![]() Our heroic paramilitary pachyderm drops down into each new level with a satisfying thud and a triumphant trumpeting of his trunk, signaling the start of some wanton environmental destruction. Slicker than the average elephant and twice as dainty, Tembo is indeed one badass platformer for fans of the genre who are a bit bored of guiding dead boys around purgatory or whatever the fuck passes for fun these days.Right from the jump, Tembo exudes an airy, Saturday-morning-cartoon vibe. ![]() Not for you if you don't like platforming games.May seem a bit short and lacking in variation.Polished gameplay that doesn't overstay its welcome.A sequel could add more nonsense later on but as debut, Tembo does everything I need it to. Some might say that Tembo could use a bit more variation and maybe more levels, but as a fan of cutting out the bullshit, I’m very pleased with what SEGA have put out here. Retro-styled gameplay usually comes with retro-styled graphics but Tembo combines really well drawn and animated sprites with 3D backdrops that are a lot more polished than the usual 2D indie platformers (about feelings) that we are so used to getting. There’s not too many levels, an abundance of moves, or much plot to get through. Indeed, for a game about an elephant, there’s very little fat here. Any veteran of the 16-bit era will recall how every platformer had underwater levels and slippy-slidey ice levels, but Tembo sticks to its core gameplay instead and I quite like that. ![]() This is good in one way as it means the difficulty curve isn’t skewed by a need to constantly evolve the action. I’m not always a big fan of having to replay levels (I found it particularly offensive in Aces of the Luftwaffe recently) but with short levels like this it works quite well and encourages a bit of exploration.Īside from a few boss battles to break up the action, there’s not a huge amount of variation here. Progress is quite straightforward and the levels aren’t too difficult to navigate through, although the challenge does build steadily, but to unlock later levels you do need to have collected enough dead enemies, which means that there is a reliance on replaying levels, especially if you want to unlock all the game’s trophies. I like my games like I my women – linear and short-lived – and in this respect Tembo is quite refreshing. There is a little bit of up and down movement, but with nice short levels, and a minimal amount of backtracking, this isn’t a Metroidvania-type sprawler either. Generally, you are always headed from left to right. Thankfully, the game doesn’t introduce new moves or elements like games are so fond of doing these days, so Tembo feels immediate rather than having its first few levels act as a glorified tutorial. You can run, jump, uppercut, divebomb, and spray water from your trunk. ![]() And in this new age of 2D platforming games (because retro-styled games are popular and cheap to make) you don’t expect games quite this well put-together.Īs Tembo, an elephant that works for the army, you are tasked with ramming and rushing your way through several short(ish) levels looking for enemies to kill, peanuts to collect, and captives to rescue and, as an elephant, you haven’t got too many moves at your disposal. SEGA have a little bit of heritage when it comes to making fast-moving platformers featuring traditionally slow animals, but when you first see Tembo, the titular star of Tembo the Badass Elephant, you don’t expect the grace with which he moves. PlayStation 4 (reviewed), Xbox One, Windows PC ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |