"Wahoo!"

He's got big floppy ears, a hat with Pac-man on it, and I don't know what the hell he is, but he sure is cute. He's Klonoa, and he's starred in some of the best platforming games I've ever played. Klonoa: Door to Phantomile on the PS1 is a 2.5D platformer, meaning it plays predominantly like a 2D platformer with moments in which players can periodically interact with the background and foreground. It stays pretty true to the 2D formula, but the 3D elements do spice things up and keep it interesting. The game is a little too easy, but it does increase in difficulty at a decent pace. It's a little on the easy side, even in the end, although the bonus level poses a tough and very satisfying challenge. The lack of challenge never takes away from the fun of the game, however, as the level design is great and provides a lot of fun and variety. In short, I love the game. Klonoa is an extremely lovable character, but despite the overwhelming level of cuteness, the game ends on a far more serious and somber note. It really gives meaning to the whole thing and makes it far more memorable. It's a very short game, however, and can easily be completed in a weekend, and likely could be beaten in an afternoon.

Despite the lack of popularity, Klonoa did get a sequel on PS2, Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil. Like it's predecessor, Klonoa 2 plays in a 2.5D fashion. The graphics have received a hefty update and give the game the look of a colorful cartoon. For the most part, Klonoa 2 is just more of what the first game was, but that's by no means a bad thing. It's still overly cute, though I didn't get quite as attached to the second game as much as I did the first. It's still very solid platforming, a lot of fun, and a worthy successor to the first game.

Unfortunately, this is where the main series ends. As of late, there are no more true entries in the main Klonoa series. It should be noted that there was a remake of the original game released for the Wii in 2009, but that can hardly be considered another entry in the series. After the two main games, there were 2 handheld Klonoa games for the GBA.

Klonoa: Empire of Dreams and Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament are fundamentally the same. Both are strictly in 2D as opposed to the 2.5 system seen in their console brothers, likely due to technical constraints. That doesn't mean these games should be overlooked however. The main game mechanic of picking up enemies and using them to double-jump is still in the GBA games, but the games are more puzzle-based than simply platformers. In fact, both games actually provide some rather challenging puzzles. They're more puzzle than platformer, while still having strong platforming elements. Calling them platformers would be like calling Portal an FPS. You're not entirely wrong... but you're not quite right either.

The GBA games don't have stories or music I connected with like the console games do, but that's to be expected and they do still have twists to try and keep things from getting too stale. Ironically enough, the GBA games probably take longer to complete than the console games, though it's tougher for me to judge, as I tended to play them in small doses. Such is the nature of handhelds sometimes. Overall the GBA games are decent additions to the Klonoa franchise, but they simply don't live up to the console games. They do still provide a fun, albeit different gaming experience, along with some head-scratching areas that will leave you feeling satisfied once you have found the solution.

Before I finish, I would like to talk a bit more about the Wii version of Klonoa which I mentioned earlier. As I said, it is a remake of the original Door to Phantomile, but there have been some minor changes. The only major change from the original is the graphics, which is to be expected. The game looks more like how Klonoa 2 did, which isn't a bad thing. Klonoa's design has also been changed ever so slightly, as they for some reason removed his collar in the Wii version (although the original costume is unlocked after completing the game). I don't really like the change, but it's so subtle, that I don't really dislike it either. The other changes, however, I'm not as pleased with. For one, an easy game has been made even easier. The original Door to Phantomile on PS1 allowed for 6 hits before taking a life, but the Wii version has bumped it up to 10 hits. Not only that, but hearts heal more than they did. In the original, a small heart would heal 1 hit, and a big heart would heal 3 hits. In the Wii version, hearts heal double, with small and big healing 2 and 6 hits respectively. Considering one of my only complaints with the original was that it was a bit too easy, it's understandable why I don't like these changes. Finally, English voices have been added, and while they're not atrocious, the game works much better with characters speaking in "Phantomillian" gibberish. Thankfully, there is a "Phantomillian" language option, but curiously, this gibberish has all been re-recorded for the Wii version. One last thing is that Klonoa was given a new ability that can slow down nearby enemies, but frankly, I never once used it. The original PS1 game is certainly the definitive version of the game, but the Wii game is a lot cheaper and easier to find, so if it's your only option, you should still gladly take it.

I've certainly gone on long enough this time, but try to understand that Door to Phantomile and Klonoa 2 are among my absolute favorite platformers. I felt as though I should give the little guy some love, since so few others do. I'd love to see another true Klonoa game, but I can't say that I'm optimistic. That said, I'll gladly replay these gems any day and leave the thought of a new game to dreams.

