"Klonoa adds to his empire"

“Wa-EH, wa-EH!” No, it isn’t an ostrich in heat. It’s Klonoa, the little cat-boy who makes his debut on the Gameboy Advance with Empire of Dreams, a great puzzle game wrapped up and disguised as an action platformer (or is it the other way around?) Empire of Dreams is a game that I can’t help notice borrows a lot from the tradition of the early Mario games. While never blatantly ripping off material, many of the things that made the Mario platformers so successful are also present in Klonoa: immaculate level design, jumping levels where the screen is continuously scrolling, cutesy music, the manipulation of blocks and enemies by picking them up and throwing them, and the goal of collecting stars and diamonds (instead of coins). Yet there is much to Klonoa that is unique and makes it a respected platformer in its own right. If Mario is ready to pass the torch to anyone, my odds would be for it to go to Klonoa.

Klonoa’s world is one in which dreams are very important. Yet the Emperor, grumpy due to chronic insomnia, forbids his people to dream on pain of death. Hapless Klonoa finds himself in trouble for daring to have a dream, but he manages to bargain his way out by agreeing to help the Emperor vanquish four monsters who are terrorizing the kingdom. And so the story begins…

In games like these it’s always the control and level design that separates…the cats from the kittens, let’s say. Empire of Dreams is blessed with both highly sophisticated level designs and control that is both intuitive and innovative. Klonoa can jump and (by holding down the jump button) hover for a few seconds. His jump is quite limited in height, which is something that threw me off at the beginning. However, the fact that Klonoa can’t jump very high is vital to the puzzle concept: he must find creative ways to reach new heights. One of those ways is by using “wind bullets.” By harnessing the power of wind and firing it at a target (be it an enemy or a block,) Klonoa can capture it and throw it at another enemy, or at a switch to open a door, or to block a hole, or to ride along an airstream, or to vault off it in mid-air (effectively performing a double-jump.) Therefore while Klonoa is capable of only an elementary set of moves, the variety to the gameplay comes in how he is able to creatively interact with different parts of his environment.

There are five regions in all for Klonoa to explore, each of which follows the same format of seven regular levels and a boss. Five of the seven levels are standard 2-D environments where the goal is to collect three stars scattered around that will open the gate to exit the level. The sixth stage is a side-scrolling level. Those of us who have played Super Mario Bros. 3 will remember with fondness those levels where the screen kept scrolling to matter what, and if Mario didn’t keep moving forward he would get swept off the screen and killed. It’s the same idea in Klonoa, except that the screen may move either to the side or up. The final level is a kind of snowboarding level reminiscent of a poor man’s Sonic the Hedgehog (although there are no cool loops or anything) which is a nice change of pace. Besides collecting stars, there is a secondary goal of collecting jewels that can unlock secrets, which can be especially challenging in the two bonus scrolling levels and provides a reason to go back to the game after the story has been completed.

The graphics of Empire of Dreams are wonderful: colourful, detailed and bright enough to still look good on the Game Boy Advance’s screen. I was also impressed by much of the music, which was more sophisticated than the average platformer fluff. I would strongly recommend playing the game with headphones, since there are some stereo separation effects used in the music that would be otherwise lost being pumped through the GBA’s crappy speaker.

Empire of Dreams is a very slick game, with several puzzles that are capable of stumping even the most astute puzzle game fan. The action aspect of the game is not to be neglected either, and the final boss battle is one of the best I have ever seen. If I can identify an problem with the game, it’s that by the end the puzzle levels seem a bit repetitive, and one feels ready for the final boss battle a little earlier than when it actually arrives. I don’t usually say this about a game, but perhaps Empire of Dreams would have benefited from being a little shorter than it is.

The levels are so air-tight that there is really only one way to complete them and there is little point in going back, except to find any jewels that you didn’t get the first time through. Therefore Empire of Dreams is a little low in the replayability department. It’s the kind of game that you would beat, set aside for a few months until you’ve forgotten how to do all the puzzles, then go back to it and treat it like a new adventure.

Klonoa is a fairly new series that has so far been extremely impressive. It's refreshing to see such a high degree of quality control and flawless level design in a game. Now if only the game could pack a little more punch, it would be worthy of legendary status right alongside Mario.

Summary of Pros
-flawless level design and controls
-high level of challenge
-good graphics and music
-level variety from puzzle levels to side-scrolling to snowboarding

Summary of Cons
-somewhat repetitive and formulaic, especially towards the end
-Klonoa is less charismatic than other gaming heroes, i.e. Mario

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/17/02, Updated 05/06/03