It’s time
once again for the Great Juju Challenge, an athletic event that is held every
60 years in honor of the Moon Juju goddess. This time around, Team Pupanunu
consists of two tribe members, Tak and Lok. It’s up to them to beat out all
the other teams, and uphold the Pupanunu tribe’s honor.
The game
begins with the shaman exhorting Tak and Lok to win, win, win! They have to
compete against several other teams from around the world, but they won’t
actually be playing against the other teams, as that’s just the official
storyline to set the plot. Tak and Lok are a team, and as such, will be
playing tag-team throughout the game. Most of the game is straightforward
platforming action, with Tak and Lok jumping from platform to platform,
collecting health points and increasing their juju powers. At the end of each
world, there is a boss battle and a race. There is also a mini-games section
which can be accessed after the first world race is won.
Tak and
Lok’s moves are basic jumping and attack modes, but when Lok is in the lead,
there are special moves he can also make, like a flying jump, a super
butt-stomp and a protective umbrella that he can activate when carrying Tak on
his back. The flying jump is especially handy for getting past hazards and for
jumping across high jumps. It takes a bit of practice to get this move down
pat, though. However, once it’s learned, it’s a really cool move. Other cool
actions involve using other animals as trampolines, that’s pretty funny.
Players will probably opt to play as Lok for most of the game, as Tak is
really only good for shooting at enemies across distances.
The control
buttons are assigned logically, and the combos are easy to implement during
the game. The game has three levels of difficulty, but the easy level is far
too difficult. The main problem comes from the distance between checkpoints,
which are often not placed very well. Instead of being able to save past a
particularly difficult sequence, players will often have to forge ahead with
no save point for a little longer, and hope for the best. This is problematic,
as getting past a hard part usually means that the character’s health is low,
and he’s more vulnerable to expiring.
The
platforming aspect of the game is a hoot with a great emphasis on situational
puzzles, but is a bit too difficult in places in the easy level. Easy is
supposed to mean easy, but there isn’t anything easy about carrying an egg
past a homicidal chicken, with no means to protect your character while he’s
carrying the egg. Try to throw the egg to a further point, and most times it
will travel too far and fall off the ledge. Try jumping with it, and many
times your character drops it. When the egg is finally safely delivered, guess
what, there’s no checkpoint! If your character is unfortunate enough to expire
during the level after the egg episode, it’s back to the beginning and players
will have to deal with the egg and crazy chickens all over again.
Many times
there are situational puzzles that have to be solved before Tak and Lok can
move ahead. Most of the time this involves moving objects from one place to
another past obstacles, which may be hazards like rabid animals, or
manipulative puzzles that require finding some type of device and activating
it to remove a wall of blocks. These puzzles are fun and challenging.
The races
are the worst part of the game, and are a pain to play. For some reason,
WayForward decided to design the races in a side-scrolling manner, where the
racers travel around a circular track from one side of the screen to the
other, instead of having a “behind the racers” viewpoint, where the racers
move into the screen, so-to-speak. This makes for extreme difficulty in
controlling the car around the track, and often it will just spin around in
place when players are mashing the directional pad. This is about as
non-intuitive as you can get. And furthermore, players have to win in order to
advance to the next world! Not place second, nope, you gotta win.
Once the
first race is won, the second world and the mini-games section opens up. There
are several mini-games offered, but guess what, they’re not really mini-games.
Instead, they’re small vignettes of previous platform action with timers. Not
much fun. Players will probably opt to skip them altogether and move on to the
next world, which is much more fun and has new power-ups for Tak and Lok to
try out.
The worlds
are colorful and varied, with good detail. Tak and Lok are cute, and are
animated smoothly. Graphically, everything compares well with other GBA games.
The sound is pretty average, and isn’t annoying or intrusive.
Considered
as a whole, this is a slightly above average platform game that offers a
decent amount of challenge in the form of puzzles, good platform action and
several hours of game-play. Some aspects are less pleasing, namely the
mini-games and races. The mini-games can be ignored, but the races have to be
dealt with after each world, and can be a stopping point for younger players.
This game is best for older kids and adults.
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Gameplay: 7.0
The platform
action is very good and engrossing. The location of save checkpoints is
problematic at times, and the race levels are frustrating and can block
progress for some players even on the easy level.
Graphics: 8.0
The graphics are
varied and detailed with good animation.
Sound: 7.0
The sound and
music is pretty average.
Difficulty: Medium
The game is
challenging at times, but not overly difficult, except for the races.
Concept: 7.0
There’s nothing
startling innovative or new, but the execution is good for the most part.
Overall: 7.5
A decently
entertaining platformer that offers good action, fun puzzles and varied
gameplay. However, the frustrating races and the boring mini-games leave
somewhat to be desired. This could have been a great game if these two areas
were as well-designed as the platform aspect. Still, it’s a good game,
especially when compared to many sub-par GBA games that have been released
recently.
