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[olimario]

It was either dark10x, border, or ssx who stated that the control and character weight in Klonoa was equel to that of Super Mario Sunshine.
This inspired me to rent the title which I am currently enjoying greatly.

GAMEPLAY
Meat and Taters... right? right.
Very simple concept mixed with some very smart design. Makes for a wonderful time. I just cleared Vision 2 and I found the pendulum puzzle to be very clever and fun. I took a concept I learned in the first level and applied it with wonderful results.

CONTROL
Slowing down a character does not give him weight... merely the illusion thereof.
The thing that sets the control of Mario and Zelda apart from pretty much every other title is the flawless momentum. Weight carries as you move, but no matter what I'm doing in Klonoa I can turn on a dime.
Not that it takes anything from the overall experience, just that I still don't feel control is up to snuff with the Mario Bros. series.

MUSIC
Very simple and charming. Never intrusive and never mismatches the graphics and feel.


GRAPHICS
Low Poly. Not very good textures.
Great Art Direction and wonderful in-game application.
Overall the game is very clean and very easy on the eyes. Much better than I ever would have assumed.

STORY AND CUTSCENES
Too long, boring, and pointless. Just promise me a damn cake or something and let me play. The cutscene text is 3x too slow, but sometimes you miss some major gameplay hint by skipping it. The option to speed it up would be nice.



I'm going back to play more... believe you, me.
It's a very fun title and a great 3D sidescrolling platformer.

 

[Patrick Klepek]

best platform game this gen, bitches

 

[BeOnEdge]

IAWTP

 

[olimario]

I'd say if this is a platformer, that Viewtiful Joe is too and does the same type of thing in a much better and much prettier way.
And I say Mario Sunshine controls better.

This is still a great game and I may yet change my opinion on it for the better, though my opinion now is that it is pretty damnded fine.

 

[Socreges]

Very fun game.

 

[ourumov]

One of the best titles this gen for sure. I played Klonoa 2 first and beat it and then jumped to the PSX one. Both are great titles but my favourite one is Klonoa 2. I have to buy it someday...I beat the copy of a friend.

 

[Nintendo Ate My Children]

Isn't this being ported to the DS?

 

[Grubdog]

Isn't this being ported to the DS?

GBA

 

[ourumov]

I think it's a different game. klonoa G2 !=Klonoa 2

 

[bjork]

At least the ending was not as EVIL as the first Klonoa.

Spoiler

FUCK YOU, HUEPOW

 

[Lhadatt]

I think it's a different game. klonoa G2 !=Klonoa 2

You are correct, sir!

 

[Yusaku]

Klonoa 1 > Klonoa 2

 

[Rummy Bunnz]

I'd say if this is a platformer, that Viewtiful Joe is too and does the same type of thing in a much better and much prettier way.

Viewtiful Joe is not a platformer. It's a beat 'em up. You can jump in Double Dragon, too. Does that mean it and Klonoa are in the same genre?

Klonoa 2 is the weakest in the series, but still a great game. Buy the other 3!

 

[olimario]

Viewtiful Joe is not a platformer. It's a beat 'em up. You can jump in Double Dragon, too. Does that mean it and Klonoa are in the same genre?

Klonoa 2 is the weakest in the series, but still a great game. Buy the other 3!

In Viewtiful Joe I fight baddies, platform, solve puzzles, and fight bosses.
I do the same in Klonoa 2.

 

[gmoran]

Klonoa 2 is a gorgeous, simple, clever, charming, poignant, mainly 2D, platformer. And heartily recomended to anyone who loves platformers.

 

[TheGreenGiant]

I don't like the art or the character

:runs away:

and yes I've played it. Very pandemonish. 6/10

 

[border]

In Viewtiful Joe I fight baddies, platform, solve puzzles, and fight bosses.
I do the same in Klonoa 2.

I do the same thing in Metroid! Maybe it's in the same genre! :lol

-1 reductive generalizations

 

[Rummy Bunnz]

In Viewtiful Joe I fight baddies, platform, solve puzzles, and fight bosses.
I do the same in Klonoa 2.

Shit, what game doesn't feature platforming, puzzles, fighting, and bosses? You just described 80% of the non-sports games in history.

VJ's focus is combat. Platforming and puzzles play a minor role. Hell, does the game even feature a single instant death pitfall? Klonoa's focus is platforming and puzzles, with very little fighting. They don't have much in common, aside from being cel shaded side scrollers.

 

[Patrick Klepek]

viewtiful joe is not a platformer, plain and simple, but let's not turn this into an argument over genre semantics.

i've just picked up klonoa 1 for the gf, actually. i'll have to give it a spin, if you actually think it's better than the sequel. the first gba installment is great, especially the skateboarding/snowboarding/whatever segments; it's the first klonoa i've actually attempted and succeeded at gathering all of the bonus items along the way. i can't wait for klonoa g2 -- glad i waited on importing it and namco's release schedule became spotty!

 

[olimario]

I do the same thing in Metroid! Maybe it's in the same genre! :lol

-1 reductive generalizations

Both 3D played out in 2D
Both sidescrolling
They are very much in the same style. Anyone should be able to see that.
Joe and Klonoa don't have to play EXACTLY the same for comparisons to be drawn.


