Developer: Namco

Publisher: Namco

Release Date: July 25, 2001

System: PlayStation 2

ESRB Rating: E

0:00 I've been hearing excellent things about the Klonoa series of platformers for years, but I only purchased this one because it was $8 at GameStop. And I'm only playing it now because a Twitter friend gave it a high recommendation. I am cheap and easily influenced, apparently.

0:01 A big-eared, black and blue bunny thing with red sneakers runs down a dirt road in a green clearing as the camera pans dramatically around. A little ditty plays and he jumps, crying out "Yeah!" as he does. The title appears. Alrighty then! New game!

0:02 The game gets early bonus points for allowing me to toggle which button is "shoot" and which is "jump." Obviously X should be jump, but it's nice of them to offer the option...

0:03 Very gentle, somewhat discordant music plays in the background. It sounds a bit like someone playing on a recorder. I'm not a fan.

0:04 "Klonoa Works Presents Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil -- There's a forgotten dream. Was it a dream I can't remember, or a dream I won't remember? Have I got the dream or has the dream got me? Surely, there was a dream." The black and blue guy is falling upside-down through an inky void with some small white lights. DreamVoice: "Help... help me." Now he's fallen in the ocean on a quiet, rainy night full of clouds. "There he is," says the crew of a red biplane passing by. "Okay, okay... leave it to me!" They swing by to pick him up, but then think twice because of some witnesses on the beach. "We can't risk losing the Ring." They fly off to menace another day, I suppose.

0:07 The black and blue guy is named Klonoa, obviously. He's washed up on shore. "Oomph..." Red-haired human Lolo asks if he's all right. She's a priestess in training. Her companion is a demented-looking teddy bear thing with claws named Popka. I can't tell if the voice work is in Japanese or just some gibberish cutesy language. Either way, the text is too slow. I miss voice acting. Even bad voice acting.

0:10 In the middle of some backstory, suddenly a huge shark monster jumps out and almost devours the trio. "M, maybe we should wait until later to talk." Sounds good to me!

0:11 Lolo turns into a white ball of light and flies into a ring in Klonoa's hand. "Let's get this show on the road!" says Popka. "Huh? What? What the...?!" responds Klonoa. Those two statements accurately capture my current thinking.

0:12 "Vision Start: Sea of Tears, The Encounter" Quite a dramatic name. The music is filled with bells now... it sure beats the recorder. I like the ever-present rain effect.

0:13 Despite the 3-D characters and environs, the gameplay seems distinctly 2-D. The analog stick doesn't seem to work -- I need to use the d-pad to move Klonoa. When was this game made, 1986?

0:14 There are some little red enemy things walking around. I try to jump on them, like a good platform game player, but I get hurt. Three tries and I'm dead. You'd think I'd have learned from the first jump, huh?

0:15 Seems the action button is the way to do in the red things. I can even throw them in towards the camera. I'm having a Turtles in Time flashback, here!

0:16 Klonoa has no double jump, but he does have a little float at the top of his leap. Still, there are some green gems he can't reach. The red things keep coming, every time I tell them, so I figure they're the key, somehow. Oh... it seems when I'm carrying them I CAN double jump by using it as a temporary platform of sorts. I'd prefer an all-the-time double jump, but this will do.

0:17 A green and white egg is floating above my path. It doesn't really respond to my jumping or prodding. Hmmm...

0:19 Popka gets in my way and explains in an extremely ponderous way the double jumping I just figured out. Where's the "I know this already, you annoying twit" button?

0:20 I don't think I like the way the camera twists and turns along with the stage for no apparent reason. What's wrong with a single perspective from one side?

0:21 Another green and white egg. This time I figure out that I need to throw an enemy at it to unlock: another heart item I don't need. Joy.

0:22 Cannons are shooting me in and out of screen to new platforms. So far, the game has been pretty linear and easy, but it's early yet.

0:23 Another cannon shoots me on top of a floating orange and white manta ray/bird thing. I can lean it left and right to get gems. At the end I end up on another platform. That was pointless.

0:26 Grinding down a twisty tree -- because you aren't cool unless you can grind on stuff, y'know. Popka tells me to ring a bell, and I do. "That's the spirit bell for priestesses. Only those with enough spiritual power can make it ring. So if ya make it ring, you're a full priestess." Thank you, Captain Exposition. "Vision Clear!" What is this, a Visine commercial?

0:29 Over to Baguji's Island, because it's next on the map. "So this is the dream traveler, eh?" asks the elderly, ridiculously-hatted Baguji. Apparently my appearance was foretold. Baguji goes on about more bells. "They say the Bells are responsible for maintaining peace throughout the entire world." There's also a bell of darkness or something that's making monsters run amok and causing priestesses to fall ill. "Oddly enough, many people don't seem to notice." What?!

0:32 Up next on the brightly-colored map is La-Lakoosha. Obviously!

0:34 New enemy alert: A yellow guy with a shield, requiring me to jump over and grab from behind. Not exactly taxing, but interesting.

0:37 Annoyance of the moment: I can send my white grabber thing into and out of the screen, but not up or down on my plane, which would be much more useful.

0:38 OK, I do like the way the camera turns downward to show a huge drop filled with gems. It changes up the gameplay nicely. Also like the jumping sharks from the background. It's a little gimmicky, but a nice use of the 3-D.

0:39 100 green gems = extra life, you say? You could knock me over with a feather...

0:40 A big yellow flower thing just jumped out of the background and ate me with no warning. That's not very fair...

0:41 Apparently the key is letting a red guy get eaten, then sneaking by when the flower is munching on him. OK then!

0:43 "Klonoa: A moment, please." Lolo is so polite when interrupting my platforming. We're passing a statue of the Mother Goddess Claire. The other one we passed was a statue of Claire the Ancient, apparently. And thus ends another episode of "Pointless Backstory Theatre."

0:46 The platforming's getting a little more complex now... I have to carry enemies a few steps over and past obstacles to get to double jump point. Still, nothing too complex...

0:49 I have to throw enemies into a big clapper in the background to knock over pillars blocking the way.

0:50 Now we're in the high priestess' chambers. "Now then, Lolo... You wish to save the world, do you?" What, are we asking her for permission? Ethereal violins in the background fit well.

0:51 I just realized I REALLY don't care about this backstory, so I break one of my own rules and hit start to skip it.

0:52 Claire Moa Temple will probably be my final stop for the hour. Lolo beckons to me, but a big mechincal monster blocks my way. "Leorina again?" asks Popka. She's a bandit that "wreaks havoc on the world while searching for treasure." I hate people like that!

0:53 "She's Leorina the Sky Pirate, and I'm Tat her cutie sidekick! Don't you forget it!" I won't!

0:55 "Folgaran the Armored Beast" is the sky-pirates machine. It's armored except for an incredibly apparent weak point at which I can throw renewable enemies.

0:58 Ten or so hits and he's done. "Heh-heh, you're kinda cool," Tat says to Klonoa. Wow, how's that for loyalty?

0:59 So I shoot this bell thing and a green orb hovers down. It's the bell's power, in and all new super-concentrated formula. The DreamVoice calls out for help again as Klonoa listens in a black void. This game is very trippy...

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.


Why? Despite the simplicity and ponderous story, it's got decent controls, a neat gimmick and a good sense of style.

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