Chilly
This review contains spoilers
I stumbled upon the fan translation that gives the game the full English experience for me to understand what was happening in the story and gameplay. And it's a pretty damn good game overall I must admit and one of my top favorite Klonoa games.
Story: This is a full reboot of the series at the time, where the same characters are in a new alternate universe that combines Klonoa 1, 2, and a hint of Dream champ tournament into one full world while still being fresh.
In this universe, there are hero medals that signify a certified hero that ranks up based on certain actions. And Klonoa's dream is to have one and become a hero as well. Klonoa and Chipple find a rare flower that brings good luck if it ever blooms but barely does. Klonoa plans on giving it to Lolo, his childhood friend who's an Apprentice Priestess that just got accepted to study at the sky temple. However, that was interrupted when the road to Bell hill was blocked by monsters and that's where the priest is supposed to pick her up. Klonoa being the kind-hearted friend wants to help her dash out the monsters to reach bell hill.
While doing so he stumbles across a cocky gun-wielding hero named Guntz who beats up Klonoa and takes the flower for himself as a reward. Once Klonoa came back to have a rematch with Guntz and won. Guntz can see what potential this kid has as a hero and partner, in which he requests him if he wants to come with him on an adventure. Klonoa sees this as an opportunity of stepping closer to his dream of being a hero, and so he agrees to join while being nervous at the same time. Later on, the duo came across the treasure hunter Janga who Guntz has personal beef in the past, and ditches Klonoa to go after him.
During this, Klonoa meets a relaxing yet tough hero Pango, who's is trying to find a cure for his son's sleeping disease, and decided to tag along with him for the time being. They later made it to the sky temple when reaching the top Klonoa finally has a hero medal and has officially become a hero with the lowest rank so far. Out of nowhere, the devious clown Joka appears and kidnaps Lolo so they can use her to revive a rumor of ancient evil. And it seems that Janga is part of this plan as well. So it's up to Klonoa, Pango, and potentially Guntz to save Lolo, find a cure for Pango's son, and stop Joka & Janga from committing this plan.
The story as a whole is pretty simplistic and does follow most JRPGs tropes but it's still fun regardless. The trio of Klonoa, Pango, and Guntz bounce off each other pretty damn well. Both Klonoa and Guntz have pretty decent arcs throughout the plot. With Guntz being very cold and greedy he has moments that are pretty shocking and somewhat heartless to a person that comes out and genuinely cares for his peers and doesn't let his hatred for Janga get in the way while still being a cocky, foul mouth bastard (actually was shocked for how much he curses in this game lol). Klonoa is a lot different compared to previous games, he's a lot more immature and childish but still has that kind-heartedness and his arc of becoming his own as a hero through sheer determination is such a treat. And Pango is such a chad bro. The game talks of themes of what it means to be a hero, the corruption of being one, and to keep moving forward. It's not the best GBA story but for what it trying to pull off it ain't half bad.
Gameplay: It's a top-down view action RPG. The combat revolves around attack in the corresponding color(blue and red) with the weapon of your choosing. You also build a special meter by holding the A and later on the B button to do some massive damage and kill the enemies with yellow health bars. Since it's an RPG you level up and gain stat bars, which can stack up your stats based on the choice of which stat you want to improve like Strength, Special, Defense, and Agility through the weapons and armors that you choose.
Klonoa weapons are a mix of range and melee like swords, hammers, rings that shoot orbs, boomerangs, etc. Guntz is all about that range like dual-wielding guns, bazookas, Multi Rocket launchers, Laser guns, etc. Pango is Bomberman with many explosives like bombs, big bombs, and grenades. I love the many weapons to choose from by buying in the shop. There are also things to equip that give you enchantments and items to buy that heal and increase your special bar along with other things.
The bosses are also pretty damn good with the expectation of one I don't like revisiting. They have patterns that are pretty challenging and keep bringing out the next attack they pull out in their next phase. And they use the combat at its best in my opinion with many attacks that need the corresponding color.
The combat feels very fun to just plow through the enemies through it does feel repetitive at times but it does shake things up in each world with a variety of enemies (though most of them are recolors) and the game reasonably gets harder over time. There are also other parts of the game which are the puzzle and diving suit levels. I quite enjoyed the puzzle levels as a nice change of pace where u take out green bugs and get the keys without being caught by one of them. The diving suits are a hit and miss for me. I like how they magnet gold and exp but the controls are very slippery that the later levels with them are unbearable sometimes. Especially when one of them is the only level in the whole game that has a time limit. Forgot to mention the Mamett Dolls, they are mini medals of this game where you either collect them randomly or go to Momett's house to fight previous bosses that are tougher than before. And gain rewards based on the amount you have.
So overall the gameplay is pretty solid with decent combat, customization, and some variety for better and worse.
Presentation- The sprites look pretty great and are very well detailed, same with the backgrounds. The music is alright with five tracks I like at best. But this is the GBA we are talking about. The main theme of the game called Sign of a Hero is the highlight and a banger in my opinion. The cutscenes are portrayed in a VN style but the movement of the portraits makes them pretty dynamic and interesting throughout.
Issues- Later on in the game, the Agility stat becomes important with enemies dodging your attacks despite hitting them on contact and it gets annoying real quick. Switching items feel pretty awkward with just pressing the L button. It needs a map because I can get lost very easily in the later levels. And not much post-game content or replayability after beating the main game outside of beating harder versions of the bosses through Momett's house as I said.
Conclusion- Honestly would've mind if Klonoa Heroes continued as a spin-off RPG series from the main games that could've expanded on everything. But Namco shot the Klonoa series dead for 14 years until we have the announcement for the new remakes of 1 & 2 that could potentially sell well and maybe make the series survive for another decade. Just let Klonoa keep moving forward to a higher and better future Namco.
