The resurgence of the 3D platformer is upon us, and I'm 100% here for it.
3D platformers are my bread and butter. I've been jonesing for an age just like this reminiscent of the golden years of the genre. If 2D pixel art platformers had their time, 3D platformers required this too. Games like Psuedoregalia, Toree 2, and Super Kiwi 64 have served as sampler platters for this regaling taste of indie platformers. Each game have had their strengths and weaknesses, but all share a single common thread linking them together.
They're too damn short!
Game length isn't necessarily a problem. Short games are worthy experiences on their own, and replay value shines through with smaller sized games. The problem that arises from these games have been that their stay comes and goes far too soon. Like the greedy platforming gobbler I am, I'm always wanting more, unsatisfied with my portions. I'd enjoy my time, but the games would never leave a lasting impression of me because of this.
Corn Kidz 64 is no different in regard to length. With a handful of areas and only 5-6 hours of gameplay, Corn Kidz comes and goes in the blink of an eye.
Yet despite this, Corn Kidz 64 has managed to leave a deeper impression onto me than any of these games.
Part of that has to do with Corn Kidz 64 is emulating. The Rareware 3D platformer is by far my favorite flavor of 3D platformer. Preferences are preferences, after all.
The developer really did their homework here. Splash effects are rendered and animated in the similar splotchy eruption that Conker's Bad Fur Day so distinctively had. Colors are baked into the textures, blending and blurring into each area, reminding me of texture work done in games like Banjo Kazooie or Tooie. Characters contain the cartoony jovial and springy feel that Rare managed to employ so effectively across all their titles. These characters speak with a sharp bite that feels more American than it does British wit, but it's still chalk full of charm.
These worlds consist of dreamscapes concocted by the nacho and soda drinking adolescent that is our main character, each world presenting bizzare and random elements that are fitting with how unfitting this world is. Unlike Psuedoregalia, this dream world has a sense of place and location, which makes navigating around places like Owllohs Hollow easy to follow along. It does suffer from repetition with attempting to reach locations on the map, with no real easy way to retry a jump puzzle, but this is a small flaw. Every element on screen is nearly convincing me I'm staring at a game from an alternate dimension late 90's-early 00's.
This translates to the gameplay as well. While the game doesn't have the level of controls that Psuedoregalia had, Corn Kidz makes up for this with pure game feel. The move set and level of control feels heavily inspired by Banjo Kazooie, but with a fundemental twist. Due to being a goat, your move set revolves around headbutting. This means you can fly forward in the air, butt stomp into the ground, and charge up into the air. These all serve multiple functions within the tool set, such as interacting with screws to activate pieces of the environment or hitting switches, auto locking enemies to charge towards them, and ramming into walls.
That last one might make you cringe a little. A move like that may give the mental image of a move that's a momentum killing killjoy. This may have been be true, if not for Corn Kidz implementing the ability to slide against walls. Nitro Rad compared this wall slide akin to the wall slide found within Megaman X, which is an apt frame of reference, but brings about a skewed image. This wall slide let's you scale walls, but is limited in comparison to Megaman X. You can jump twice upwards, after that, you fall to the floor. This limitation brings about momentous jumping puzzles that revolve around wall jumping that utilizes every other mechanic within the game. This could be an enemy that you ram your head into and can spring yourself against a wall, a ring that propels you forward like a DK barrel.
All of these mechanics work cohesively together in a way that just meshes with me in the right ways. I'm absolutely in love with how this game controls, along with every mechanic found within this game!
But that hunger pane returns, and I crave for more game to sink my teeth into! What's here feels like a proof of concept for something much more grand in scale, and while I'm satisfied enough in comparison to some others within this sampler platter, I want this game to be a full course meal. There's potential for all time favorite platformer found somewhere within here, and I want to just yank out all that potential.
So lend me your ear, indie game developers! Keep making 3D platformers! Keep working on your games! If you don't have enough ideas to make them an 8 hour meal, you don't have to extend it for the sake of length! But PLEASE consider striving for more!
