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Platform-Hopping With Space Chimps
Posted by Leigh Alexander at 8:20 AM on June 25, 2008
I often hear longtime platformer fans complain they don't make 'em like they used to, and bemoan the perceived "selling out" of their favourite mascot franchises, when all they want is the great gap-skipping of old that they remember from their younger days.
Most of us were kids during the 3D platformer heyday. So maybe, though, just maybe, if any of those games were to be released today, we'd say they looked like children's games. Brash Entertainment's upcoming Space Chimps film tie-in platformer is a kids' game, and giving it a whirl today was what made me think about days of yore.
It doesn't look too fancy, and it's aimed to be friendly to the younger set. But it sure took me back a bit, which was a surprisingly fun experience.
Space Chimps is hitting Xbox 360, Wii, DS and PS2 on July 15th, just a bit ahead of the film. I was only vaguely aware there was a film - it's summertime, after all, and between Kung-Fu Panda and Wall-E, I asked the rep if Brash was a little bit concerned about the release timing. Why not wait until there's a bit more of a lull in the mascot-led, kid-friendly animated flicks?
"I do think with school out, we'll be in good shape", she told me.
The game's based on the upcoming film, and features animated cutscenes from it, which looked adorable on the Xbox 360. The basic premise is that a pair of NASA chimps, descendants of the very first space monkeys, find themselves on an alien planet, tasked with rescuing its citizens from the rule of an evil overworld.
The Space Chimps game lets you play as either Ham the Third, the male monkey, or Luna, his female cohort, depending on what sequence you're playing through. Ham can brawl and do a sort of diving headbutt, while Luna soon picks up a little lizard buddy (exclusive to the game) who can ride on her sleeve and act as a first-person gun. There are also little exploding red dudes called Plodeys that you can pick up to hurl at walls to open new doors and solve puzzles.
After clearing an area with Ham, by beating up some spear-toting hostile aliens and opening my way forward with a Plodey, I got to navigate Luna through a cavern of rivers and floes. Leaping on chunks of stone as they fell down a waterfall (that was either hot, or poisonous, or just generally hazardous enough to induce death) reminded me of the simplicity of the early 3D platformers - and the frustration, too, which was not necessarily a bad thing.
With Luna, I knocked off the head of a statue and carried it to a button, which would keep the platform I needed from sinking. The whole works was old-school, and nothing real snazzy to look at, but the chimps look cute, the film looks like it could be lots of fun, to the extent that those character flicks always do, and I was surprised at how long I spent playing it.
Maybe I miss my roots? What do you guys think - do you miss the old 3D platformers? Think your current age has anything to do with it? Would you play a "kids' game" if it reminded you of what you used to enjoy?
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
Ben Abraham
Posted July 1, 2008 5:00 PM
Pity there was no mention that this game is Australian Developed...
Jagzthebest
Posted 8:56 AM 25/6/08
Long as I got my 'lil Ratchet and my 'lil clank, I'm good.
Jagzthebest
Krondonian
Posted 8:49 AM 25/6/08
@excel_excel: Ah, I'd love to if it wasn't for a lack of Wii.
I'd forgotten they were all Rare games, and no matter what anyone says, I still maintain that Donkey Kong 64 was a masterpiece. As for 2D platforming, the PC has loads of great indie titles, with Mr Nifflas' [nifflas.ni2.se] chief among them.
3D however isn't so well represented these days.
Krondonian
excel_excel
Posted 8:42 AM 25/6/08
@Krondonian: You mean Rare just plain don't make platformers anymore *sigh* heres hoping Banjo 360 will be great!
Give Galaxy a try though, that game is loaded with Nintendo magic
excel_excel
PissedPS3Fan
Posted 8:40 AM 25/6/08
@Cloral: Yeah, same here. I was actually in college during the 3D platformer heydey.
Also, nothing says "Cash Grab!" like "...is hitting Xbox 360, Wii, DS and PS2".
Sometimes it feels like the only reason that the 360 has the largest current-gen game library is because it gets all the shovelware ports from the "lesser" systems.
You want me to take your game seriously? Release it on the PS3 and 360 concurrently.
PissedPS3Fan
gaijira
Posted 8:40 AM 25/6/08
@Cloral: Yeah me too...considering the 3D platformer 'heyday' would be considered by many to be 1996 when Super Mario 64 came out, that's not that long ago.
Leigh, are you sure you didn't mean "old 2D platformers"?
gaijira
Krondonian
Posted 8:33 AM 25/6/08
For me the days of the N64 can't be rivaled for platforming. Super Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie/Tooie, Donkey Kong 64, Conkers Bad Fur Day..and more I can't remember. I do agree they don't make them like they used to though. Playing SM64 on an emulator only served to prove how great that game was to me.
