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THQ and Nickelodeon’s brain child returns for a second spin. For those not in the know, Tak and the Power of Juju was a joint venture between THQ and Nickelodeon where THQ would be responsible for developing the games and Nick would follow with an animated series or something along those lines. The game was overall seen as a pretty solid platformer, but it didn’t do anything particularly different to make gamers notice. Tak 2 tries to differentiate itself with some seriously laugh out loud humor, which works out very well for the game.
In the game, you control Tak as he goes in adventure that he originally saw in a dream. In order to do so, Tak requires the assistance of colorfully-named characters like Jibolba, Tak’s mentor, and Lok, Tak’s friend who goes along for the ride. Overall, the plot isn’t particularly interesting (this is a kid’s game after all) but full of clever writing which offers multiple seriously laugh-out-loud moments.
While Tak 2 is still a platformer and there are still an insane number of collectibles in the game – everything from stones to fruits – and of course, there’s a good bit of jumping, puzzles and simple combat. The puzzles are made a bit more interesting as they use Tak’s abilities to turn into many creatures including a flea, frog, bore and others. These transformations give Tak special abilities which are helpful in going around the game but particularly useful in completing puzzles required by the game. For example, as a frog you’ll be able to swim in otherwise perilous areas, or as a bore you’ll get a speed boast and be able to smash through things.
Aside from the linear single player game, which will offer a good thirteen or so hours of gameplay, the developers at Avalanche included a number of minigames to round off the package. These “head to head multiplayer” two-player (or single-player) minigames are quite decent and you’ll find a pretty deep snowboarding game with a well-adjusted trick system and an airborne shooter of sorts. Additionally, collecting the items I mentioned above rewards you with a wealth of secrets like the mentioned minigames but simpler things like new costumes and images.
The game’s graphics are impressive. Technically speaking, Tak 2 isn’t going to win any awards since the environments are a bit angular, the character models are incredibly disproportioned, and the frame-rate stutters on occasion. Despite this, the game looks good thanks to its pretty darn unique visual style which manage to add new life into standard platform levels like the forest and desert. The dream world in particularly is a sight to behold and truly convinces you that you’re wandering around in a dream world.
The game’s methodical background music is fitting for the Tak world, although nothing particularly exciting. The sound effects are in a similar cup of tea; not bad but nothing that will surprise you. Thankfully, the very strong voice acting brings the audio component way up thanks to seriously funny dialogue voiced by believable actors. Even the nonhuman characters have their own strange voice acting which is fitting and adds to the dreamy atmosphere.
While the gameplay in Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams isn’t that original, Avalanche succeeds at making you care for the characters because of their distinctive personality, which shines through the story. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Oct 25, 2004
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