Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and its sequel have both instantaneously become some of my favorite games. My mother rented the original game for me when I was a child and I loved it a lot back then. It was one of those unique PS1 platformers that really stuck with me along with the likes of Ape Escape, Tomba, Threads of Fate and Rayman. They were all so unique and ambitious but also sadly forgotten. Klonoa was one that particularly stayed with me for many years. I had to borrow my sister’s PlayStation whenever I wanted to try out a PS1 game and that never went over well. So I stuck with my N64 for all of that console generation, never getting another shot with Klonoa. The next gen comes and goes and yet again no opportunity to play it. Even worse, I never knew it had a sequel and the GBA titles were never in stock. It eventually faded from my interest and when the Wii remake eventually came I just smiled and passed on it, thinking I probably wasn’t missing much at that point.

Here we are today and the two mainline games are finally widely available. These are probably the most well polished 2D platformers I’ve ever played. Gameplay consists of hopping, fluttering in the air, grabbing and throwing in multiple directions. While the games are on a two dimensional plane you can actually throw things into the background or towards the camera. You can also grabs things from those locations too. It feels mostly akin to the Kirby games but with more emphasis on precision and speed. The difficulty is also much higher with certain stages feeling like absurd Mario Maker levels. However don’t let that deter you, the level design and mechanics are ironed to perfection which do a lot to make the games far less frustrating than they could have been in the hands of a lesser dev team. The second game introduces hoverboard stages that are insanely fun. I was always giddy whenever I’d load up the next stage and Klonoa would be carrying the hoverboard. The auto scrolling levels actually switch up the gameplay and are fully controlled in 3D during large segments. It reminds me a lot of the snowboarding levels in the Sonic Adventure games and I can never get enough of it. Scattered throughout the levels are gems and little villages/creatures to rescue (dolls in the second game). These unlock extra levels when they’ve all been found which in turn unlock the sound test for the game. It’s a fun diversion and adds an even thicker layer of challenge to the levels. Any time I’d miss some I would immediately replay the stage to make sure I got them all, always excited to try and knock out the level more effectively in the process. There are also the gems you can collect. Getting 150 of them in each stage is supposed to unlock something but I never noticed any change after doing so. It’s also one of the more irritating aspects of the game if you’re going for 150 in each stage. Fortunately however they aren’t tied to any sort of progression nor achievements. Also collecting 100 of them nets you an extra life. So you can leisurely nab what you can and still have a good time doing so since you’re always rewarded for it. Boss fights usually take place on some rotating stage that loops around but there are plenty of exceptions throughout that change up the formula and they never fail to be creative. None of them drag on too long and some of them are extremely challenging. The first game is a little relentless by throwing you directly into boss fights immediately after stages but the second one fixes this inconvenience by separating boss fights entirely and giving them their own space on the board. Some of the boss fights in 2 even take place on the hoverboard so it’s even more diverse. All and all Klonoa is a fun game to play, learn and familiarize yourself with. It starts out slow and steady and gradually ramps up to match your newly acquired skills, always throwing something new at you to keep you on your toes and ready to adapt. Stages can feel labrynthian at times but once you familiarize yourself with all of the paths they’re not so overbearing to navigate through.

The music in the game is also fantastic. It’s all very dreamlike and pleasing to the ears. The multitude of whistles and flutes are very amusing arrangements. There are also some ominous and creepy tracks in the game that set up boss fights or accompany them. I ended up getting both soundtracks for the games and enjoy listening to the multitude of tracks within them. They really don’t slack in this department, there are around 140 different songs between the two games. Every little screen, transition, character, stage and boss has a unique theme of some kind.

As for the story, it’s arguably the highlight of the game. Yes indeed this adorable title has a meaningful plot that will tug at your heart strings and make you feel a wide range of emotions. The writing is very solid and the protagonist is a good heroic character mold to follow. Always putting others before himself, setting aside petty squabbles and standing tall in the face of adversity. He also shows compassion and understanding towards the villains, something that not even big budget super hero films can portray properly. The cast is very lovable and irresistibly charming as a whole. You will be Googling plushies and official merch by the time it all comes to a close. Cutscenes and in game camera work is really good too. Several clever pans and transitions are littered throughout. I LOVE whenever you get a seamless transition into gameplay from a cutscene. It supplements the thrill of the gameplay so well and always got me hyped for the stages.

The graphics in the game are very vibrant and colorful. Even the darker stages have a large color palette. These are total remakes built from the ground up from what I can tell. Unfortunately I don’t have much (if any) real experience with the originals but after looking at some old gameplay it really stands apart from them.

One of the greatest video games I’ve ever played and I will continue to play it alongside my favorites for as long as I’m able. Zero complaints, 10/10.