3D platformers are my bread and butter. I've been jonesing for an age just like this reminiscent of the golden years of the genre. If 2D pixel art platformers had their time, 3D platformers required this too. Games like Psuedoregalia, Toree 2, and Super Kiwi 64 have served as sampler platters for this regaling taste of indie platformers. Each game have had their strengths and weaknesses, but all share a single common thread linking them together.
They're too damn short!
Game length isn't necessarily a problem. Short games are worthy experiences on their own, and replay value shines through with smaller sized games. The problem that arises from these games have been that their stay comes and goes far too soon. Like the greedy platforming gobbler I am, I'm always wanting more, unsatisfied with my portions. I'd enjoy my time, but the games would never leave a lasting impression of me because of this.
Corn Kidz 64 is no different in regard to length. With a handful of areas and only 5-6 hours of gameplay, Corn Kidz comes and goes in the blink of an eye.
Yet despite this, Corn Kidz 64 has managed to leave a deeper impression onto me than any of these games.
Part of that has to do with Corn Kidz 64 is emulating. The Rareware 3D platformer is by far my favorite flavor of 3D platformer. Preferences are preferences, after all.
The developer really did their homework here. Splash effects are rendered and animated in the similar splotchy eruption that Conker's Bad Fur Day so distinctively had. Colors are baked into the textures, blending and blurring into each area, reminding me of texture work done in games like Banjo Kazooie or Tooie. Characters contain the cartoony jovial and springy feel that Rare managed to employ so effectively across all their titles. These characters speak with a sharp bite that feels more American than it does British wit, but it's still chalk full of charm.
These worlds consist of dreamscapes concocted by the nacho and soda drinking adolescent that is our main character, each world presenting bizzare and random elements that are fitting with how unfitting this world is. Unlike Psuedoregalia, this dream world has a sense of place and location, which makes navigating around places like Owllohs Hollow easy to follow along. It does suffer from repetition with attempting to reach locations on the map, with no real easy way to retry a jump puzzle, but this is a small flaw. Every element on screen is nearly convincing me I'm staring at a game from an alternate dimension late 90's-early 00's.
This translates to the gameplay as well. While the game doesn't have the level of controls that Psuedoregalia had, Corn Kidz makes up for this with pure game feel. The move set and level of control feels heavily inspired by Banjo Kazooie, but with a fundemental twist. Due to being a goat, your move set revolves around headbutting. This means you can fly forward in the air, butt stomp into the ground, and charge up into the air. These all serve multiple functions within the tool set, such as interacting with screws to activate pieces of the environment or hitting switches, auto locking enemies to charge towards them, and ramming into walls.
That last one might make you cringe a little. A move like that may give the mental image of a move that's a momentum killing killjoy. This may have been be true, if not for Corn Kidz implementing the ability to slide against walls. Nitro Rad compared this wall slide akin to the wall slide found within Megaman X, which is an apt frame of reference, but brings about a skewed image. This wall slide let's you scale walls, but is limited in comparison to Megaman X. You can jump twice upwards, after that, you fall to the floor. This limitation brings about momentous jumping puzzles that revolve around wall jumping that utilizes every other mechanic within the game. This could be an enemy that you ram your head into and can spring yourself against a wall, a ring that propels you forward like a DK barrel.
All of these mechanics work cohesively together in a way that just meshes with me in the right ways. I'm absolutely in love with how this game controls, along with every mechanic found within this game!
But that hunger pane returns, and I crave for more game to sink my teeth into! What's here feels like a proof of concept for something much more grand in scale, and while I'm satisfied enough in comparison to some others within this sampler platter, I want this game to be a full course meal. There's potential for all time favorite platformer found somewhere within here, and I want to just yank out all that potential.
So lend me your ear, indie game developers! Keep making 3D platformers! Keep working on your games! If you don't have enough ideas to make them an 8 hour meal, you don't have to extend it for the sake of length! But PLEASE consider striving for more!