Reviews VideoGame / Klonoa

VideoGame 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!

VideoGame Door to Phantomile

It's a pity that the 2.5D moniker is so liberally applied nowadays. In the 90s, an extra half-a-dimension really meant something.

While most 2.5D platformers are content with replacing their sprites with polygons, Door to Phantomile pioneered and refined some of the more clever tricks in the genre like twisting paths, circular boss arenas, and branches that lead off the main path into the background/foreground. All of these are accessible with a shockingly simple controller layout, and I find it amazing that so much depth of movement can be achieved with a control scheme no more complex than Super Mario Bros's. Disappointingly, this is a series where the First Installment Wins: The Play Station 2 sequel was sadly lacking in this regard and no amount of wizardry could have pulled it off on the Game Boy Advance, so Door to Phantomile will endure as the series's crowning jewel for the foreseeable future.

Every game designer should feel obligated to play through this game. It's a magnificent lesson in "doing more with less" and overcoming technical limitations through brilliant level design, as relevant today as it was in 1997.

VideoGame Klonoa: Door to Phatomile (PS 1) Review

A standout title in the Play Station's immense game library, Klonoa: Door To Phantomile is a lavish, largely forgotten gem of a platformer.

The game is technically a side-scroller, but it has 3-D backgrounds and branching paths to take advantage of, ala "Kirby 64". Our hero is a cat/rabbit thing that is capable of hovering with his ears, and has a ring called the "Wind Bullet" which he can use to grab enemies and hold on to them. He can either throw them, or throw them down to thrust himself into the air, allowing him to reach platforms otherwise inaccessible. He can also aim in the direction of objects in the foreground and background.

The goal is to get to the end of each level, while rescuing six people in each level, as well as collecting a bunch of gems. Each of the six worlds consist of two acts and a boss fight. The levels are open and wide, with twists and turns and branching paths, puzzles and hazards to pass, but i never feel overwhelmed or confused. Whenever i complete a level after getting everything i can accomplish done in it, i feel a genuine sense of accomplishment when i'm done.

The story is a fairly kiddy plot, but the characters are as cute as buttons—they also speak in this amusing pseudo-language that adds some personality to the game. The ending is surprisingly heartbreaking, though...

The graphics are fairly standard, blocky PS 1 stuff, but they at least look crisp and represent the art well. The CGI cutscenes are also surprisingly great looking and have aged astoundingly well, almost worth sitting through just to look at 'em. The music is surprisingly catchy and perfectly establishes the games atmosphere.

But Klonoa isnt flawless. For starters, the game is short—REALLY short. 12 levels short, to be exact. You can probably beat it in 5-6 hours, not counting the extra levels. And on that note, the game is pretty easy, which might bore some gamers—but the later levels certainly make up for this, almost TOO well—World 6 in particular is easily the hardest part of the game, and will take you a lot of tries to get through the first time.

Despite these road bumps, Klonoa is still a game so fresh feeling and good that the only thing it left me wanting is more meat in the package. I'll be gladly revisting it in the future.

Grade: A-

VideoGame Door to Phantomile

One of my all-time favorite underrated games. The graphics are bright and cheery, the music and sound is fantastic, and the gameplay is very good as well. On top of it all, the whole thing is just so darn cute that you'll have a hard time not cracking a smile even in the middle of the surprisingly melancholy plot twists.

On the downside, the game is short and almost incredibly easy until the last couple of levels, which will fortunately provide you with a real challenge. The other major issues with the game are that some of the character's voices are extremely grating (I'm looking at you, Karl) and that the plot is kind of cheesy and childish. There's a surprising amount of depth there for an ostensible kids' game, though, and if you're the emotional type you may even cry over the course of the thing.

I've played and replayed this game dozens of times, and I've rented, rerented, purchased and repurchased the thing, sometimes at great expense over eBay. I still think it was worth it every time. Definitely recommend.