"Dream well..."

Do you know what's so overlooked in our society? Sleep. Besides the hectic work and school schedules and everything else going on, the people of the modern world have been reduced to caffeine-swilling life forms held in the clutches of sleep deprivation. In those few times when you can actually lie down and relax, you can actually let your mind wander and let go of all your daily troubles, even if just for a little while. And as your eyes slowly close and that snoring begins, you're submerged into your unconscious, where thinking and logic and don't necessarily apply. It's the subsequent dreams that allow so form of escape from what we call reality.

But what if you couldn't dream? No, I don't mean sleep deprivation, insomnia or any other kind of sleeping disorder. What if you weren't allowed to have dreams? What if you lived in a world where the very mention of such a natural phenomenon could lead to your incarceration? Sounds kind of lame, doesn't it? Unfortunately for our hero Klonoa, he wakes up in a world where an evil tyrant has banned any form of dreaming. After this rude awakening, Klonoa is faced with long-term imprisonment, even death. With everything to lose, he manages to make a bargain with the emperor. If Klonoa manages to get rid of the four monsters plaguing the kingdom, his sentence will be lifted. And faster than you can say community service, our hero is off into the Empire of Dreams.

So, what can our furry little hero do to save the day? It's not like he's got some magical powers or super abilities. The only thing that this impromptu hero has on his side is a handy Air Bullet weapon. But don't be fooled by the name; it's not supposed to be used for impaling enemies or anything particularly savage. All it does is latch onto enemies and fill them up with air. While this seems a little cruel and unusual in its own right, you need to use the weapon for more practically purposes. Instead of some gruesome handheld torture machine, Klonoa's faithful item serves more along the lines of Link's Hookshot, a standard weapon from some of the Legend of Zelda series. You can use the Air Bullet to grab onto enemies and a few selected foreign objects to help you on your quest.

It's this reliance on the Air Bullet that creates the backbone for the rest of the gameplay. At heart, this game is only a platformer. However, there are tons of puzzles embedded deep within the various levels. You'll come across countless little puzzles and problems based solely on Klonoa's abilities. Although our hero has limited flight capability, he can never just quite high enough to make it across a chasm or over an obstacle. The majority of those ledges are just a bit too far out of reach for Klonoa to jump onto. Sometimes there will be some essential pickup like a star or key just floating there in midair, taunting and teasing for you to jump up and reach it. You'll likely have to attempt the same jump or maneuver before finally landing in the correct spot. But when all else fails, the Air Bullet is your salvation. Using its unique attack, you can inflate enemies and use their horribly deformed bodies to give yourself a boost. Say you've come to a wall that is too high for Klonoa to jump over. All you have to do is grab an enemy, jump, and then press the jump button again. As the enemy falls into oblivion, your hero will gain a second jump, hopefully high enough for you to progress further.

It's not as easy as it sounds, though. All of these levels were specifically designed with all sorts of underlying puzzle to solve as you make your way up and down the platforms. There are certain walkways and ledges that you'll need to reach, but actually reaching them can seem impossible sometimes. Even though most of the early levels are cakewalks, the difficulty of the last few levels is mind-boggling. Sometimes you'll have to search an entire section of a level to find a usable enemy and have to carry it back to where you actually need it. Sometimes there will be a box just sitting there out in the open, with no apparent purpose. You'll have to throw it against a certain ledge and have it land in a specific spot if you want to move on. Other times you'll have to throw caution into the wind and make a few jumps in midair using multiple enemies one after the other. You have to be able to look at the setup of the level and realize how every enemy, block, ledge, and platform can be used for solving the puzzles. And if you happen to screw up, the only thing you can do is get back up and try again.

However, all of this underlying problem solving and difficulty are hiding underneath a veil of an irritatingly cute presentation. Yeah, I said cute. This game just oozes cheerful vibes that are uncharacteristic of plenty of mainstream games these days. Even though Klonoa's life is at stake, he seems to be in an awfully good mood most of the time. For some odd reason, this game makes me think of Saturday morning cartoons. Maybe it's the bright and vibrant colors splashed across the various levels. Or maybe it's the way that the enemies look like Pokemon rejects and somewhat ridiculous when they're inflated. If it's anything, it's Klonoa's high-pitched voice. I mean, he's a raccoon that yells “Wahoo!” every time he does a double jump. How can you not find that little rascal endearing? Plus, he's got an impressive battle cry to enemies quake in their boots and a mournful whimper whenever he dies. When you factor in the level setups and emphasis on platforming, we're given a game with both a lovable hero and some very challenging gameplay to back him up.

I wish there were more games for the Klonoa series. It has the makings for yet another great platforming franchise. It has an undeniably adorable character as its mascot, but it also brings plenty more to the table. Instead of your basic standard platformer on the GBA, we're given something just a little bit more sophisticated. The game designers have taken a basic concept and injected a heavy dose of problem solving into it. Unlike a few mindless games of the genre, Klonoa actually makes you sit down and think about what you're doing. This game may fall into the obscurity of the GBA library, but it's still a quality game for all platforming fans to look into.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/14/04