Tak and the Guardians of Gross

"Considering the price, this is great fun"

Tak and the Guardians of Gross is the fourth installment in the Tak series, if you don't count the spin-offs on DS. The latest entry unfortunately does not make it next gen, being available only on PS2 and Wii, which is understandable as it's a game of very small scope. Before Tak was bought by Nicklodeon, the first game, Tak and the Power of Juju, was truly great. It was a humorous 3D platformer with large open-ended worlds and a beautiful art style. While Tak retained the beautiful graphics afterward, the next few games weren't nearly as good, ditching the open-ended worlds for straightforward levels, more action and puzzles.

Tak and the Guardians of Gross follows a very similar formula to Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams, for which it only proposes linear paths, but minus the puzzle solving and foe beating up. It's pretty much a scaled down Tak game, as it keeps the essential without everything the series introduced previously. You still run and jump through the levels, use some basic magic, and beat up the bad guys, but it's all very toned down. As a result, the game feels very easy, and probably aimed towards a younger audience, yet maybe not that young. Some parts can still be hard, especially in later levels, and the control scheme can be somewhat complicated.

Since the Wiimote has so few buttons to use for a platformer, all of Tak's many moves are made to be very simple, and often executed automatically. Unfortunately, this also leads to a lot of confusion. For instance, to run along a wall you must simply jump at the wall at an angle and Tak will automatically run alongside it, but since it's so easy to be slightly off, Tak will often run upward the wall instead (another one of his moves), and thus fall off. Another example; to climb up walls you simply need to jump at the wall and Tak will automatically grab an edge if there's one, but be slightly off, and Tak will bounce back off the wall instead. Not that it happens often, but it's annoying when it does, and the lack of buttons shows. Of course, this deficiency brings about Wii-specific controls, which can also be annoying, but are fortunately few and far between. This includes shaking the wiimote like a mad man just to lower a switch, which could have certainly been done otherwise I'm sure.

Tak and the Guardians of Gross keeps the humor the series is known for, but there are very few cutscenes in the game, and they're short, so few opportunities for it. However, Tak is a very talkative little guy, and he will often deliver funny lines as you make your way across the levels, reacting to what is happening around him. The game also includes a few minigames, which are mandatory, and can be replayed afterward. Some of them use the Wiimote's functions, but they could be done without too, so I don't see the PS2 version being any less fun. The minigames range from puzzle games to aiming games, and are sort of amusing the first time, but nothing I would ever be compelled to replay in the future.

As mentioned above, the new Tak game is a very linear affair. This time around, Tak has accidentally released the spirits of four colossus, and must climb up to the very top of each to retrieve a crystal. Each colossus has a special theme to go along, and for each of them you will need to use a different magic to overcome the obstacles and then defeat the boss. The first few levels have you crossing the jungle, then you'll start taking on the golems with slime magic, cheese magic, and farting wind. Yes, I said that right. The second golem is made entirely of mud, so you'll need to turn into a slime ball to navigate through some of the paths, though nothing like Monkey Ball. The third golem is made entirely of cheese, so you'll need to use the power of cheese to turn said cheese into liquid or hard form, depending on your platform needs. And the putrid wind magic for later levels will let you wilt plants blocking your way with the smell.

The game is fun, and has some interesting ideas, but it's all been done before. I even wished Tak had stuck to the jungle levels, as whilst the colossus levels are great, they sometimes feel a bit slow and too focused on the lame puzzles and combat. I don't understand why the game requires you to fight hordes of enemies to get through some areas, while it has no proper combat system to go along. All you do is press B and that's it. There aren't that many enemies to fight, but the game would have been better without all that. Even though the platforming sections, which the game still mainly consists of, are very easy and simple, they're fun. It's straightforward platforming, but it's nicely done, and Tak should stick to that. I blame the terrible racing level at the end of the game, which shouldn't have been in there. This jeep thing is impossible to control.

Tak and the Guardians of Gross still has its moments, like the first time you start climbing up a colossus, which is nothing short of breathtaking. Think Shadow of the Colossus, but as a platformer. Feeling the movement as you climb up to the head is thrilling, and the Tak series always had awesome graphics, so this one is no exception. Although a few levels look sort of dull (the cheese place, especially), the jungle levels and the first and last colossus look spectacular. Everything is extremely detailed, and for once this looked like a Wii game, and not a port of a PS2 game. I was thoroughly impressed as I climbed the first golem, and I'm sure kids will be too.

I remember hating Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams, and while Tak and the Guardians of Gross is very similar to it, I actually had a lot of fun playing through it, as it didn't feel as tedious. Plus, you can replay the levels after the game is over, as opposed to Tak 2. The game has some items hidden around the levels, so you might want to replay some in order to find them all. The first few are very easy to discover since there is no real exploration to be done, but later ones can be pretty tough to find, making it fun to replay a level while looking around for them. It's a short and easy game of a few hours, but it's sold for so cheap that you really can't go wrong. Sure it's nothing new, and there are some weak gameplay segments, but the platforming is great, and the game definitely has a charm of its own.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/27/09, Updated 03/02/09

Game Release: Tak and the Guardians of Gross (US, 10/13/08)