Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams

"Tak is back, yet again..."

Here comes Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams, yet another platformer for the GBA. The first one was average, the new one is just not better, still far from enjoyable. It's clear that this game alone couldn't stand a chance in the platformers market if it wasn't that the consoles version of the game aren't bad at all. The GBA version pales is comparison to those versions and isn't even half the quality.

Gameplay 5/10

Yet again, you play as Tak, the mighty hero of the shaman village, in a simple sidescrolling platformer. The only difference is that you can now switch between the real world and the dream world thorough the levels. Sadly, it hardly add that much more to the gameplay. There are 4 colorful worlds, 5 levels per world, and no boss. All you do is reach the end of the level, and then do the next one. It's your normal platformer where you kill enemies, jump over pits... the only difference being the dream world and the juju powers.

You have 3 gauges; one for your life, one for the juju energy and one for the dream energy. Sometimes you'll come across situations that require you to use your juju powers. For example, you may need to dig the ground to pass under a column blocking your way, or you may need to fly up for a short period of time to reach an inaccessible platform. Unfortunately, the magic gauge becomes empty quite rapidly and you are therefore stuck if an obstacle requiring juju powers comes before you. The only solution is then to access the dream world, where you can catch flying around small bubbles containing juju energy to refill your gauge. Apart from that, the only utility of the dream world is that when in this weird world, platforms invisible in the real world becomes visible, allowing you to reach inaccessible areas, where you will find Yorbels, usually.

Speaking of Yorbels, those can be found in numerous numbers in the levels, and can afterwards be used in the shop to buy potions. Potions can come in handy when low on health or magic. Another thing you'll find in the levels are animals that will help you, but there are only 2; an kind of eagle and a kind of bear. You can ride on the eagle's back to cross large pits, and you can ride the bear to cross rivers with strong currents. Once all levels into a world are completed, you can access the rift, a level where you need to reach the end, find all the Papanapu people there, then run back to the start of the level before the timer hits 0.

All that being said, the only thing to say is that Tak 2, although a small improvement over the first game, is still not good enough. The game is far too simple, and pretty short if you manage to go through the levels without dying, and not to mention a bit boring. There's also a frustrating element in the gameplay, that, in my opinion, is a big fault, Tak has no lives. If you run out of health during a level, you start back at the very start. There's no checkpoint of any sort and the levels are quite long, so dying could occur more often that you'd think. Simply fall in a pit and it's over. The levels aren't really entertaining enough to make you want to play through again.

Graphics/Sounds 6/10

The graphics are way too colorful. The colors used for the backgrounds are often too bright and could give you an headache. And the same colors are overused; blue, bright green and purple. All the levels comes in those 3 colors. And I haven't talked about the dream world yet, a kind of bad negative of a photo where the colors are even more bright -- way too bright. It's hard to judge the graphics, they are just not attractive at all.

As for the music, it goes well with the tribal action going on the screen.

Overall 5/10

Still not good enough. There are plenty of great platformers available on the GBA, so why bother picking up this one?

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 10/14/04, Updated 01/03/05