I haven't had the chance to check out Galaxy yet, so remain optimistic. I may pick this up for the PS2 if it turns out to be simple, solid platforming. Gotta love platforming.
Krondonian
etchasketchist
Posted 8:30 AM 25/6/08
The only thing better than leaping on chunks of stone as they fall down a waterfall is leaping on logs as they fall down a waterfall. Bridges that collapse if you stand still too long are awesome too.
etchasketchist
dunetiger reads kotaku, seems pleased
Posted 8:30 AM 25/6/08
I think it's mostly 'cause 2D platforming doesn't quite translate to 3D platforming. I HATE 3D jumping puzzles. Maybe it's a response thing, and yeah, there are some decent 3D platformers out there, but there's a huge difference between going balls-out through a 2D scrollscape as fast as you possibly can and adjusting the camera so that when you hit the jump button, your guy is aiming the right way so you don't fall off the side of whatever your target is.
dunetiger reads kotaku, seems pleased
Kaizuden
Posted 8:30 AM 25/6/08
. . . I think I'll still wait up for Fez, since this being a kids game will have me not think so much of dem smart things.
Kaizuden
Zerozaki Ishiki
Posted 8:29 AM 25/6/08
I miss 2D platformers. I've certainly played some good 3D platformers, but I've yet to be convinced they do anything but add an unnecessary layer of extra frustration.
Zerozaki Ishiki
Cloral
Posted 8:28 AM 25/6/08
"Most of us were kids during the 3D platformer heyday."
Wow I feel old. 2D platformers were the vogue when I was a kid.
Cloral
HikariOblivion
Posted 8:25 AM 25/6/08
yaay lizard-guns!
HikariOblivion
Leigh Alexander
Posted 9:30 AM 25/6/08
@gaijira: I was 14 in 1996. That's not a kid?
Leigh Alexander
Krondonian
Posted 9:21 AM 25/6/08
@Kazzahdrane: Oh, from everything I've heard, I know I'll love Galaxy. Still can't afford myself a Wii yet though.
@Jagzthebest: I never classed R&C as a Platformer, more of a 3rd person shooter with some jumping. Last gen didn't really see much in the way of great platformers, I thought.
Loved Sunshine though. Thinking about it, I just love Nintendo platformers.
Krondonian
Kazzahdrane
Posted 9:07 AM 25/6/08
@Krondonian: Grab Galaxy. If you love SM64 I guarantee you'll at least really like Galaxy. Fantastic game, and it's actually for the most part stunning to look at too - a nice treat for the Wii!
Kazzahdrane
Jonaconda
Posted 10:26 AM 25/6/08
DK64 had some great graphics in its day, but the mere recollection of all the crap you had to collect in that game just gave me the chills.
I was also 14 in '96, and looking back, I think between the 64's platformer arms race to see which game could have you collect the most random objects and Final Fantasy 7 taking the RPG -- with its genre-inherent secret weapons and monsters -- the strategy guide went from being a cool gift from your cheap aunt or uncle to accompany the game your parents bought to virtually essential to playing a videogame.
That's my conspiracy theory for the day.
Jonaconda
gaijira
Posted 10:02 AM 25/6/08
@Leigh Alexander: Yep 14 is a kid, I was just kinda hoping it was a typo. *Sigh* I'll just go mix up some Metamucil and flip on the ol' NPR now...get off my lawn etc...
gaijira
Willy105
Posted 10:58 AM 25/6/08
@Krondonian: I love SA2 as well, a big improvement from SA1. I'm surprised Sonic Team didn't use the same game engine for later games.
Willy105
Willy105
Posted 10:56 AM 25/6/08
That movie looks awful.
But Wall-E is going to be the best reviewed movie of the year, just like Ratatooie (nobody can pronounce it), the previous Pixar film.
It's not going to win Best Picture, because the Acadamy Awards are biased, but it will still be #1.
On another note, the game should be decent.
Willy105
Krondonian
Posted 10:55 AM 25/6/08
@Jonaconda: I've found that the general attitude towards Sunshine ranges from 'good' to 'so bad it's like Miyamoto pissed on Mario and every Nintendo fanboy ever'.
Well, not quite, but you're certainly not alone in not liking it. As for me, I love it...even Pinna Park's ferris wheel.
@kidnicky: When anyone says Sonic has never worked in 3D, I always feel the need to slap them with my copy of Sonic Adventure 2. My oh my I love that game.
Krondonian
Jonaconda
Posted 10:49 AM 25/6/08
For whatever reason, Sunshine was like my videogame equivalent of that book everyone tells you is great, but you can't seem to get past a couple chapters.
Maybe it was the tropical setting?
