Klonoa Heroes

"A nice little RPG featuring our cute hero, Klonoa"

After two great platformers on the GBA, Klonoa makes his first appearance in his own action-RPG, Klonoa Heroes : Legend of the Star Medal. I didn't really get the main story, but apparently, it had to do with 4 Star Medals...

Graphics/Sounds -8/10
The graphics are simplistic, but well done and represent well the world Klonoa lives in. The game is in top-view perspective and you can move Klonoa around freely to battle enemies. The enemies are the same ones you met previously in other Klonoa games and like always, they look puffy and cute. The animations look great and everything move smoothly. The only thing that bothered me is that a lot of levels all look the same and it can become a little boring after a while. The graphics are great, but lack a little variety. The sound effects are pretty nice so you won't need to turn off the sound. The music isn't bothering but here again, a little more variety in the soundtrack would have been nice. Klonoa, like always, looks and sounds cute.

Gameplay -7/10
There are a lot of good points in the gameplay of this title even if there're also some bad points. After a nice little intro, you're taken straight into the game board which is the map in Klonoa. The map is represented by big dots that refer to Item Shops, Weapon/Armor Shops, Inns, Towns and the levels themselves. The towns aren't really towns, they're just a screen with the background of a town and you can select the character to whom you wish to talk with. They're just basically there to give you info about your quest.

The levels in Klonoa are called Visions and unlike other traditional RPGs, you just select the vision you wish to go into and you must simply clear the level to gain access to the next one. The levels are really simplistic and mainly consist of finding keys to open doors to the exit of the level. On your way you'll encounter enemies and although they're pretty boring to kill, you'll need to fight them as you will need to gain levels for the next visions. The game is pretty hard though, so you will always need to be at a high level, and therefore you'll need to battle a lot of enemies, and leveling-up in that game is pretty long, so expect to be bored with the battles some times.

You start off with the Beam as your main weapon and the combat in this RPG is real time. You press the B button to use the blue beam, the A button for the red beam and you can make a combo by holding the A button to use the yellow beam. The combat is really simplistic and the only thing you need to know is that you hit the blue enemies with the blue beam, the red enemies with the red beam and the yellow enemies with the yellow beam. That's as simple as that. The yellow beam can only be used a certain number of times and you need to hit other enemies so it replenishes.

The enemies are always the same ones but some ones are bigger version of them or with different colors so sometimes it can become a little boring to fight them. When you defeat an enemy, it will drop gold and gems (Dream Fragments). The gems are in fact Experience Points and when you have enough, you go up a level. When you go up a level, you can choose if you want to raise Klonoa's defense, attack, special attack or agility. With the gold, you can buy potions, weapons and armor. There are various weapons in the game, the Beam, the Sword, the Hammer and a few others. Each weapon has its own good point and bad points.

Some levels have fun puzzles, but all the others are just all the same, defeat enemies and find the exit. The bosses are really hard and tedious. All you do is avoid, attack, avoid attack. And something disappointing is that each worlds have about 9 visions each, but if the world is about a forest, all 9 levels will be in the same forest, if it's about an island, all 9 levels will be on that same island. That can become really repetitive. The levels are different but always with the same themes.

When you clear a vision, a little of the story is shown to you and then you can continue your quest. If you die in a vision, you're brought back on the map with half of your gold gone. Frustating. Later in the game, you'll be able to play as Klonoa's rival, Guntz, and also Pango, Klonoa's friend, and you can switch between them during the levels.

Longevity -7/10
The game isn't particularly long but just the length it needs to be. There isn't really anything to keep you coming back for it and I don't think you'll want to replay it a second time but this isn't necessary bad.

For Klonoa's first attempt at the RPG genre, I think it was well done and differs from the other conventional RPGs, but there is a lack of something to make it entertaining. The game is pretty easy to understand and except for the main story you don't really need to know Japanese so if you can get the import and like Klonoa, it may be a good thing you get this game, but however, you aren't really missing anything particular. As far as action-RPGs go, I've seen way better.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/04/03, Updated 10/01/04