Story: This is a full reboot of the series at the time, where the same characters are in a new alternate universe that combines Klonoa 1, 2, and a hint of Dream champ tournament into one full world while still being fresh.
In this universe, there are hero medals that signify a certified hero that ranks up based on certain actions. And Klonoa's dream is to have one and become a hero as well. Klonoa and Chipple find a rare flower that brings good luck if it ever blooms but barely does. Klonoa plans on giving it to Lolo, his childhood friend who's an Apprentice Priestess that just got accepted to study at the sky temple. However, that was interrupted when the road to Bell hill was blocked by monsters and that's where the priest is supposed to pick her up. Klonoa being the kind-hearted friend wants to help her dash out the monsters to reach bell hill.
While doing so he stumbles across a cocky gun-wielding hero named Guntz who beats up Klonoa and takes the flower for himself as a reward. Once Klonoa came back to have a rematch with Guntz and won. Guntz can see what potential this kid has as a hero and partner, in which he requests him if he wants to come with him on an adventure. Klonoa sees this as an opportunity of stepping closer to his dream of being a hero, and so he agrees to join while being nervous at the same time. Later on, the duo came across the treasure hunter Janga who Guntz has personal beef in the past, and ditches Klonoa to go after him.
During this, Klonoa meets a relaxing yet tough hero Pango, who's is trying to find a cure for his son's sleeping disease, and decided to tag along with him for the time being. They later made it to the sky temple when reaching the top Klonoa finally has a hero medal and has officially become a hero with the lowest rank so far. Out of nowhere, the devious clown Joka appears and kidnaps Lolo so they can use her to revive a rumor of ancient evil. And it seems that Janga is part of this plan as well. So it's up to Klonoa, Pango, and potentially Guntz to save Lolo, find a cure for Pango's son, and stop Joka & Janga from committing this plan.
The story as a whole is pretty simplistic and does follow most JRPGs tropes but it's still fun regardless. The trio of Klonoa, Pango, and Guntz bounce off each other pretty damn well. Both Klonoa and Guntz have pretty decent arcs throughout the plot. With Guntz being very cold and greedy he has moments that are pretty shocking and somewhat heartless to a person that comes out and genuinely cares for his peers and doesn't let his hatred for Janga get in the way while still being a cocky, foul mouth bastard (actually was shocked for how much he curses in this game lol). Klonoa is a lot different compared to previous games, he's a lot more immature and childish but still has that kind-heartedness and his arc of becoming his own as a hero through sheer determination is such a treat. And Pango is such a chad bro. The game talks of themes of what it means to be a hero, the corruption of being one, and to keep moving forward. It's not the best GBA story but for what it trying to pull off it ain't half bad.
Gameplay: It's a top-down view action RPG. The combat revolves around attack in the corresponding color(blue and red) with the weapon of your choosing. You also build a special meter by holding the A and later on the B button to do some massive damage and kill the enemies with yellow health bars. Since it's an RPG you level up and gain stat bars, which can stack up your stats based on the choice of which stat you want to improve like Strength, Special, Defense, and Agility through the weapons and armors that you choose.
Klonoa weapons are a mix of range and melee like swords, hammers, rings that shoot orbs, boomerangs, etc. Guntz is all about that range like dual-wielding guns, bazookas, Multi Rocket launchers, Laser guns, etc. Pango is Bomberman with many explosives like bombs, big bombs, and grenades. I love the many weapons to choose from by buying in the shop. There are also things to equip that give you enchantments and items to buy that heal and increase your special bar along with other things.
The bosses are also pretty damn good with the expectation of one I don't like revisiting. They have patterns that are pretty challenging and keep bringing out the next attack they pull out in their next phase. And they use the combat at its best in my opinion with many attacks that need the corresponding color.
The combat feels very fun to just plow through the enemies through it does feel repetitive at times but it does shake things up in each world with a variety of enemies (though most of them are recolors) and the game reasonably gets harder over time. There are also other parts of the game which are the puzzle and diving suit levels. I quite enjoyed the puzzle levels as a nice change of pace where u take out green bugs and get the keys without being caught by one of them. The diving suits are a hit and miss for me. I like how they magnet gold and exp but the controls are very slippery that the later levels with them are unbearable sometimes. Especially when one of them is the only level in the whole game that has a time limit. Forgot to mention the Mamett Dolls, they are mini medals of this game where you either collect them randomly or go to Momett's house to fight previous bosses that are tougher than before. And gain rewards based on the amount you have.
So overall the gameplay is pretty solid with decent combat, customization, and some variety for better and worse.
Presentation- The sprites look pretty great and are very well detailed, same with the backgrounds. The music is alright with five tracks I like at best. But this is the GBA we are talking about. The main theme of the game called Sign of a Hero is the highlight and a banger in my opinion. The cutscenes are portrayed in a VN style but the movement of the portraits makes them pretty dynamic and interesting throughout.
Issues- Later on in the game, the Agility stat becomes important with enemies dodging your attacks despite hitting them on contact and it gets annoying real quick. Switching items feel pretty awkward with just pressing the L button. It needs a map because I can get lost very easily in the later levels. And not much post-game content or replayability after beating the main game outside of beating harder versions of the bosses through Momett's house as I said.
Conclusion- Honestly would've mind if Klonoa Heroes continued as a spin-off RPG series from the main games that could've expanded on everything. But Namco shot the Klonoa series dead for 14 years until we have the announcement for the new remakes of 1 & 2 that could potentially sell well and maybe make the series survive for another decade. Just let Klonoa keep moving forward to a higher and better future Namco.