Back in 2020, Chibig launched Summer in Mara, a slice-of-life farm sim sport set in a tropical world and… nicely, for our cash, it actually wasn’t superb. It evidently offered nicely sufficient for Chibig to justify persevering with the IP, however relatively than make a sequel that constructed on the strengths and mounted the flaws of the unique, the studio determined to make the successor a 3D platformer in the vein of Super Mario 3D Land or Sackboy: A Big Adventure. Bizarre as the alternative could appear, it was clearly the proper one, as Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is a considerably higher sport than its predecessor and holds its personal as a strong 3D platformer.
The story begins someday after the occasions of Summer in Mara and facilities round a contest staged by a neighborhood band of pirates whereby opponents should overcome a collection of trials to change into an official pirate. Koa naturally enters the competitors, beginning off one other seafaring journey as she island-hops and collects maps on her climb to be the easiest. The narrative isn’t a lot to put in writing residence about, and it will possibly get awfully textual content heavy in some locations as you’re nagged by aspect characters grabbing Koa’s consideration, but it surely largely stays out of the manner.
Before coming into a stage, the world map is offered to you as a small ocean you possibly can traverse in Koa’s boat that’s vaguely reminiscent of the Great Sea from The Wind Waker. Islands and collectibles are scattered round this explorable area, and there’s even a cute treasure-hunting minigame that’s clearly impressed by the salvaging from Phantom Hourglass.
Each island is residence to 1 to a few ranges that take just a few minutes every to clear, presenting you with concise platforming gauntlets that don’t overstay their welcome and provide you with simply sufficient problem to maintain issues entertaining. Breezing by these is fairly straightforward by itself, however these searching for extra problem can decide to snag the hidden collectibles in every stage and race in opposition to the clock for a gold medal. Koa is fast and responds rapidly to controller inputs, and whereas she’s no Mario in phrases of her moveset or common athleticism, we had been nonetheless happy by how responsive the platforming controls felt.
For its presentation, Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara sticks to a simplistic and considerably drained artwork fashion, with the many nautical locales usually feeling like up-rezzed variations of one thing you may discover in a PS2 platformer. This isn’t essentially a nasty factor, although we want a extra bold, memorable visible fashion had been tried right here. Luckily, all of it unfolds at a silky clean and utterly strong 60 FPS, which works a good distance in direction of elevating the high quality really feel of the gameplay.
Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara isn’t precisely a daring reinvention of the 3D platformer, but it surely repeatedly proves that it’s bought it the place it counts. Smooth controls, first rate stage selection, and tons of collectibles all make this one a reasonably straightforward advice, even when it’s a little simplistic trying. If you are after 7-10 hours of strong, vibrant 3D platforming, we’d counsel giving this one a shot.
Discussion about this post