SMS:JAK 2::KLONOA 2:VJ

 

[border]

Uhhhh, no. Metroid is a huge sidescrolling adventure game that can hardly be categorized in the same way as Viewtiful Joe or Klonoa.

If you are looking for generic distinctions, you have to look at the focus and design of each title. Rattling off a list of reductive similarities is a ridiculous way to group games. Do you really think that Metroid Prime is the same as Viewtiful Joe? I mean, obviously both games have you fighting baddies/bosses, platforming, and puzzle solving.....even Doom 2 contains all of those elements. So do the 3D Zelda games, SOTN-styled Castlevanias, Tomb Raiders, etc.

 

[BenT]

Klonoa 1 > Klonoa 2

This bears repeating. Klonoa: Door to Phantomile is one of my favorite platformers ever. Klonoa 2 put me to sleep. I stopped halfway through.

 

[Rummy Bunnz]

Oh, the first Klonoa kills the rest. The ending will make you weep. It's a shame how the story has been such trash in all the rest. Klonoa was a nice, cute simply told story while Klonoa 2 is like a Kojima platformer. They just won't shut the fuck up. I ended up skipping all the cutscenes cuz they were driving me so batty. The XTREME redesign they gave Klonoa kinda stinks, too. There was nothing wrong with him before, and it's not like making him all hip helped sales any. I don't understand these companies.

Actually, G2 may rival the first one, but I never finished it. I'm glacial when it comes to playing through portable games. I'm sure it's better than 2 and the first GBA one, though. I should probably sell my import copy now and rebuy it with the U.S. release. God bless Namco for releasing all these bombs here.

And Olimario has to be pulling our leg. Are Jackal and R.C. Pro Am in the same genre, too? Oy!

 

[border]

"SMS:JAK 2::KLONOA 2:VJ"

Either you don't understand how analogies work (good luck getting into college with shitty verbal SAT score and a GED), or you are implying that Jak 2 is better than SMS (since you already said that VJ is better than Klonoa).

 

[olimario]

Either you don't understand how analogies work (good luck getting into college with shitty verbal SAT score and a GED), or you are implying that Jak 2 is better than SMS (since you already said that VJ is better than Klonoa).

I'm saying that SMS and Jak 2 are in the same genre, though they are very different.
SMS has more of a platforming focus where Jak 2 has more of a combat focus.

Klonoa and Viewtiful Joe are in the same genre in my eyes.
Konoa 2 has more of a platforming focus where VJ has more of a combat focus.

 

[border]

Konoa 2 has more of a platforming focus where VJ has more of a combat focus.

And it's the focus that should matter when making generic distinctions. Contra is not the same as Super Mario Brothers, even though they both have boss fights, platforming, and sidescrolling.

 

[olimario]

Then where do you get off calling Jak 2 a platformer?

I get the same vibe from Klonoa 2 that I do from VJ. I can put them both in the same broad genre and I prefer one to the other.

 

[FoneBone]

Then where do you get off calling Jak 2 a platformer?

"Combat focus" or not, it's not a beat-em-up.

 

[olimario]

"Combat focus" or not, it's not a beat-em-up.

It's an action title. I did nothing but drive around and shoot things in Jak 2. Even when I was platforming, it was only to get to more things to shoot.

 

[drohne]

klonoa is the best platform franchise ever. you should track down the original. it's sort of expensive, but well worth it. the gba games are great too.

and not to get into another wanky genre argument, but it's probably imprecise to call jak II or ratchet and clank platformers. but they're rooted (however distantly) in the basic mario 64 design, so the "platformer" label sticks.

 

[olimario]

klonoa is the best platform franchise ever. you should track down the original. it's sort of expensive, but well worth it. the gba games are great too.

My Lackluster has the original PSX pre-played. Since I'm liking this so much I figure I should go get it... especially since you say it's not easy to find.

 

[border]

Any title that has a heavy focus on ranged or melee combat is actually a action-platformer/shoot-em-up or beat-em-up. I can't really say where Jak 2 fits since I haven't played it. If you're just running from one enemy to the next and kicking their ass, then it's probably not a pure platformer, and belongs in a separate genre with the likes of Ninja Gaiden or Devil May Cry.

 

[Kiriku]

best platform game this gen, bitches

IAWTP. I just wanted more and more. The settings, the simple and fun gameplay, the music, the charming details, the warm/sad/happy atmosphere, the MUSIC. It's one of those games I can play just to have fun rather than making any progress. I must've played some stages 20+ times, seriously.

 

[bobbyconover]

I agree with everything Rummy says. The original is the best. He's not kidding when he says you will weep - I know about 5-10 adult males, including myself, who have. And we're not ashamed to admit it!

 

[Baron Aloha]

Klonoa 2 is a great game... unfortunately it is also very short. I beat it the first time I sat down to play it.

 

[Fafalada]

Klonoa2 on PS2 was nice, but G2 is the best game in the series for me.
Now where's Klonoa PSP Namco?

 

[MrAngryFace]

Klonoa 2 has the song Wahoo Stomp which is gaming genius in music form.

 

[Unison]

Klonoa 1's ending made me well up with tears.

 

[gunstarhero]

Klonoa 2 is a great game... unfortunately it is also very short. I beat it the first time I sat down to play it.

Same problem here - really good game, but a blind monkey could beat it on it's first try. Way too easy.

best platform game this gen, bitches

Blinx 2 comes out next week.