THQ has teamed up with Nickelodeon to bring us Tak 2, The Staff Of Dreams. Now before you groan about the fact that this is a sequel, or based on intellectual property which is made to sell kids toys, give the game a go – I was pleasantly surprised and discovered a great game for kids and grown ups alike. It’s got all the fun stuff that kids love doing, such as running, double jumping, floating, and of course fighting, as well as some very clever puzzles to solve which may stump even the brightest “kid”, but with perseverance and correct timing, can be solved.
The original Tak was never made available for Xbox, so I don’t really know the back story, but from what I can gather Tak is a “chosen one” type warrior of the Papanunu tribe, and he and his friends saved a Moon Goddess’ stones from the evil Tlaloc in the previous game. In this adventure, Tak starts off in the Dreamworld, and he’s asked by a Dream JuJu (JuJu’s are the gods of this world) to rescue a princess who’s locked in a distant and dark tower. Clichéd it may be, but it sets up the other game world action nicely, as you journey through the “real world” in order to see your shaman friend Jilboba’s brother, known as JB (gedit? Jilboba’s Brother… JB).
The Dreamworld is brightly coloured, and kind of soft and spongy. As you jump and glide through the world, you make plopping noises every time you land on a surface. It’s filled will all manner of nightmare creatures, but the JuJu, the mystical floating star thing guides you through the world, telling you how to combat the monsters. At the end of every dreamworld level there is usually some kind of boss that is easy enough to dispatch with your staff and bolas. But as well as find the princess, you have to figure out who or what the JuJu is and why they’re being so helpful.
The “Real World” is much like what you’ve seen in the updated version of Pitfall – lush green forest environments with streams and hazardous cliffs. The fauna residents of the real world, ranging from bears to skunks to boars and crocodiles all have a part to play in getting you to your goal, whether that is to help or hinder you. Tak is well equipped to fight with his staff and bola and JuJu magic. But in spots of real bother Jilboba’s flea form can help by throwing him at animals and either biting them to get them to do some action, or put them to sleep so they no longer bother you. In addition to fighting or avoiding animals, there are some puzzles that you have to solve with each type of animal. For example, with a bear, you’ve got to lead it to honey so you can use his belly as a trampoline.
On top of the animals are you’ve also got to deal with the evil inhabitants of the forests that the Papanunu people call home – the Woodies. These inhabitants will try to stop you from getting to JB’s by setting nefarious puzzle traps that you have to solve, as well as simply just pummel you. There are various types of Woody, from the foot soldiers that are easy to dispatch, to the Shaman that can bring other Woodies back to life, and the brutish soldiers wielding massive clubs.
The levels are varied enough to keep even the most ADD stricken child entertained, ranging from simple platform jumping and problem solving, to sailing down rivers in barrels. There’s even a nod to Donkey Kong as you have to avoid falling barrels in one section. To add spice to the game, some arena and vehicle scenarios have been thrown in. The arena combat is simple enough, but the vehicle combat involves doing jumps at speed, shooting and avoiding enemy fire all at once and is quite challenging. There are some rather nefarious puzzles that will tax your brain more so than other platform games, but it’s never too hard, keeping you hooked with a desire to beat the game just that little bit more.
Like most platformers, there is a stack of things to collect, and these can be used in the pause menu to unlock various minigames, which can be played one or two player, extending the fun after the fairly lengthy single player levels have been completed. To unlock the various minigames, you collect magic gold scrolls on your journey through both the Dream and Real worlds, plus you can simply mix ingredients and hope for the best.
The characters in Tak 2 are all very colourful and cartoony, and the levels are bright an expansive, although they’re very linear as like most other platform games there’s only one real path to completing your goals. The Xbox isn’t pushed to its limits with regards to the graphics, and at times it’s mutliplatform heritage does shine through, but it’s never glaringly ugly. There are issues with the camera not being able to show you what you need to see at times, although these are encountered with any platform game, so can be overlooked.
The music in the game is all original, and suits the action well, although it’s no where near the quality of Voodoo Vince for instance. The voice acting is superb however. One of the coolest things about Tak2 is its humour. Patrick Warburton (Seinfield, the Dish) wonderfully portrays Tak’s half-witted friend Lok, and the scenes with Lok are absolutely hilarious. There’s all manner of wacky silliness going on throughout the whole game, but it never devolves into being too childish or demeaning. Even such an obvious joke with the bad guys being called “Woodies” is not acted upon, and this restraint is refreshing as it shows the designers are aware that penis puns aren’t the only things that make people laugh.
The game is unapologetically aimed at kids, and some may find the hand holding a little tedious earlier in the game, but it does drop off towards the later stages. However, despite the handholding, there is something wrong in that the game doesn’t save at checkpoints or anything, so if you forget to save and then quite your game, you will lose all your progress! This oversight can lead to frustration if the game isn’t saved often.
Conclusion
All in all Tak2: Staff of Dreams is an enjoyable romp through a bright and colourful world with some really likable characters and enough variance in the gameplay to keep you playing for a good few days. It stands above the other platform based games by refusing to bow to the lowest common denominator – sure it’s made for kids, but the puzzles and levels are designed to give a challenge. Through the humour you grow to like the characters, and because of this the game feels a lot more solid than other titles aimed at the younger market.
Pros
– Funny and well conceived characters and game universe
– Challenging and varied gameplay to suit children and adults alike
– Lots of unlockables for multiplayer
Cons
– Doesn’t automatically save your progress
– Can have camera issues
– Handholding is a little too much in earlier levels
80/100