Having a Tasmanian Devil of a Time

By Thomas Machuca

Ty The Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan is the third installment in the award-winning franchise by the home-grown Australian game company Krome Studios. Unlike any other games in its category, theTy the Tasmanian Tiger series is set in the beautiful, lush Australian Outback and features a unique array of interesting characters inspired by indigenous animals including the thought-to-be-extinct Tasmanian tiger.

The game picks up shortly after the last game left off. Everything’s been quiet since Boss Cass was put back in jail… a little too quiet. That is, until the Bunyip Elder turns up and tells Ty that he needs his help! Evil spirits known as Quinkan have infected the sacred land of The Dreaming with their senseless war and only Ty has the strength to banish them back to the portal from which they came. With Bush Rescue disbanded, Ty begins the challenging task of reforming his team and leading the fight against these dark oppressors, to once again save the day.

Playing through the game is like playing through any modern day platformer. In Ty 3 you explore vast 3D environments, fight off hordes of enemies with your trusty ‘rang’, perform simple combos, and jump through all kinds of platformer challenges, all the while completing the series of level-based objectives that range from using a biplane to escort a giant bug to safety, to destroying all of the enemies in an arena level.

One thing that can become very tedious very quickly is the amount and variety of items that you can collect. Most of the time you don’t know what you’re picking up and without the use of the game manual I probably still wouldn’t know what half the things were meant for. The majority of the time you will be picking up opals (cash) which drop from fallen enemies and are scattered everywhere in the environments you explore. These are used to upgrade and buy new weapons. The good thing for some is that soon you will notice yourself swimming in opals as you will find they aren’t hard to gather. Put bluntly, they are about as rare as bird flu.

One of the more enjoyable elements of the game is the inclusion of various vehicles that the character can equip to his benefit. He can, for instance, don powerful mech-like robot shells such as the Shadow Bunyip or Extreme Bunyip, he can go below sea level with the Crabmersible [that's funny - Ed], take to flight with the Gunyip or drive off in a kart. In turn, each vehicle offers multiple modes of game play, so while you're in the kart, you might race or you might compete in a destruction derby, for example. Maneuvering these vehicles through the world and fighting enemies helps break from the monotony of the standard quest.

From the title menu you are also able to select a Mini Games mode where you are able to compete in Cart Racing or Gunyip Battle against the CPU and if you wish, one friend. Both games are very basic and easy to get a handle on. The downside to this multiplayer mode is the limited amount of maps to play on and the inability to change any of the game settings, like number of laps or death-tally. So while this is a good addition to the game it is somewhat of a disappointment in the manner it was implemented.

The graphics are nothing to get thrilled about - they are decent, but not great. Big worlds have some nice touches like shrubbery and water ripples, but overall the game has a low-polygon look and textures are lacking. At first when playing the game I immediately noticed pixellated images and the lack in character detail but after playing for awhile you soon forget about it and move past that issue.

The sound? To put it simply, it's alright. The outback, put-another-shrimp-on-the-barbie theme is a bit overcooked, although I personally enjoyed it. There are also some repeating lines, but spoken dialogue is still welcomed and the music is fitting.

In conclusion, if you are looking for the ultimate platformer out in the market, don’t look here. Ty 3 is an enjoyable, straightforward platformer suited to new gamers or for kids who are intrigued by Australiana. The game certainly has its charm and its moments, but if this series wants to continue, some dramatic changes will have to be made - as when it comes down to game play experience, like the class level of Ms. Hilton,Ty 3 is severely lacking.

Game: Ty The Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan
System: Xbox
Players: 1-2
Online: No
Developer: Krome Studios
Distributor: Activision

Rating: 65%

(Ratings Key/Explanation)