exterior hides a ‘Black Cauldron’ inspired darkness and a stark and cold ending that still brings a tear to my eye. That doesn’t change the fact that Klonoa on the Wii plays just a like a game from the 90s, because that’s what it is. Don’t expect anything evolutionary or revolutionary; instead expect a celebration of everything we loved about games since Super Mario. It won’t take a considerable amount of time to finish, and outside of an alternate costume from the PS2 sequel, and some hidden bonus stages that can be accesses playing the game’s “mirror mode” second quest, there’s not a lot Klonoa has to offer once gamers have finished secretly crying over the melancholy finale. On the plus side, the game has buckets of charisma can be played completely waggle free as it supports ever function of control available to Nintendo’s casual console, and in general is a tremendous platformer with enough appeal to hopefully rope in a few modern gamers alongside the younger fans it should charm within mere minutes.
Closing Statement:
Sure it can be completed within five hours; but that five hours is full of brilliant levels, and some fun platforming game play that still holds up today. Gamers looking for a quick fix of old-school gaming action should find exactly what they’re hurting for with Klonoa.
The Verdict:
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Developer: Namco
Publisher: Namco-Bandai
Release Date: May 5th, 2009
Rated: E for Everyone 10+.
By Jon Mercer
