VideoGame Ty1: A Great Australian Platformer
Both because the game takes place in Australia and because the game was made by an Australian developer, Krome Studios. A platformer in the sense of Super Mario 64 with a main hub that connects multiple levels, this platformer adds something most games don't see much of: Boomerang combat. With the relatively unique combat and a diverse set of levels, this game definitely leaves a lasting impression for the better.
The story of this game is that a cassowary named Boss Cass was able to trap the last of the fictional tasmanian tigers in another dimension, but not before stopping his plan for world domination. Years later, Boss Cass is poised to begin taking over the world again, and the last tasmanian tiger, Ty, who was raised by bilbys and whose family was trapped, is the one to stop him. If you couldn't tell by now or from the trope page, everyone in the game is a Funny Animals.
One of the best things about the game is the boomerang combat, which is not seen as much in games as a primary focus, let alone dual boomerangs. While going through levels, one can find collectibles that will unlock different boomerangs that do various things, like explode, fire multiple boomerangs at one, see invisible objects, to name a few; although some don't work as well for defeating enemies, all are unique in their functions, with none overlapping too much. Another fun thing about the game are the levels that are traversed throughout the game which show case the different environments throughout Australia. Although there are a few level types that appear twice, such as forest or ocean, none of the repeated levels feel the same as the early one. A smaller selling point would be the characters themselves, which have relatively distinct personalities and all speak using Australian terms and slang.
While brainstorming this review, I was hard pressed to think of any possible detractors of this game, though I have thought of a few that might keep people away. One might be the gliding mechanic present once dual boomerangs are obtained since it is a bit hard to judge how fast and how quickly the glide loses altitude. Another possible detractor may be the Australian slang used throughout the game; it might possible get on some peoples nerves.
Overall a great platformer with a rare setting with unique gameplay, definitely worth playing if you get the chance.
VideoGame Ty 2: Overall a good sequel
Ty 2 does what most at least decent sequels do, have the abilities of the first game available from, add new content, and feels like the makers actually cared. However, there are a few problems that keep it from being, in my opinion, and even better sequel.
The story is one of these problems, for me at least, and here is the story: Boss Cass (villain from the first game) broke out of prison, stop his plan for taking over the world. Except for a few missions that lead to boss fights, most of the things you do in the game are not related to this in the slightest, which for me makes the story really un-engaging and dull.
Although the story is rather lackluster, the gameplay definitely makes up for this, keeping the abilities from the first game and building from there. One of the most interesting features of the included in the game is the upgraded versions of the first games boomerangs, which add to their deadlyness. Another thing added to the gameplay of Ty 2 is the inclusion of vehicle and mech missions, all nicely varied, which act as nice, short breaks from the on foot missions.
Although I wouldn’t say that this game has major flaws or problems, there are some minor things that kept cropping up from time to time. The first being the game world outside of the hub is a too empty for its size. You get to most missions by driving around, but for the most part nothing happens on this roadway, except for the occasional mook attack; except for these, it is just driving around looking at some fairly uninteresting scenery. Another problem I found was that some of these collectables seem like Guide Dang Its to get, that have no easy answer or obvious answer, and exploring the general area around it gives no obvious answer, so this might be rather challenging for 100% completionists. Related to this problem is that there is no way to track what collectibles you got from what location or how many there are left, so as you get closer to 100%, there more backtracking and scouring areas looking for anything you missed.
Overall I liked Ty 2, not quite as much as the first game, but I think it is a worthy sequel, caught up in a few problems, nothing deal breaking, just problems that occasionally cropped up