Tak and the Power of Juju

"Go with another platformer, like Mario."

Tak and the Power of Juju had a lot of hype, with commercials, magazine advertisements, and even a sequel. I still don't see what the big deal is about this game...

Graphics-7/10
The graphics in this game are average. Tak moves smoothly through the levels, though. The backgrounds aren't bad, either.

Sound/Music-3/10
The music in Tak and the Power of Juju is basically just random sound effects made into one repeating music loop. It gets annoying quickly, and while playing it, I turned down the volume. It doesn't really qualify as music.

Story-2/10
Tak and the Power of Juju doesn't explain the story at all, even though there is one. Games like The Legend of Zelda and even other platformers explain their story clearly at the beginning of the game. "So-and-so wants to take over the world, and you have to stop him". I'm not playing halfway through the game just to find out what the storyline is.

Gameplay-5/10
In the time I could stand playing this game, I realized all you do in this game is jump on sheep(which can't hurt you), shoot beehives down onto enemies(which you can't fight), and collect little pink circles spread throughout the level. The first few levels consist of thornbushes, sheep to jump on, beehives directly over enemies, and pink circles. The annoying thing about Tak and the Power of Juju is that the only way to really die is to hit a thornbush. There's no combat, fights with enemies, nothing. You just walk through the jungle, jump over thornbushes, and collect pink circles. You have a blowgun with unlimited ammo, but you use it to shoot down beehives, which are conveniently located right next to something for you to stand on, and they are right above the enemy.

Difficulty-5/10
Tak and the Power of Juju is obviously made for pre-teen children, but I'm guessing they would have a very hard time with this game. It took me a few tries to get past the first level. It's not exciting to die, either, I just fell on a thornbush.

Overall-4/10
There's absolutely no reason to buy(or rent) this game. It plays almost exactly the same as other games in this genre, except the graphics aren't as good, the music is annoying, and this game is a lot weirder and more random.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 01/05/06