Klonoa is a game that maybe not everyone has played, but everyone has certainly heard of, and it might be hard to see why at first.
The gameplay premise of this 2D platformer is actually very simple: you pick up enemies and you either throw them in various directions (and dimensions) and/or double jump with them. Outside of this move and jumping there isn't much going on, but if Klonoa proves anything is that platformers are mostly made on their level design rather than base moveset.
Klonoa is a game that makes everything of its pretty short length (12 levels in total): every level has some sort of theme, whether it impacts the gameplay or just the visuals, to make them distinct from one another, without ever moving away from the core mechanics, but in fact gradually asking more and more out of the player. Not having any sort of gimmick stage is pretty impressive for a 1997 platformer, coming from an era where everybody was doing something gimmicky for variety (padding)'s sake, which shows how confident the developers were in their core gameplay.
The main and only real problem with the game is that it feels like it could've done a lot more. For about half the game it feels like the training wheels are still on, which is a shame because the last 4 levels or so really show how fun Klonoa can be with more complex enemies, layouts and puzzles. You'll be surprised at how much leverage the designers get out of such a simple idea.
Despite that, playing Klonoa is definitely a pleasant experience. It's nothing necessarily groundbreaking (nor do I think it wanted to be), but the combination of the well utilized main mechanic and weird dream-like atmosphere will definitely make an impression. And if that doesn't, the really bizarre ending might.
The gameplay premise of this 2D platformer is actually very simple: you pick up enemies and you either throw them in various directions (and dimensions) and/or double jump with them. Outside of this move and jumping there isn't much going on, but if Klonoa proves anything is that platformers are mostly made on their level design rather than base moveset.
Klonoa is a game that makes everything of its pretty short length (12 levels in total): every level has some sort of theme, whether it impacts the gameplay or just the visuals, to make them distinct from one another, without ever moving away from the core mechanics, but in fact gradually asking more and more out of the player. Not having any sort of gimmick stage is pretty impressive for a 1997 platformer, coming from an era where everybody was doing something gimmicky for variety (padding)'s sake, which shows how confident the developers were in their core gameplay.
The main and only real problem with the game is that it feels like it could've done a lot more. For about half the game it feels like the training wheels are still on, which is a shame because the last 4 levels or so really show how fun Klonoa can be with more complex enemies, layouts and puzzles. You'll be surprised at how much leverage the designers get out of such a simple idea.
Despite that, playing Klonoa is definitely a pleasant experience. It's nothing necessarily groundbreaking (nor do I think it wanted to be), but the combination of the well utilized main mechanic and weird dream-like atmosphere will definitely make an impression. And if that doesn't, the really bizarre ending might.