Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember)

[A Black Falcon]

Wii
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Klonoa - Playing MM9 again also got me to go back and finish this other Wii sidescroller I have. I'd stopped right near the end of the game, in the last level before the final boss. Up to that point the game had mostly been quite easy, but that level was a bit harder and then I got distracted by other games (and didn't play the Wii for a while). I finished the game in a few hours, and it was fun to finally play some Klonoa that actually challenged me some. Most of the game really is quite easy, it only gets harder right near the end. I found the level I'd been stuck on easier than I remember (finally managed to get past those stupid small platforms without falling in the pits), though it was something of a challenge. The final boss after that took a few tries, but I got him after a few tries. I watched the ending; I'd heard the basics of what happens years ago (that'd have been pretty surprising otherwise!), but I didn't know the exact details. It was interesting, and not the ending I'd expect from what is really a kids' game...

Then I decided to collect all of the pieces to get 100% in the game. There are six items hidden in each level, and the game remembers which ones you've gotten so you don't have to re-find ones you already have. I got the vast majority of the game's ~70 things in my first try -- I was at 65/70 when I beat the final boss. Three of the five I was missing were from one stage where I didn't realize you could throw items at flowers in the foreground or background that have items in them. That one was a little frustrating and I had to replay it a few times before I finally realized my mistake, but once I did that and then found the other two I'd missed (they aren't too hard to find, mostly), I unlocked... the bonus level.

Now, the bonus level is hard. It's very difficult, technical, and requires absolute precision as you travel across giant pits of lava by grabbing onto strings of enemies and tossing yourself from one to the other with Klonoa's core item, the grab weapon. It gives you a lot of extra lives, but even so it's really hard and beating this took a while. I thought I'd have to give up and try again the next day, but finally I managed to beat it, just barely... I think I was down to one life remaining when I won, so it was a very close thing. That was a pretty cool level, though. It was great to finally see a challenging level in this game, it's quite good but mostly so simple. I'd like to try more like it. :)

Overall, Klonoa's Wii remake is pretty good. The graphics are great. The game really looks very nice, and technically and artistically this is a quite good looking game. The story's formulaic, but good enough. The music is pretty good as well. The level designs, easy or hard, are quite good and all levels are quite well designed. The game has a good amount of variety in its settings, level designs, and areas, and there are secrets, though I found it a bit too easy to find almost all of them on my first times through the levels. The game's biggest flaw, probably, though, is that it's short. This game only took me so long because I stopped playing it; had I played it through I'd have been done with Klonoa pretty quickly. There aren't that many stages, just 12 (with a boss every other level) and then the final boss. The levels are good sized, but not incredibly large, and as I've said the difficulty level isn't too high. As a result the game just won't take long to finish.

Still though, it's a lot of fun while it lasts, looks great, and plays very well, so overall I liked Klonoa a lot. I do also have Klonoa 2 for PS2, got it before Klonoa 1 Wii in fact, but I stopped playing just a couple of levels in. I remember not exactly being impressed by the graphics, and I kind of wanted to play the first game first as well. I should try it again now. I haven't played the GBA games, though, I'd like to if I can find them.