"Platforming at its best."

When I think of great platforming games, my mind immediately goes to Mario, Rayman, and Klonoa. Not content with a game for PS2, Namco sent Klonoa into the Empire of Dreams, so they call it, for more adventures and even more challenges.

Graphics

Crisp and colorful sprites abound, this game is the anti-Castlevania. The levels set themselves apart with scrolling backgrounds colored to suit the mood at the time. Boss battles consist of large, scaling 2D arenas with creatures that dwarf Klonoa by quite a bit. If you're looking for flashy effects and all, this won't impress you, but it's not meant to.

Sound

The music is somewhat reminiscent of Klonoa 2 on PS2, with enjoyable tunes that range from bouncy beats to a soft, soothing harp tones. I can't say much for sound effects, but they're nice too, I guess. Klonoa has a little speech, though it consists mostly of cutesy nonsense words like ''Wa-hoo!'' and ''Manya!'' and pretty much whatever he said in earlier iterations.

Gameplay

The story goes a little something like this: Klonoa suddenly awakens after having dreamed to find himself in a kingdom where dreaming is outlawed. The king, being an insomniac, has declared dreaming of all sorts as illegal, and so you're now a criminal. As an alternative to hard labor, the king offers Klonoa a task: rid his kingdom of four monsters that have been terrorizing the place, and Klonoa wins his freedom. All this is the basic platformer genre pretext to get you where you need to go, so don't read too much into the plot.

If this is your first Klonoa game, you might be a little confused as to how it all works. This game is less about bottomless pits and difficult enemies than it is about puzzle-solving and exploration. The levels have simple objectives, but completing those objectives is easier said than done.

Each level has thirty gems to find and three stars. Collect all three stars and you can leave through the big double doors...once you find them, that is. The gems aren't required, but collecting them all opens up special bonus levels and can let you progress to the boss stage early. Said bonus levels consist of snowboarding, which is a forced scrolling stage with 100 gems to grab, along with a few well-placed 1-ups. The other bonus stage is similar to the regular stages, but is also a forced scrolling level with difficult jumping sequences that are made even more difficult if you're trying to get all 100 gems.

The game plays like such: Klonoa's one and only weapon is the Air Bullet, which latches onto enemies and pumps them full of air (like a balloon). The end result is an inflated enemy that can be thrown, or used as a stepping stone to double-jump. There are also gumis, floating red things you can grab with the Air Bullet for further double-jumping fun. Klonoa can also float for a very short time, which will get you a little bit of extra distance, or a tiny bit of height to snag that out-of-reach gem.

Everything starts out simple, as all games do, but progressively introduces you to more and more complex puzzle elements, such as wind tunnels, blocks, bombs, arrows (for directing bomb blasts...really) and a host of other things that I won't get into for fear of spoiling things. Fortunately, the game provides you with a number of signs that give hints and tips on how to complete a certain room or puzzle. And if you're stumped or stuck (which you probably will be) you can reset a room to when you first entered it and try again. The game is quite forgiving, to a point. While it won't make things easier for you, the multitude of 1-ups scattered around the game will assure even the worst of platformers will have at least a few lives to finish a level.

Finally, the bosses are big, mean, and actually present a challenge (unless you're like me and have beaten the game into the ground). Each boss has its tricks to beating, though obviously what you have to do is inflate an enemy and throw it at the big bad. That's easier said than done, especially with the later bosses.

Replay Value

There are five worlds and eight levels per world (including the snowboarding and forced scrolling bonus stages) so there's a good forty-plus levels to beat. There's also three secret stages that reward you for diligent gem-collecting and for beating the game. These last three stages will challenge you in ways you cannot yet imagine, I guarantee it. Finally, every stage in the game (including the bosses!) can be replayed, so even after you've beaten the game, you're given free reign to have fun and enjoy yourself. For platformer fans, you can't miss this one. For puzzle game fans, take up platforming. Experience the wonderful world of Klonoa.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/16/03