"A mind-frying fun game"

'twas my birthday, the day I got Klonoa: Empire of Dreams for my Game Boy Advance. Being 75% in the game, I can safely say that Klonoa: Empire of Dreams is good mind-frying fun for your GBA on a rainy Saturday. So better prepare your thinking cap, because Klonoa is a Platformer where you have to think often to move on.

Story

Klonoa, the main star from the sleeper hit PS2 game, has been arrested for the ''crime'' of dreaming. The Emperor of Dreams has forbidden his subjects to sleep because he has an illness that prevents him from sleeping. When Klonoa discovers he is arrested for the crime, he says something that horrifies Minister Bagoo and forces him to execute Klonoa. But luckily for our hero, the Emperor sees a chance to solve his own problem. He is released and sent to defeat the four monsters that are ravaging the Empire. If he succeeds the execution will be canceled, but if he fails...

Visuals

The visuals are pretty nice, showing bright colors and cool backgrounds. The Camera also zooms in and out when necessary during Boss battles. Like any other GBA game, the game uses all the power in the handheld.

Sounds & Music

The music in the game is headphone material, as long as you are not a cute hater. Not much for the sounds, except that they sound at the right moment.

Controls

Klonoa controls like any other platformer, you only use 2 buttons(Not counting start or the option to also use the R button for the wind grab). A to jump and B for your Wind grab. Of course, you will be doing WAY more with those two buttons than just jumping platforms or attacking enemies.

GamePlay

If you think that Klonoa: Empire of Dreams is just a get from Point A to Point B game, think again. Aside from the gathering of three stars to open the portal and thirty dream stones to 100% the level, you have to get past devious puzzling obstacles to continue. You also need to use a double jump technique that consists of grabbing a nearby enemy and then pressing A twice to double jump and reach a high platform. There will also be Action stages which take a break from all the thinking. The hoverboard level where you hoverboard on the level avoiding the obstacles, getting to the end and picking up 100 dream stones on the way. There is also a scrolling screen level where the screen scrolls on a direction and you have to move to the opposite of where the camera is scrolling. The Puzzle levels will fry your brains sometimes, and here are some of these obstacles you will face in the game.

1- On one level, there is a part with two Bomb Boomies that you need to use to get to the next part. First you grab the first Bomb Boomie and toss it to your left, it will land in a platform that can't be reached with your normal jump. But just below to you is another Bomb Boomie, pick it up and double jump with it to get to that platform. Then you will see that there is another platform, and you can only use a double jump one time before the enemy explodes. It would respawn below but you could not reach it, this is why you threw that other bomb boomie here. Pick it up again before it's timer ends to double jump to the other platform and tada! You solved a obstacle that at first seems hard, but when thought is put in, it is really easy to get past.

2- On another level, there is a part with a box and a key. The only problem? The box is near the key over two platforms that would only be reached with double jumps with the enemies. Unfortunately, there is only one enemy and you can't go back below to grab it because you still would not reach the key and box. The solution? There is a switch you can hit to rotate the room. Do this four times WITHOUT jumping away from the switch or you will have to press Retry to try again(God thank the developers that the game doesn't take away a life when you do this). After four times, it will have returned to it's original position with one difference: The box is now on the first platform, which means you can double jump from the enemy in the room and use the box to double jump to that key. Another hard yet simple to figure out obstacle.

Other Stuff

Save-The game automatically saves every progress in your game. If you accidentally turn off the game while you already collected 2 stars and 25 dream stones, be happy because when you turn it on again, you go to continue and you will be dropped off where you was last time. Really have to thank Namco for this feature.

By the Numbers

Story-7
Graphics-10
Sound-9
Music-9
Gameplay-Big 10
Save-Another Big 10

Buy or Rent

Buy if you want a good challenging game that will entertain you for weeks if not months. Only those very weak and that have no experience in gaming should not apply.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/27/01, Updated 10/27/01