Klonoa, a Decent PS1 Classic.

Initially when I heard of Klonoa: Door to Phantomile I was researching its PS2 sequel, which was apparently good enough to make it onto a couple top 25 PS2 game lists. Those lists were pretty much the only things that made me give the series a second glance. My curiosity aroused, I decided to get the first game in the series to see where the series came from. Upon playing it I wonder why the series is relatively unknown because it is actually fun. The story is this, you play as Klonoa, a small, childish, furry cat thing with large, wing-like ears and you're goal is to save the day from an evil force that was banished long ago. Apart from the basic story having no originality whatsoever there are a few quirks that do make it stand out slightly. Spoiler alert! For the those obsessed gamers who get angry at spoilers then skip the next 3 lines. It turns out that the world Klonoa lives in is actually some sort of dream or Phantomile and Klonoa was brought to it to prevent an evil entity from unleashing nightmare energy. He was given fake memories to care about the world so he could save it. Game-play wise it is similar to the old Mario 2D games in movement except that the environment is 3D resulting in some interesting mechanics. Klonoa's special ability comes from his ring that he found in the woods one day and inside it was some bubble creature that became his best friend. On that note the ring allows Klonoa to catch enemies and then either throw them to attack, or jump off them in midair to perform a double jump. Now this game is not without its faults, the combination of 2D and 3D makes it sort of difficult at times to judge the distance of enemies or items. As far as length game length goes don't expect too much. I finished it in about 6 hours and the only reason to replay it might be to unlock the bonuses earned by saving creatures in each level. Also notable is that the game has a VERY childish tone about it as far as art style and difficulty. The game spews cuteness out every orifice and the difficulty curve is slight. While there are some tricky jumps and bosses the challenge is pretty much constant so new gamers might feel like they are accomplishing something. Also the gibberish that passes for communication as well as their squeaky voices might grate on a few people's nerves (not the case with me). Even with the heavily childish tone and possibly irritating voice work the game was decent. It felt nice playing it because I'm about 20 and it brought me back to day when I put in Sonic 2 on my genesis. At the same time playing something so childish sometimes requires breaks to play something more intense. I found myself taking breaks every 2 levels or so to play Team Fortress 2 to let the adult in me assert its authority. Allow me to just skip to the bottom line. If you can afford and track down a copy of your own then I do recommend this game, especially for kids or those new to the gaming scene that are turned off by casual games. Heck, if love cute, fuzzy creatures then this'll be just right.Read full review