Game: Marsupilami Hoobadventure
Format: Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, PC
Genre: Adventure
Release: Out Now
There’s nothing we love more than a good adventure platformer and one of the year’s best has snuck out just in time for Christmas. It’s not a remake or a sequel either, but a brand-new experience starring the kind of hero we know all too well here in Australia. A marsupial! Although it’s a different type of Marsupial to any we have seen before in the real world. Just look at their long tails!
Oh, and there’s three of them, which you can switch between!
The setting is the mythical, tropical land of Palombia. Our three Marsupilami heroes – called Punch, Twister and Hope – are happily living the good life when things go bad. They find an ancient sarcophagus lying on the beach and when they open it, a strange ghost emerges. This curses all the animals in Palombia except the Marsupilami. As such, your mission is to explore the land, find the ghost and reverse the curse.
It’s the kind of classic story we’re used to seeing in the 2.5D platformer, and even adventure, genre. And indeed, Marsupilami Hoobadventure has the same kind of cheerful characters, colours and vibe of hits like Super Mario, Banjo-Kazooie, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger and Yoola-Laylee. If you like those kinds of games, you’ll fall in love with the look of the Marsupilami straight away.
The gameplay also recalls classic of the genre. You’ll be jumping your way across platforms and through obstacle filled levels looking for collectables and fighting off bad guys. All the classic moves are here, such as doing ground stomps, wall jumps and dash rolls (think Sonic). The Marsupilami also have these long tails that can be used to grapple anchor points in the world to reach higher locations.
The level design reminds us quite a bit of Sonic the Hedgehog. Perhaps that is because you use your dash roll a lot of the time. But you can expect a lot of varied environments across the three different worlds you explore. Think jungles, abandoned temples, coastal cities – that kind of thing. Each section is packed with lots to see and quirky critters to get past. You’ll also come across bigger boss battles, too.
There’s no multiplayer mode in this one; it’s all about the story adventure. However, there is a time attack mode that you can jump into to see if you can speed run any of the levels quicker than your friends. Plus, if you collect all the feathers and find all the hidden dojos, you can unlock some bonus goodies. This includes secret levels.
It hasn’t been the strongest of years for platformers, so it’s nice to see something perfect for kids land just in time for Christmas. If you’re up for an animal adventure, give it a go.
Did You Know
While the name Marsupilami doesn’t mean too much in Australia, over in Europe – especially in Belgium – it’s a big deal. Marsupilami started as a comic way back in the 1950s and become very popular. It’s been turned into various cartoon TV shows and even a movie since then. It even became a video game once before way back on the Sega Mega Drive. If you fall in love with this game, maybe you can see if you can find the original comic or the TV show somewhere online?
