In theory, making a spiritual successor to Jet Force Gemini is a novel idea. It's a really interesting game for its time that while good, does have its fair share of messiness, especially when it comes to controls. The idea of making a semi followup while keeping the idea of modern game design philosophy in mind could end up making a game like this a modern day hidden gem. Unfortunately Tamarin is not this game. It's a very clunky and frustrating experience that's a step back in almost every way possible. A game that refuses to play by the rules of modern game design philosophy and suffers heavily for it. Run n Gun controls feel practically unchanged from JFG, giving the game a really big stiffness and awkwardness to shooting and moving, and that goes for all of the controls. There's also a very obvious delay upon pressing any button. Not enough to actually impact gameplay, but just enough to notice that there is one. Collectibles are scattered throughout the game, but have seemingly no consistency to how many of a certain collectible will be in that area, making some areas feel too bloated with items, while leaving others feeling awkwardly empty. The world's themselves look fine enough, but very much give off pre made Unity map vibes, and because of that causes a big clash with with the character and their style and designs, making for 2 different art styles that really clash poorly. There are a couple of good things however, and I do mean a couple as in 2. First, the character designs. The Tamarin family are cute and they do have some pretty nice emotions and animations at times, despite the fact that they clash with the environment around them. The second is the absolute banger Soundtrack. Somehow they got David Wise to compose this game along with Graeme Noegate for an additional ambient track and its the biggest highlight of the game hands down. The saddest thing about Tamarin is just how much potential it had to be a really cool game, but somehow misses every single opportunity it got to be that game. It's a shame that this is still Chameleon Games only outing so far, as I'd have liked to see them potentially take the these criticisms into account for a potential sequel or just next game, but I've got a feeling that they quietly disappeared into the aether as nobody mentions this game despite its almost 3 year existence. It even hurts more that despite wanting to see this developer improve, I can't in good conscience recommend this game at all. It's just so boring, bland, and forgettable. Not worth your money or time in the slightest.

There's been a void in the gaming scene since the seventh generation of consoles that if I'm being honest only a select few of us are really dying to see get filled again. That being the collect-a-thon 3D platformer. Sure we get the occasional A Hat in Time, a remaster of an old SpongeBob game, or the umpteenth release in the Ratchet & Clank and Mario series, but that isn't the same as the constant array of imaginative weirdness the genre gave us back in the 90s and 2000s in the form of titles like Gex or Voodoo Vince. It's that kind of experience the team at Chameleon Games, partially made up of former Rare employees, is trying to deliver here and I think they succeeded at doing so rather marvelously.

Tamarin genuinely feels like something you could have gotten back on the N64. Given the veteran talent behind the scenes it shouldn't surprise you this has a lot in common with the legendary Banjo-Kazooie. You'll explore open stages for ways to amass enough items to unlock the next area and even purchase helpful tools from a little critter that likes to pop out of the ground every now and then. They went with a more natural wilderness theme for the setting in comparison however, in order to help hammer home an underlying environmental protection message. It leads to a lot of pleasant-looking scenery, but there's a noticeable lack of landmarks to help you get your bearings which can cause you to get turned around and lost quite a bit. While I can see that being irritating for some, it personally did very little to hinder my enjoyment of the experience. In fact, the only thing that kept me from going for 100% completion were some tediously drawn-out timed challenges near the end.

For all of its similarities to one of video games most endearing duos though, this was actually designed to be more of a spiritual successor to Jet Force Gemini, another Rare classic, than anything. You can see that in the shooting sections. Every so often the adorable primate you're playing as will take a break from gathering all the berries and fireflies he can get his paws on, pull out a gun, and start blasting away at some rather familiar insectoid foes. It's a bizarre change in tone to be sure, with stuff like the way enemies sometimes explode into gory masses of thoraces and mandibles giving the adventure the slightest hint of the same edginess that Conker had. The gunplay itself is a tad stiff when trying to precision aim while locked on and the opposing AI isn't the brightest, often not knowing how to react once you get within a certain distance of them. Nothing game-breaking enough to ruin the fun, but are signs that the action isn't as smooth as it could have been.

The issues are a direct result of the budget, which ends up being the package's biggest downfall as it rears its head in a few other detrimental ways as well. For one, the graphics on things such as your monkey's fur and the plethora of foliage are pretty blurry. It also isn't the longest offering on the market, taking me around six and a half hours to beat with maybe only one more or so left to get through if I'd wanted to mop up what was left. Although, that might not be a bad thing considering how many of its peers have felt like they've dragged on for just a bit too long. Now a problem I can't be so forgiving of is how they straight up didn't program the final boss. It's literally these two giant preying mantises who do nothing but simply stand there while you pepper them with rockets until they eventually run away. Those type of flaws will make it hard for many to justify dropping the cash on that $30 price tag.

Yet, for the gamers who miss the days of animal mascots and hunting down a varied assortment of collectibles through a whole lot of jumping it will prove to be money well spent. Tamarin is a delightful throwback to a bygone era, despite being a little rough around the edges. It allowed me to revisit a particularly odd period in the industry that I'm personally quite fond of, without having to contend with the jank and awkwardness of older hardware, providing some of the most enjoyable playtime I've had in a while and even rivaling its obvious inspirations in the soundtrack department. It's not often we see developers so willing to embrace and recapture the strange inventiveness of the concepts that were widely prevalent on the first 3D consoles like this. So if you too ever find yourself longing for the "Donkey Kong 64's" or "Dr. Muto's" of yesteryear, then this is the game for you.

9/10