8.4 hours played
Written 4 days ago
As I write this, it is (unintentionally) the one-year anniversary of me playing this game. Aside from the typical slight pang of anxiety stemming from the unimpeachable crawl of time, I find myself drawn to finally write this review. I meant to post one at the time but never got around to it. Why does the allure persist? Because the memory of my thoughts a year ago tell me that the meaningful information about why to buy this game has essentially nothing to do with the specifics, and much more to do with the overall package.
[h1] The Game is a Platformer That Does Platorming Goodly (Mostly) [/h1]
Feast your eyes upon that blue thumbs up; it deceives you not. If you are looking for a good 2D platformer, then you've come to the right place. You do the thing where you run and then you jump and then also you collect gold tokens and that stuff what with the hidden collectibles, too. I don't really have much more to say than that. If you woke up saying, "Gee golly willikers; I sure do want to play a 2D platformer in the [i]traditional style[/i]," then you are at the right place. It's not long, nor is it very hard, but it is decent. I got enjoyment for my money's worth. As a veteran, I would probably say it slants towards too easy -- I played most of this on autopilot, quite frankly -- but it's good. The levels are also built with speedrunning in mind, which is a big plus.
The most poignant criticism I would levy is a very common refrain here: the end of the game leans heavily on "wall of doom"-style autoscrollers. Many others felt the [strike]minecart[/strike] forgotten mask levels were vexing, but I think they're alright. However, this is also probably a function of experience.
The game is a fun, no-frills platformer.
[h1]Okay But This is Donkey Kong Country 2, Though[/h1]
Having gotten that out of the way, [i]this[/i] is what actually stuck with me after playing this game. It jumped out at me a year ago and is the reason I still feel I can give an honest appraisal of my feelings today. It has no direct bearing on the quality of the game (hence the positive review), but I think whether this game is [i]valuable[/i] in a more philosophical sense, and whether you ought to spend money on this, hinges almost entirely on your take on this matter.
This game is, almost in its entirety, made of ideas from Donkey Kong Country 2. This may seem inconspicuous, seeing as it bills itself as a retro-inspired platformer, but the fact of the matter is that "inspired" is an [b]immense[/b] understatement here. If you think the game's art direction is unique and compelling, I'd opt for "strongly derivative". If not, "well-meaning ripoff" is probably appropriate.
If you've played DKC2 and wanted to make a drinking game of moments this games hews very closely to its inspiration, you could give yourself liver cirrhosis by the time the credits roll. It's honestly hard to overstate. Let me try to enumerate the things this game nabs from its spiritual predecessor:
[list]
[*]Basic movement
[*]Most, if not practically all, of its enemy behaviours. There are many obvious one-to-one proxies for various enemies.
[*]The structure of collectibles and secrets (4 letters and two secret areas per level). The structure of the secret areas is also the same.
[*]Common level elements, e.g. an emphasis on ladders/ropes and cannons.
[*]The titular masks. To be explicit...
[list]
[*]The bird mask is Squawks. Also, these levels are covered in brambles.
[*]The shark mask is Diddy's underwater ability in Tropical Freeze.
[*]The forgotten mask is the stand-in for the minecart levels.
[/list]
The tiger mask is unique, though!
[*][i][b]Almost every single level gimmick[/b][/i]. This is the biggest one. I distinctly remember telling myself "Oh, this is [i]that[/i] level" over and over again as I was playing this game. I'm browsing the levels again right now, and even if we excluded the minecart stages, probably 75-80% of the levels are clearly taking a core mechanic from a specific level in the Donkey Kong Country series, most often DKC2.
[*]The music is very strongly leaning on David Wise's style. I don't actually mind this at all, because Wise's music is all killer no filler, but it's just another thing the game emulates.
[/list]
It may seem unfair to harp on this game so much for this. Let me be clear: I love DKC2 to bits. The series as a whole is tremendously important to me and the second is one of my favourite games of all time. I can completely sympathize with loving something and wanting to put parts of it into your own work. The problem is that it is completely pervasive and drowns almost any trace of what should be the game's unique identity. This is not a Kaze game with pieces of DKC2 mixed in as a love letter; this is just DKC2 in a different skin. I could not, in good faith, tell you what makes this game "Kaze". It is functionally identical to a reskin of a much older game. Unfortunately, in my personal opinion, the skin it's draped in isn't even that good looking. Like, the art direction is alright, but I don't think it's phenomenal and it certainly doesn't do enough to make me not think about all the points above.
[h1]Okay, So What's the Point?[/h1]
That all being said, where does this leave you? Like I said, the game itself is actually quite good fun. If you're looking for a decent time and you like DKC2, then have at it. You'll probably enjoy yourself a lot. However, on a grander artistic level, I find it difficult to recommend something which feels like a near-total abrogation of creative labour in every aspect except the spritework.
To be unequivocal: [b]I don't think this is malicious at all[/b]. I truly believe this to be a labour of love and passion for a classic, and I salute that. I look at this and I see children with stars in their eyes saying "I'm going to make games, too" [i]and then doing it[/i]. Hell, I think this is the only Brazilian game I can distinctly remember playing, period. That alone is cause to be proud as a success story for finding some footing in the big-ticket Anglosphere game market. I just can't pretend that this feels like anything other than a glorified level pack.
Still, a level pack for DKC2 is some pretty good content.
[b]6/10
Okay[/b]
