If you think Nintendo is just an assembly line of Mario, Zelda and Pokémon, you’re probably missing some of their most interesting games. Take Ketzal’s Corridors, for example, an excellent new puzzle game from Nintendo and developer Keys Factory. It’s available for download on the Nintendo 3DS’ eShop.
Ketzal’s Corridors is the kind of game people who care about games would say they want. It plays like nothing else out there right now. It feels fresh and original. It’s based on a simple, pure game design idea: rotating puzzle pieces to pass them through holes in walls. It adds wonderful complexity with a combo and trick system. The game isn’t connected to the easy hooks of famous characters. On top of all that, it’s fairly cheap ($US7), stuffed with levels and modes. (Watch the video up top for a walkthrough of Ketzal’s basics.)
Ketzal’s isn’t actually brand-new. It’s the spiritual successor/re-skinning of the developers’ WiiWare game ThruSpace. But I’d bet that very few people ever even heard of that. It’s fine if they didn’t, because the game here is better. It’s what you’d want from a new downloadable game, I think, and it’s the answer to any accusations that Nintendo is just interested in getting plump making sequels to established series.
Some people think of Nintendo as the company of big franchises, obvious sequels and Miis. Pay close enough attention, though, and you’ll discover a Pushmo (arguably the best game on the 3DS), a Rhythm Heaven Fever and a Ketzal’s Corridors. Can’t knock them for that.
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