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Posted on July 6th, 2005 - 2768 Reads

Rated Everyone Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament Game Boy Review

-- Written by Clark Kent Nielsen



 The GameCube is the industry's scapegoat. If you need to take a cheap shot at someone (or something), you aim at Nintendo. This has been the company's home console's fate. But one can't ignore the impact the Game Boy Advance has made on the market. It's huge! It's so huge, we're seeing GBA iterations of Grand Theft Auto and Kingdom Hearts. In similar leagues, Namco has again shipped its furry, little mascot to the GBA in a follow-up to one of the most enjoyable handheld titles ever made: Empire of Dreams.

Klonoa 2 looks a lot like Klonoa 1. No surprises. Not much has been done to change the visual presentation, which is entirely excusable, because the first Klonoa was very sharp and clean. The traditional 2D feel really helps the game out. The 2D "float board" levels from the original, however, have been replaced by 3D float board levels. The GBA isn't really built to simulate that pesky third dimension, and most 3D Game Boy games look like a plate of jiggling throw up. Klonoa 2 pulls off perhaps the cleanest 3D graphics on the handheld yet. It looks really good. But it only looks good. It's not so easy to actually play these levels, which I'll get to in a minute.

Namco must have put a lot of work into gathering the industry's most creative minds, because Klonoa is brimming with genius. The levels in this game are truly brilliant, on par with the secret-heavy worlds of Super Mario Bros. 3 and complex maps of Super Metroid. But Klonoa 2 is not secret-heavy, nor is it complex. What makes the game such a delight is how it coalesces puzzle-solving and platforming into one coherent -- and extremely fun -- entity. Klonoa advances from room to room, using what resources are available (blocks, arrows, enemies, bombs, etc.) to nab the collectibles and head for the next area. This is a platformer at its core, though, and the game never lays the puzzles on so thick that it becomes a different genre. Have I really explained anything at this point? Not really, for Klonoa is a game that is hard to scrutinize without giving away every little circumstance that makes you gasp and say, "That is so clever." If you've played Empire of Dreams, then this is all old news for you. Klonoa 2 keeps up the same air of freshness and even throws in a few new tricks like being able to plant enemies in flower pots or reusing the same enemy multiple times to power it up.

As noted earlier, the 2D board levels from Empire of Dreams are now 3D board levels. The change is more for show than for practicality, because these levels play out like a cheap Tiger Electronics toy. There's little substance to them to begin with, and collecting the 50 gems in 3D space as opposed to 2D space is a little more aggravating. For this sequel, the boss battles have been altered, as well. They aren't really boss battles anymore. They're races against an opponent (who is never on the screen) through a fairly generic, irritating, and not so fun level. Klonoa 2 also implements a few water levels, which means you run through a level at half the speed. What a stupid idea... The normal stages in Klonoa are so fresh and unique, it's really hard to hold anything against the game when puzzles start getting a little "outta control." You know the solution will be something simple and obvious, and finding out what it is becomes an enjoyable challenge. On the other hand, the misfit levels are very annoying and would kill all the appeal this game had if they were any more abundant. These 3D, boss, and water levels are what make me reach for the power switch.

Klonoa is a simple character whose given functions only include jumping and grabbing things. Despite this simplicity, Klonoa is still able to interact with his world in richly rewarding ways. It isn't any different than what was available in the first Klonoa. Thus, it feels even more comfortable for returning Klonoa fans. One thing I faulted the last Klonoa for was its irresponsible camera. It struggled to keep up with the action and tended to hide lurking traps. While the former problem still exists, the latter has been taken care of with the inclusion of a movable camera. When holding down the R button, the game freezes and the camera can be moved all over the current room. It may be a spoiler for surprises, but it cuts down on jumping blindly into a pit of spikes, etc. You don't even have to use it, but the gesture is appreciated.

Five worlds of nine levels each actually only last a few hours at most. At least the game is [mostly] fun throughout. The normal stages are certainly worth playing multiple times, but that's only 2/3 of an already short-lived adventure. Fortunately, Klonoa 2 offers much more to do after-the-fact than Klonoa 1 did. The 30 gems are still present in every level, but there are also sun stones that open up the more devious extra levels. Klonoa 2 includes a grade system on top of all this, and earning a perfect S ranking on every level does... something... I never cared for these grade systems, but if you're a perfectionist, you should enjoy the recognition.

Final Comments: As much as we look down on "more of the same," Klonoa is such a creative and fun franchise, I wouldn't have minded a somewhat unoriginal sequel. Klonoa 2 offers a lot of new additions over its predecessor, but the majority of the changes bring the series down, not strengthen it. The 3D levels, boss battles, and water levels are annoying and tedious and undermine the other levels that rank among the most enjoyable experiences available on the Game Boy Advance. Klonoa 2 is still worth it for those levels, because you won't find this kind of brilliance very often.

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