Reviews VideoGame / Klonoa

The Wii remake - some pros, some cons

The Wii remake of Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, simply titled Klonoa was the first game in the series I ever played. I loved it at first, but there are some issues I need to address:

• The animation. While the graphics are improved spectacularly, the animation in the cutscenes is forgettable. The characters "talk" by Mouth Flapping while staying in the same pose the whole time, and when they're done speaking, their mouths abruptly close. And whenever Ghadius does his Evil Laugh, his mouth is open the entire time. There are a lot of closeup shots that tend to drag the characters into the Uncanny Valley.
• The acting. Basically, it's pretty Narm-inducing, though there were a few actors who did a good job in my opinion. Ghadius has an epic Evil Laugh, and King Seadoph's voice is really cool, especially when he's Brainwashed and Crazy ("PAMELA! GET THEM!"), and while Joker's acting is pretty silly, one could argue that it works for him, because he's a silly character. (And when he stops clowning around, boy does Dave Mallow do some awesome voice acting!)

Now for the pros:

• The graphics. As I said before, though the cutscene animation is garbage, the in-game graphics are outstanding. Special mention goes to the levels that take place in the Moon Kingdom, what with all the huge gemstones and stained glass windows that practically define Visual Effects of Awesome.
• The music. Yes, it's the exact same music from the original game, and they didn't change it in any way, but I don't care! Klonoa games always have beautiful, heavenly soundtracks!

And besides this, you could say the same things about this game that you could about the original. (For example, It's Easy, so It Sucks, It's Short, so It Sucks , etc.) Regardless of the downsides, this is still a fun, enjoyable game that serves as an excellent introduction to the Klonoa series. If you have a Wii and you've never played a Klonoa game before, go buy it. I strongly recommend it. If you're already a fan of the series, it's still good, though you may not like it as much as some of the other games. Still, give it a try!