Jonaconda
kidnicky
Posted 10:37 AM 25/6/08
Mario Galaxy and Sonic Adventure 2 were the only 3D platformers I ever really liked,since they were the only ones I remember where you play as the hero more often than you play as the cameraman. The parts in Sonic Adventure 1 where you,you know,were actually playing a game were OK,but they were pretty few and far between.
And I was a kid during 2D platformers' heyday.
kidnicky
Wolfers
Posted 10:35 AM 25/6/08
For every 3D platformer with a good camera, there's one like Mario Sunshine's that drove me right up the wall at a few spots. Pinna Park, climbing up to the ferris wheel, anyone? That was absolute garbage, but it was still a great game. The original Spyro the Dragon continues to be my gold standard for 3D platformers. Everything seems to work in that game. As for this Chimp game, we'll see. Its console selection screams 'kid-targeted shovelware', but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.
Wolfers
CockroachMan
Posted 10:34 AM 25/6/08
If there's one thing that I learned this year.. is that a game coming to that many consoles can't be good :P
CockroachMan
Jonaconda
Posted 11:29 AM 25/6/08
I don't think it was that I disliked the game, as much as it was the timing. Sunshine arrived during my first summer back from college, and the Smash Bros. bug hit my frathouse with hurricane force.
To this day, it never fails to make me laugh how a seemingly innocent game featuring cartoon mascots trying to knock each other off a platform inspired utterly depraved behavior -- marathon drinking sprees, adopting Skoal smokeless tobacco because it was inconvenient to smoke and game simultaneously, and bouts of swearing that crossed all gender, racial, ethnic, and sexually orientated lines.
...I'm still waiting for Doc Brown and Marty McFly to show up and take me back to those glory days.
Jonaconda
okenny :)
Posted 11:19 AM 25/6/08
@PissedPS3Fan:
oh NO!... not PS3... who did "(Dollar) Bill M$ (Water) Gates" threathen with cash money this time?!! Oh I hate you M$!!! Lz. Oz. Lz.
zzzzzzzzhhehehehahahahhohohoho RROD!
....
I think I actually need a shower now.
okenny :)
TysonBabaloo
Posted 11:17 AM 25/6/08
(meant to also say, that i still dig a fun game play experience every once in a while--somtehing that i can dive in and play, without getting all intense...--i'm with Leigh on this.)
and she's hot.
TysonBabaloo
TysonBabaloo
Posted 11:16 AM 25/6/08
@Cloral: "nothing says "Cash Grab!" like hitting Xbox 360, Wii, DS and PS2...You want me to take your game seriously? Release it on the PS3 and 360 concurrently."
Leigh made it pretty clear that this game is focused on the kids--most 8-12 year olds these days are probably playing Wii, DS, and PS2--I'm thinking they are lucky if they have a 360, and that PS3 was probably priced to high for parents to justify--unless they are gamers themselves. Sony themselves will tell you that right now the PS3 is a high end gamer platform focused primarily on hardcore gamers--adult males 18-35 who have disposable income and are interested in building out their entertainment systems and are therefore interested in a machine that offers features such as Blu-Ray.
TysonBabaloo
Biscuitcleaver
Posted 12:23 PM 25/6/08
...and for the real story on how apes were shot into space - I read the graphic novel 'first in space' by James Vining available from Oni Press.
Biscuitcleaver
Kyouryuu
Posted 12:44 PM 25/6/08
Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys: The Next Generation.
Kyouryuu
tk.
Posted 3:11 PM 25/6/08
Every damn time I see those words, it makes me smile.
"Space Chimps"
Heh.
tk.
DARTH_TIGRIS
Posted 3:19 PM 25/6/08
Platformers are my favorite genre. Still. But I don't play them much because its been relegated to "kid's game" status by publishers and thus its rare to see a AAA one.
Still, when picking up titles for $5 at a Blockbuster sale like Blinx 2 and Crash: Twinsanity for my nephews to play when they visited, I found myself oddly enjoying them in a sense.
Yeah, Leigh. I miss'em...
DARTH_TIGRIS
Crawl to China
Posted 11:14 PM 25/6/08
curse those evil overworlds
Crawl to China
mariospants
Posted 2:26 AM 26/6/08
Screenshots or it didn't happen...
mariospants
equalsP
Posted 10:41 AM 25/6/08
What?!? No one is reminiscing about Crash Bandicoot. That was one of the first games I actually bet because it was so much fun, and such a simple concept. I remember in the 3rd one going back and getting all the gems and crystals so I could get the secret world with the secret levels ...
Good Platformers are games that I can always go back to and play a hundred times over, unlike good other games. I few that I can think are Crash, Spyro, Ape Escape ... and yes I'm a Sony kid, so sue me.
Hell I would love to get my hands on a new platformer. Say like Crash for PS3 or a new Spyro, but most of the platformers today don't seem to have anything past name recognition to get it out the door and into your hands.
equalsP