A game for the 'traditional platforming purist' in all of us.
Klonoa 2 is the sequel to one of the 32-bit generation's unsung heroes. The cat with the oversized baseball cap, armed with a ring that catches little baddies and inflates them to a ridiculous size, was written off by many as a kiddy game - or worse yet, a cheap knock-off of Nintendo's Kirby. However, on PlayStation, it was one of the few truly memorable 2D platforming experiences after Castlevania SOTN. Well, 2.5D, to be exact, as the characters were animated against 3D backdrops.
In this game, Namco has replaced the animated sprites in favour of a cel-shaded look. That is, clusters of polygons are grouped together by a thick black outline to create the appearance of a cartoon. Considering this PlayStation 2 version runs at twice the resolution and frame rate of the original, it's not hard to imagine that Klonoa looks utterly fabulous, especially with the use of vibrant colors and fluid animations.
Klonoa 2's visuals are near flawless. Beautiful textures throughout, zero jag, and less than a handful of examples of shimmering worth mentioning. The game will take you to a wide range of locations like rustic industrial towns, rainforests, snowy mountains, haunted houses and fun parks, each especially punctuated by the unique flair of their design, as well as specific use of special effects and animations. The rainforests, for instance, will often have wiry branches in the foreground, while flowers, wood-sprites and other particle effects are floating everywhere in the air. In the city levels there are bombs dropping in the background and robots wreaking havoc. Many of these effects have some utility value as well - the mind-bending haunted house will sometimes have an object in the foreground, which blocks your view of Klonoa. However, you can use a mirror in the background to see what's going on.
Before I get too far ahead of myself, I should explain what Klonoa 2 is about. Klonoa 2 sees our floppy-eared hero in a new land where his dreams beckon him to rescue the owner of a mysterious voice. He ends up in a race against a nasty villain named Leolena, who is trying to find elemental gems that could bring chaos to the world. Leolena also happens to create a bizarro copy of Klonoa's magical ring. There's substantial text involved, but it's linear so there's little chance for importers to get stuck.
As far as gameplay is concerned, it's identical to the original Klonoa. There is one button for jumping, and one button for using the ring. There's a limited floating ability if you hold down the jump button, but the real rewards come from using the ring. Once you've captured a baddy (the ones that look like distant cousins of Pikachu), you can use it as a projectile or use it for a double-jump. Some of the basic tricks include hitting things in the foreground and background, or catching multiple moving objects in mid-air to get to a high platform.
What's new about Klonoa 2? Not much. To be honest, I was very disappointed with Klonoa for the first few levels because they were much too easy, and almost a carbon copy of the original game. Stick through it, though, because after you get through the fun park, the game will reveal its true beauty as a platform game. The levels become incredibly huge; and as a matter of design and variety, the jumps get bigger, and the room for error becomes airtight. This allows the game to take advantage of some great camera angles - the sensation of depth is great, especially when falling from a great height.
The puzzles are also much more challenging. Some challenges require immaculate timing, made possible by little pigs that double as bombs with timing devices. There are also color-coded locks, which can only be passed by using an orb to kill enough enemies to change it to the corresponding color.
Then there is the snowboarding. It's gimmicky, if you ask me, and pretty boring the first time you do it. The second time you use the snowboard, however, you'll kill yourself laughing as Klonoa sings a madcap song in his gibberish language all the way down the slope. It's like something out of Dragon Half or Crayon Shin Chan.
"Gibberish language", you ask? The characters of Klonoa speak in a fictional language of their own, though there is some linguistic order to what they say, so it's not quite as potentially annoying as the Banjo Kazooie games. It adds immense value to the personality of the game. All of Klonoa's witticisms like "rupurudu!" at the beginning of every level become more endearing every time you hear them. You can even make him talk some more during the levels by pressing the L1 and L2 buttons.
Compared to other games, Klonoa 2 isn't the most complicated game around. It's a very straightforward pseudo-3D platform game that's loaded with character and some truly magical visuals. And they are magical - at times I was even reminded of Mickey's Castle of Illusion on the Genesis. That's little comfort for those who are seeking a true 3D adventure, but for what it does, Klonoa 2's combination of tight controls, expansive levels and challenging puzzles are perfectly geared towards traditional platforming purists.
