The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

I’ve not been shy in talking about how much I love “childish done seriously.” (References: This one, and that one, and that one…) It is the sort of idea that I cannot get enough of, and it’s just one of the many reasons I love the ever-loving crap out of Klonoa.

The visuals in Klonoa are amazingly cute. Klonoa himself is visually appealing, and the main enemy type, the Mu, are completely huggable in their appearance. The cute is only additionally sealed in with the Phanomilian gibberish that everyone in the game speaks. (Though the remake has a dubbed option. I think it’s probably a good move to have one, because it’s more family-friendly that way, but I thank gods that they left in the original voice option, because I don’t think I could stand it otherwise.) The dialog itself is simple and childishly written. The game, from top to bottom, screams children’s game at a glance.

However, anyone who’s played it knows that it is not. It’s easy enough to be played by kids, sure, but the game is very serious and certainly not childish. The plot, while not the most amazing thing in the world, does get quite dark. There are deaths. There are bittersweet endings. Things don’t work out perfectly. These are not things you expect to see in a children’s game. Add to that the incredibly polished mechanics. They’re simple enough that anyone can grasp them, but they are shined to a very adult perfection. Until you play the game a few times, it may not occur to you just how perfect the control you have over Klonoa’s little struggle-in-the-air hover is, for example. You can drop it at any time, though if you hold it the whole time you get extra height. It can save you from a badly-calculated jump, or it can be used to hop off a platform and then back on to get a difficult item pickup, and other advanced maneuvers. It responds perfectly in all situations. It’s not an animation you get stuck in, like it might be in other games. It’s a very solid mechanic.

So yes, Klonoa is that excellent blend of childish feel with serious, adult considerations. It’s rare that a game hits that so perfectly. It’s rare for anything to hit it so perfectly. Klonoa does. Oh yes, it does. And I love it to death for it.