One of my most memorable childhood games
User Rating: 8 | Klonoa: Door to Phantomile PS
Along with Crash Bandicoot, Rayman, and Spryo, Klonoa was one of my most fond childhood games. I just got through replaying and it still is a game I can play and have guilty fun with. Sure it may be a kid's game, with a kid's storyline, and kidish animations, but it is by far a fun game, despite its short length and lack of unlockables. Its so simple yet addicting, you basically go through various stages and you have to make it to the end. You can pick up enemies by hitting them with a short range beam that goes back to you, and then you also have to pop bubbles with this beam that frees prisoners and you need to free all 6 per level to unlock an extra level at the end of the game. You also can collect gems for lives. That is really all you do, bypass enemies, collect gems, and free prisoners. There are different types of enemies and the game throws in a few challenges. Some enemies are harder to kill and as the game progresses the game becomes more puzzle based. There is a variety of different areas including 6 total worlds. The boss fights are pretty short aside from the final one, but fun. Its the simpleness combined with the creativeness that makes this game fun. The storyline is also pretty solid and can be emotional, it is by far ungeneric and interesting.
The graphics are superb and animation is top notch for its style. The music fits the game perfectly along with the sounds. The voice actors do not speak english so subtitles are needed for the characters. Although they might also be babbling and it uses subtitle intentionally.
Replay is literally nonexistant after you free all the prisoners. Once you free all the prisoners you get a final stage that after beating it unlocks a music player, which is neat but not really anything a 19 year old male is hoping to unlock after beating 100% of a quality game. Bosses can be fun to replay, but once you got everything, the game can just sit around a while until nostalgia arises and you feel like playing it again in a few months.
So aside from the replay the game has great controls, memorable bosses/enemies, an interesting storyline, fun gameplay, and a distinguishable style. Although not as great as the Spyro/Crash series, Klonoa does offer 2D fun and better than most games of its genre.