The OTHER Playstation Castlevania

First off, what the hell is Castlevania Chronicles? That's actually a fairly complicated question, but I'll try to answer it to the best of my (and Wikipedia's) ability. First off, I'll say what I'm sure of with my experience. If you have played the NES version of Castlevania, a lot of this game is going to be familiar to you. Essentially, this version is like an "extended edition" of Castlevania, or to use more video game terms, it's like Castlevania with an expansion pack. Well, that's my take; let's delve into the more technical aspects. Castlevania Chronicles has two game modes: "Original mode" and "Arrange mode." The Original mode is that of a version of Castlevania that was only released in Japan on the Sharp X68000 home computer. The Arrange mode, however is *All New! (*- This version is nearly identical to the original version with the exception of a new sprite design for Simon and a decrease in difficulty.)

I started this game by playing through the Original mode. This game is tough... I mean really tough. You get four hits. No if's, and's, or but's, you get four hits. A bat running into you is the same amount of damage as Death's scythe slicing through you. (To be fair, that's not entirely true... at the start of the game, you get more than 4 hits, but at the start of the game, it's pretty simple, so that doesn't stick out in my mind.) While I found this to be illogical, the Arrange mode isn't necessarily any more logical. At the start of the game, everything only does one piece of damage from the life gauge. While I don't know how many hits that allows you exactly, I'm pretty sure it's over 10. By the end of the game, however, each hit takes 3 pieces from your life gauge allowing for a total of 6 hits. In other words, all enemies/objects do the same amount of damage, that damage just changes as the game goes on.

Anyways, seeing how technical this has already gotten, I'll try to keep it simple. Certain aspects of the game are absolutely ridiculous with only 4 hits. The doppleganger has no clear pattern, so the only way I was able to beat him was to just whip like a crazy mofo and hope he died before I did. Compared to this and other aspects of the game, I actually found Dracula to be a relief since he has a very consistent pattern (identical to his NES one.) To put into perspective how much of a difference the 2 hits make, however, I used 18 or more continues (it doesn't record the last few) in Original mode, whereas I only used 3 or more continues in Arrange mode. Granted, I played Original mode first, but the big challenges like Death, I had already seen in the NES version, so only a few of those continues can be attributed to learning the game.

Like all challenging games, it's very rewarding to finally beat this one. If you're not in the mood for a brutal beating, and would instead prefer a light spanking, just go with the Arrange mode. It's all of the gameplay of the original mode and 2/3 of the difficulty. One last thing I realized was that this was the 2nd of the only 2 Castlevania games on the Playstation. I sure as hell hope there isn't anyone who bought this game because they loved Symphony of the Night. If they were expecting the same style of gameplay, they must've been disappointed. If you know what you're getting into though and are a fan of classic Castlevania, Castlevania Chronicles is a fun "enhanced remake" of the original game.

"And now for something completely different."

Ahh... the mid-to-late 90's. Remember the good old days of PS1/N64 when 3D really wasn't quite there yet? Seeing through Mario's head, the awkward block-shaped cars of Twisted Metal, and Lara's big square butt... but it was 3-D! Holy crap! How was the blue bomber's jump into 3-D? Well... different, that's for sure, and nowhere near as smooth as Mario or Link's, but I believe he fared pretty well assuming you can separate the Mega Man Legends games from the Mega Man and Mega Man X games.

Therein lies the reason why some people just won't like these games. They're really not "Mega Man" games. To be honest, I would say that Mega Man Legends has more RPG elements than platforming elements. In my opinion, however, this is what allows for the game to work on some levels. It's fun to find new special weapons and buster parts to customize/upgrade Mega Man.

Another thing that might drive people away from this game is its graphical style. I'm not referring to the blocky polygonal graphics, I'm referring to its extremely anime-like presentation. In fact, at times, it almost feels like an anime with its charming characters and silly storyline. I found this to be a plus, but obviously if you're one of those who hates that "Japanese crap," you're not going to enjoy the style.

I don't have a whole lot more to say about this one, but one thing I absolutely have to address is how much we take voice-acting for granted these days. While you can certainly find worse voice acting (i.e. "Dr. Wahwee" from Mega Man 8) a lot of the dialogue just sounds awkward or out of place. Of course, I'm writing this in 2010, 12 years after its release. 12 years ago, I probably wouldn't have thought it was awkward, I would have thought it was sweet to see voices in a video game. I missed subtitles though, as some characters speak more clearly than others.

All in all, I'm glad I gave this game a chance, even if I was 10 or so years late. The characters have a certain undeniable charm (particularly Tron and the servbots) that I couldn't help but enjoy. The game is far from perfect and isn't nearly as classic as the original Mega Man games, but it was trying something different, which sometimes deserves credit even when it doesn't quite get it right. Does this mean I'll be playing Mega Man Legends 2? To quote the servbots, "Roger!"

(Also, can you believe I found a sealed copy of this game this many years later? Already owning a copy, I gave the sealed copy to a friend who recalled enjoying the game when he was younger but never beating it. I'm pretty sure he enjoyed this belated Christmas gift.)