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and its sequel have both instantaneously become some of my favorite games. My mother rented the original game for me when I was a child and I loved it a lot back then. It was one of those unique PS1 platformers that really stuck with me along with the likes of Ape Escape, Tomba, Threads of Fate and Rayman. They were all so unique and ambitious but also sadly forgotten. Klonoa was one that particularly stayed with me for many years. I had to borrow my sister’s PlayStation whenever I wanted to try out a PS1 game and that never went over well. So I stuck with my N64 for all of that console generation, never getting another shot with Klonoa. The next gen comes and goes and yet again no opportunity to play it. Even worse, I never knew it had a sequel and the GBA titles were never in stock. It eventually faded from my interest and when the Wii remake eventually came I just smiled and passed on it, thinking I probably wasn’t missing much at that point. Here we are today and the two mainline games are finally widely available. These are probably the most well polished 2D platformers I’ve ever played. Gameplay consists of hopping, fluttering in the air, grabbing and throwing in multiple directions. While the games are on a two dimensional plane you can actually throw things into the background or towards the camera. You can also grabs things from those locations too. It feels mostly akin to the Kirby games but with more emphasis on precision and speed. The difficulty is also much higher with certain stages feeling like absurd Mario Maker levels. However don’t let that deter you, the level design and mechanics are ironed to perfection which do a lot to make the games far less frustrating than they could have been in the hands of a lesser dev team. The second game introduces hoverboard stages that are insanely fun. I was always giddy whenever I’d load up the next stage and Klonoa would be carrying the hoverboard. The auto scrolling levels actually switch up the gameplay and are fully controlled in 3D during large segments. It reminds me a lot of the snowboarding levels in the Sonic Adventure games and I can never get enough of it. Scattered throughout the levels are gems and little villages/creatures to rescue (dolls in the second game). These unlock extra levels when they’ve all been found which in turn unlock the sound test for the game. It’s a fun diversion and adds an even thicker layer of challenge to the levels. Any time I’d miss some I would immediately replay the stage to make sure I got them all, always excited to try and knock out the level more effectively in the process. There are also the gems you can collect. Getting 150 of them in each stage is supposed to unlock something but I never noticed any change after doing so. It’s also one of the more irritating aspects of the game if you’re going for 150 in each stage. Fortunately however they aren’t tied to any sort of progression nor achievements. Also collecting 100 of them nets you an extra life. So you can leisurely nab what you can and still have a good time doing so since you’re always rewarded for it. Boss fights usually take place on some rotating stage that loops around but there are plenty of exceptions throughout that change up the formula and they never fail to be creative. None of them drag on too long and some of them are extremely challenging. The first game is a little relentless by throwing you directly into boss fights immediately after stages but the second one fixes this inconvenience by separating boss fights entirely and giving them their own space on the board. Some of the boss fights in 2 even take place on the hoverboard so it’s even more diverse. All and all Klonoa is a fun game to play, learn and familiarize yourself with. It starts out slow and steady and gradually ramps up to match your newly acquired skills, always throwing something new at you to keep you on your toes and ready to adapt. Stages can feel labrynthian at times but once you familiarize yourself with all of the paths they’re not so overbearing to navigate through. The music in the game is also fantastic. It’s all very dreamlike and pleasing to the ears. The multitude of whistles and flutes are very amusing arrangements. There are also some ominous and creepy tracks in the game that set up boss fights or accompany them. I ended up getting both soundtracks for the games and enjoy listening to the multitude of tracks within them. They really don’t slack in this department, there are around 140 different songs between the two games. Every little screen, transition, character, stage and boss has a unique theme of some kind. As for the story, it’s arguably the highlight of the game. Yes indeed this adorable title has a meaningful plot that will tug at your heart strings and make you feel a wide range of emotions. The writing is very solid and the protagonist is a good heroic character mold to follow. Always putting others before himself, setting aside petty squabbles and standing tall in the face of adversity. He also shows compassion and understanding towards the villains, something that not even big budget super hero films can portray properly. The cast is very lovable and irresistibly charming as a whole. You will be Googling plushies and official merch by the time it all comes to a close. Cutscenes and in game camera work is really good too. Several clever pans and transitions are littered throughout. I LOVE whenever you get a seamless transition into gameplay from a cutscene. It supplements the thrill of the gameplay so well and always got me hyped for the stages. The graphics in the game are very vibrant and colorful. Even the darker stages have a large color palette. These are total remakes built from the ground up from what I can tell. Unfortunately I don’t have much (if any) real experience with the originals but after looking at some old gameplay it really stands apart from them. One of the greatest video games I’ve ever played and I will continue to play it alongside my favorites for as long as I’m able. Zero complaints, 10/10.