Cloudberry Kingdom is a new
platformer from Pwnee Studios. The game launched on August 1st for
the Wii U. The game has also since been released on the Xbox Live Arcade,
Playstation Store, and Steam. The game is currently being worked on for release
on the Vita, Mac OS, and Linux (slated for a Fall 2013 release). The game has
the feel of a cheap flash game, however, after playing the game for an extended
period of time, both the aesthetics and gameplay feel appropriate. The cheap
feel fades as time is spent and the player realizes the potential of the game’s
vast customization.
Aesthetics:
Cloudberry Kingdom looks as though
it cut and pasted together out of bright construction paper, akin to the art
style of the popular show South Park. This is not a bad thing, however. The
game does not have bright and sharply defined visuals to the effect of Pikmin
or The Last of Us, but this does not stop the game from looking good. While the
art-style itself is fun to look at for a while, the style does begin to look
tired after hours of playing. Another issue arises when the player realizes
that every asset is recycled time and time again. This does not hurt the
gameplay, but the visuals begin to feel tired throughout the time spent
playing.
One cool factor which exists in the
game is the ability to totally customize the player character. Hats, cloths
color, cape color, facial hair, and cape color outline can all be tweaked to
the player’s specification. This option is available to every player when
playing multiplayer.
Story:
There is not much story to be had
in Cloudberry Kingdom. The main “story” of Cloudberry Kingdom has the player,
Bob, trying to rescue the princess from an evil captor. There is a campaign
which can be played. The campaign offers levels which gradually increase from
very easy, to blisteringly difficult.
Sound:
The music and sound effects are
very high quality and help to increase the tension the player experiences
throughout the game. The soundtrack is brilliant, and is something which I would
not mind listening to on my iPod or in the car.
Gameplay:
The gameplay takes place in a
series of procedurally generated, short levels. Every level is randomly generated,
ensuring that the player never experiences the same level twice. There are only a certain amount of obstacles
which comprise the danger in each of the levels. This does not mean that the
levels ever stop feeling varied, however. This is especially true as the difficulty
increases. In my case, at the very least, I became distracted by the sheer amount
of things trying to kill me on the screen.
One problem that I noticed during
the gameplay is that, as the levels get harder, the game almost turns into a
game of running. This means simply, that the game seems to get easier (as well
as the timing), if the player simply never stops running to the right.
The controls were very tight
throughout my experience playing the game. The player character controlled
better than Mario in the most recent 2D Mario games.
There is no variety in the ways to
play Cloudberry Kingdom. There is the Story mode, an Arcade mode, and a free
play mode:
Story:
This is exactly what you may
expect, as outlined above. Many linear levels that do not appear to be
randomized appear in this mode.
Arcade:
In the arcade mode, players
attempt to attain a high mode in different modes which test different skills as
different heroes are used. The heroes mentioned here are simply different
abilities being utilized by Bob. These range from Double jump, jet-pack Bob,
and many others. These add many types of playability and test different skills
of the player.
Free Play:
The player is free to have total
control over difficulty and play with their friends without needing to try to
win a high score.
Overall:
Cloudberry
Kingdom is a delightful platformer which tests both the skill and patience of
the players. The game plays in a very tight manner, which allows the player to
understand that the fault is theirs when they lose. The music and limited aesthetics
lend to a pleasant experience within the game.
I would recommend this
game to anyone who is a fan of the platforming genre. This is especially true for people who enjoy the difficulty of games
such as VVVVV and Super Meat Boy
___________________________
Wii U, PS3, Xbox 360, Steam
$10.00
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