Klonoa | Review (Wii)

Time and again, I’ve found that the Wii bargain bin is always good for a laugh. Titles such as Ninjabread Man never fail to induce a smile not only because of the ridiculous concept, but the thought that somewhere in the world, the guy who thought it was a good idea has spent his severance pay on the shaking gun in his mouth. These veritable dumpsters induce in me the feeling of visiting a cemetery full of those witty tombstones you see in a neighbor’s yard around Halloween. However, there are occasionally some signs of life to be found if you’re willing to dig deep enough as I discovered recently when I exhumed Klonoa from a shallow grave.

Klonoa is a single-player 2.5D platformer that originally debuted on the PlayStation in 1997 under the title Klonoa: Door to Phantomile – a game that met with strong critical praise and inspired a surprising cult following. This remake, or “Wii-make” (please hold all high-fives until after the review), has received a major facelift and some nice bonus features that are sure to please long-time fans of the series. Players now have the choice to switch language tracks from the game’s charming gibberish dialect to English. This time around, Namco Bandai have added a new Whirlwind ability that temporarily slows enemy movement and have also double Klonoa’s health. Unfortunately, this simple change has had a powerful impact on the overall experience.

Klonoa takes place in the dream world of Phantomile where the titular hero and his best friend Hewpoe, a spirit who resides in a ring that fell from the sky one day, live out their days running through flower beds and giggling about nothing in particular until the day Klonoa has a dream that becomes reality. Ghadius, the King of Darkness, has broken free from the prison that the Gods banished him to eons ago and has embarked on a campaign to turn Phantomile into a land of nightmares. Now it’s up to a floppy-eared cat-rabbit and his ball-with-a-face friend to rally the world’s five kingdoms against this ancient and terrible evil!

You’re not going to find a whole lot of depth in Klonoa’s tale and that should really come as no surprise. Although Namco Bandai have stated that the story was penned to appeal to younger and older crowds alike, the obvious adult themes interspersed throughout are too sudden and don’t mesh well with the game’s overall whimsical atmosphere. There’s very little in the way of character progression and this isn’t normally an issue with platformers except that the twist at Klonoa’s attempted emotional climax falls completely flat as a result and instilled the uncomfortable sense of a burgeoning bromance instead.

It's love!

Odds are, your interest in Klonoa is based on its gameplay rather than the expectation of experiencing a sweeping epic and it’s a good thing, because platforming is where this title truly shines. You have the option of playing with the Wiimote sideways, Wiimote and Nunchuk, Classic Controller and the GameCube controller. Klonoa only utilizes the D-pad and two other buttons, so I went with the first option as the other input methods just seemed unnecessary.

Gameplay revolves around the use of the Wind Bullet ability granted to Klonoa via the iconic over-sized ring Hewpoe calls home to defeat enemies and overcome the game’s puzzles and challenges. When an enemy is struck with it, Klonoa can carry them over his head and either throw them at other baddies and objects or toss them to the ground in mid-air to perform a double-jump (holding the jump button will allow you to hover briefly). Because the game’s stages are crafted in 2.5D, creatures can be thrown not only left or right, but into the foreground and background as well. Controls are tight and responsive and I never encountered a death or mishap that could be attributed to them instead of operator error.

The Wind Bullet in action.

Each of Klonoa’s stages center around activating switches by striking them with the Wind Bullet or an enemy to progress and collecting the typical platforming trinkets. Collecting 100 diamonds will grant you an extra life, one silver coin will do the same and a gold coin will net you three. Occasionally, you’ll find Mirror Sprites who will temporarily double the value of these diamonds, alarm clocks that serve as checkpoints, crystal hearts that replenish health, and a total of six creatures hidden throughout each level that will unlock bonus content if you can find them all (spoiler alert: you will). Levels are just short and varied enough that the process rarely becomes monotonous.

You won’t find too many variations in Klonoa’s enemies, though there are a few who require more effort than simply snagging them with the Wind Bullet. You’ll encounter some types who must be attacked from behind or larger types who are only stunned by the Wind Bullet (thus providing a temporary platform to jump on) and can only be defeated by being hit with another enemy. Some enemies can’t be defeated at all and must be avoided entirely, making for some challenging platforming segments. Though Klonoa himself never gains any extra skills outside of his stock repertoire, a handful of enemies will provide various momentary abilities when grabbed, such as a creature that will allow Klonoa to fly for a short distance or another that acts as a time bomb when thrown. Sadly, these enemies are too few in number and variety leaving you wishing this mechanic had much more utility than merely activating switches and feeling as though a great potential was overlooked.

You'll be seeing a lot of these.

You’ll rarely encounter what the game considers bosses. These disappointing face-offs are fought on a ring surrounding your opponent in the same fashion as Sonic Rush for Nintendo DS and require you to dodge attacks while dishing-out your own. Part of the excitement of fighting bosses is identifying their weaknesses and figuring out how to exploit them. Unfortunately, these weaknesses are revealed to you before the fight even begin, cheapening the whole experience. Not that they would have posed a significant challenge considering Klonoa’s bloated health. Save for but a couple of exceptions, these battles are completely uninspired and laughably simple.

Hit it from behind three times. You find that out before the fight starts.

Thankfully, as you venture into the later levels, platforming and skillful timing become the focus and draw your attention away from the more lackluster aspects of the game. Yet, as I mentioned before, the experience is a bit diluted and loses the usual sense of danger due to the fact that I never had less than ten extra lives to throw away. Even so, platforming is cleverly executed and a lot of the fun comes from actually discovering how to get across a chasm rather than just doing it.

Klonoa is a treat for the eyes. Graphics are vibrant, crisp, and fluidly animated throughout. Each of the game’s levels is unique to the theme of the kingdom they take place in from rolling green hills to factories of molten steel with some brilliant visual effects that will have you stopping for a moment to take them in. There were occasionally some very brief framerate hiccups, but they never impacted the gameplay in any significant way. Phantomile is a charming world that Namco Bandai has visually breathed a great deal of life into right down to the story book map from which you select your next destination.

Levels are beautifully designed.

Sound effects are goofy and fun and effectively accent the fairy tale motif built into the world. However, music is another story. While I found myself humming the game’s title jingle days after I’d completed it, the rest of the soundtrack is disappointingly less lively and completely forgettable. Most of the fanfare fits the mood of each local well enough, but is far too generic to stand out.

For all of Klonoa’s short-comings, I still enjoyed the brief time (roughly six hours) I spent playing to the end. It is simple, nearly mindless fun that would have been right at home on WiiWare with a much lower price tag than $20. Once you’ve completed the game, there aren’t many reasons to keep coming back. There are some nice unlockable features including a new (and very short) challenge mode that offers a funny little cutscene upon completion and the ability to play a mirrored version of each level, but the majority of this content, such as costume changes, is fan service that newcomers probably won’t find particularly interesting. Klonoa is a wonderful reminder of how much platformers have evolved over the years. Namco Bandai have created an experience that has withstood the test of time and aged gracefully into a solid, albeit shallow and simple experience by today’s standards.