Too cute for words - still good, tho'

By William Barker

Klonoa demonstrates the art of capturing enemies

He's got big flappy ears, cute little shoes and probably a whistle and some magic powder in his pocket.

He's Klonoa and is about as cute as I can handle before getting severe violence withdrawal symptoms.

That said, he fits the video-game mascot mould perfectly - but who's the main man on the Sony console, Crash or Klonoa? What about the chick from Ridge Racer? My brain hurts…

In all seriousness, the odd cutesy platformer can be just the ticket after hacking off limbs, blowing up cars and filling evil doer's pantaloons with liquid nitrogen.

After being re-introduced to the nostalgic platform genre thanks in large part to the GameBoy Advance, it took no time at all to get acquainted with the game.

The story is one of amazing fantasy and whimsical surrealism. Actually, it's the same old stuff, but hey, there's still a smidge of whimsy in there. Our abnormal hero must find a number of special bells. And why not bells? I mean, who collects stars or rings or coins any more - they're so 1990. Anyway, Klonoa must collect these acoustically perfect bells (cut a long story short) to stop the shit hitting the fan.

He's probably supposed to be an animal, but he looks more like mutant. Part dog, part sock, part gerbil, this little freak-a-zoid is nonetheless an entertaining platform character. The game tries to inject some unique themes on story-telling, like using dynamic camera angles and long-shots, but most fail to stir the soul.

One of the cross-plane cannons in action

Instead, you get A-one gameplay that is rivalled by very few in gaming's short history. Essentially a 2D side-scrolling platform game with 3D graphics, the game follows Klonoa as he jogs along a single plane - owing to the games 2D heritage. While many may cringe at being on 'rails', there is enough variety and thinking in the game that such considerations hardly become worth thinking about.

The controls are simple - there's a jump and a shoot button. Our hero shoots a strange blue sparkly thing. This is used to capture enemies and herein lies the games addictiveness.

Gamers will have to think about what to do with captured enemies. This method of attacking enemies and holding them captive takes a few cues from other mascots, such as Yoshi's ability to eat stuff and spit it out. As you can only have one enemy in your possession at once, you must make sure to use it wisely.

Captured baddies can be thrown as a projectile weapon to defeat other enemies, open encapsulated powerups and, most importantly, to activate the double-jump. Judicious use of this special move is tantamount to success, as the later levels seem to transmogrify from simple exploration to thought-prokoing levels, which are a delight to solve.

The game also borrows a little from the likes of Sonic Adventures with cannons that shoot Klonoa across vast distances at speed. This not only opens up new areas of exploration, but it shows off the amazing 3D graphics, too.

The visuals are amazing - a game or a cartoon?

Despite the fact that the game is on rails, as in you can only travel to the left or right of the screen, the visuals are wonderfully charming. And that's not a round-about way of saying they bite - Namco must have spent a considerable amount of time crafting what is once of fanciest platformers to date, and definitely the best on the PS2.

Using a technique pioneered by Sega in one of my fave games - Jet Grind Radio - Klonoa looks like a 2D cartoon, but is actually made of millions of polygons. The result is impressive and has been used to great effect in this game. Young kids will marvel at its smoothness and crusty old-timers will appreciate the attention to detail.

It's not only the characters that look fantastic, but the levels too. While you'd think that the limitations that exist in a side-scroller would hinder its complexity, you'd be wide of the mark. The levels are detailed, colourful and full of life, though it must be said that the first few stages are pretty basic.

There's lots of dynamism too, with enemies coming from above and below you, from either side and plenty of level-based activity, such as falling bridges and so forth.

There are numerous puzzles along the way that almost always involve the use of a captured baddy. Whether it be to hit a pendulum - in turn knocking down walls, or to jump up to a higher platform or simply break down a crumbly wall by throwing the enemy - the level design and pacing is always very agreeable and it makes you think. I like that.

Are you talking to me?

Namco has fashioned some of the most absorbing games in the past, but this is right up there too, despite its annoyingly childish appearance.

But don't think that this is Klonoa's first outing on the PS2. Oh, no. For those who got really amped with Moto GP, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Klonoa 2 succeeds on many levels (pun intended). It's great to watch, will test your mental mettle and the controls are so simple it can sometimes be deceptive.

The only drawback in this game is that once over, there's not much more to do.

There are a number of secret levels to unlock, but if the game was just a half-dozen levels longer, it would have been given two thumbs up.

Even so, Klonao 2: Lunatea's Veil is one hell of a funky platformer. For those who have never experienced the Sonics and Marios of yesteryear, this is a great place to start.

Game: Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil
System: Playstation 2
Players: 1
Memory Card: Yes
Developer: Namco
Distributor: Sony

Rating: 80%

(Ratings Key/Explantion)

Klonoa 2 is on the shelves now.