Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Amazing"

With games like Crash and Spyro being everyone's favourite platformer on the PS1, you'd be surprised on how many people have heard of Klonoa. Klonoa however is a cat-like character with very long ears which can flap and fly in the air but not for very long.

Main story takes places in the Dream world in the town of Breezegale, Klonoa lives with his grandfather has been having dreams about a mysterious dark airship crashing into a nearby mountain, and can recall every detail of it. One day, a mysterious ship does indeed crash into the mountain, and Klonoa and his friend, a ring spirit named Huepow, decide to investigate. Then you find out that two mysterious charters Ghadius and his sinister sidekick Joka are trying to get their hands on the moon pendent and bring nightmares into Klonoa's world.

Gameplay: For a 2D side-scrolling platformer Klonoa however can be an addicting game, you move Klonoa in a two-dimensional fashion left or right to move. X or Triangle to jump and Square or Circle to use your ring to grab enemies or activate switches or panels. While grabbing enemies you can throw them at other enemies or switches or if you're holding an enemy you can double tap the Jump button to do a double jump.

Your health bar will be 3 hearts, if you lose all 3 you'll lose a life and if you see any bubbles like clocks they are checkpoints. If you see any emblems in bubbles they are like dolls pieces which you can collect through each of the levels you play through, collect all 6 in each level seems like you've recused someone. During after every 2 levels you'll encounter a boss fight at the end of the 2nd level in each world.

Graphics and Sound: I do admit that the game and series can be cute and charming, Namco have made some really cool awesome characters throughout the years for the Klonoa series. Even playing the first game can be charming at every moment of the game, with it being on the PS1 it's done a very good job making it a fun platformer. Everything is just too colourful from the main characters; the art and even the landscapes look impressive for a PS1 game but based on a 2D platformer instead of a 3D game for the system.

I would admit the voicing does sound a little Japanese but it's more like a different language set in their world. However there is English text dialog at the bottom of the screen. Soundtrack does a great job too giving you mixed emotions throughout the whole game from happy themes to sad themes.

Overall: Is it worth purchase? The answer would be yes it is. Most platformer I've played in the past were fun but Klonoa however is something else if you manage to find the original version you're laughing. If you own a PS3 or PSP/Vita you can download this on the Playstation Store and will take at least 428 MB on your PS3 or on a memory stick. Clearing the game can take you around 10 hours or less but if you want to collect everything it might take you longer.