Help, 2022 is the year in which I already turn 36. For many people of my generation, a unique nostalgia comes from playing classic games from the late 90s or early 2000s. Game publishers have understood this all too well, so more and more games are being remade or remastered. Bandai Namco also digs into the past and single-handedly provides a back to the nineties party with the nostalgic revival of some old adventures.
In celebration of the series’ 25th anniversary, they bundle the 1997 PS1 game Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and its 2001 PS2 sequel Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil together for the first time under the name Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series, while with Re-Pac also throwing a new lick of paint on the first Pac-Man World launched in 1999 on the PlayStation. I played all of these games when I was young and I was in the mood for a charming throwback to simpler times. There’s something uniquely familiar and comforting to me about games from this particular era, and it’s nice that Bandai Namco is making these classic games available again on modern hardware. I wondered if they hold up well.
Pac-Man World Re-Pac
For the younger readers among us, Pac-Man World was a semi-3D fixed-camera platformer that first debuted on the original PlayStation in 1999. Originally created to mark the 20th anniversary of the world’s famed arcade icon, celebrating, the game was meant to lead the yellow orb in a new direction. The game was a huge success that spawned several sequels, so it’s a pity that this is limited to Pacman’s first 3D foray instead of bundling all 3D adventures in one ultimate collection.
In Pac-Man’s first 3D adventure, his entire family is kidnapped ahead of his birthday party. The villain Toc-Man is behind it and it’s up to you to defeat this evil robot version of Pac-Man and free your relatives along the way. Aside from the absence of Ms. Pac-Man (replaced here by Pac-Mom for licensing reasons), obviously the same story is told through newly directed cutscenes. In any case, Re-Pac mainly focuses on a visual overhaul and adding some modest quality-of-life improvements to the original PlayStation game. This is not a remake that has a fix for all the flaws that plagued the original game. For example, the ‘easy’ mode is a nice QoL addition for the youngest (as well as the less experienced) gamers in the family. You can then hang in the air a little longer while jumping and extra blocks are placed between platforms to prevent you from falling.
Unchanged from the original, you must traverse six worlds, collecting loads of fruit and power pellets along the way. Each world has a boss to defeat, but the main goal players must achieve along the way if they want to see the end of the game is to save your family. By discovering secret keys, Pac-Man can free his family from cells that are within certain levels. With the collected fruit, you can then open doors that give access to bonuses and secret levels modeled after the original maze structure of old-school Pac-Man. While the main goal is simply to make it to the end, each level is chock-full of collectathon extras (which also require some backtracking) to keep you entertained for a longer period of time. The platforming itself is pretty basic and simplistic, but feels good. Pac-Man has an assortment of skills, such as a ground pound and a dash move to climb steep slopes, which are supplemented by temporary powers you pick up along the way.
What struck me – now even more than before – was the creativity in the design of the levels and boss fights. Of course it contains almost all the clichés of a mascot platformer, but the cool design, the colorful graphics and vibrant music make it work. Pac-Man World Re-Pac has some great boss fights. Shooting pellets at enemy ships from a top-down perspective with arcade music in the background is a highlight. In another, the game very briefly turns into an enjoyable racing mini-game. I saw how my own brood now loved this as much as I did when I played this on that grey, angular PlayStation when I was about their age. The creativity of the team will always pleasantly surprise you.
There are several positives to the gameplay that keep it fresh more than 20 years later. The camera is fixed, so we don’t have to fight with a perspective that has too often ruined other platforms. The controls are not always great – partly because of that third dimension – so you regularly miss a jump, but I could still forgive that.
You’ll find the game’s audiovisual presentation to be the biggest overhaul, with graphics sharper and more vibrant in color this time around. Thanks to this clear graphic restyling, the differences with the 1999 title are easy to find. And so Pac-Man World Re-Pac was a successful dive into the past. Despite its simplicity and typical nineties gameplay, this is still an enjoyable platformer that can pleasantly surprise even players who have no nostalgia for this game.
Score: 7/10
Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series
The Klonoa games have always been cult classics, but they have remained relatively unknown over the years. By remastering both Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil, the Reverie series attempts to reintroduce this underappreciated mascot to a new audience.
As huge fans of the original releases, I was definitely looking forward to this re-release. Included are both the original game Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (in its later Wii release instead of the original PS1 version) and its sequel: Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil. More than twenty years have passed since they launched, but where early 3D platformers look very rough by today’s standards, these two have aged relatively gracefully. At a time when 3D technology was shaking up the platforming genre, Klonoa felt much more like an innovation on the side-scrolling classic 2D platformer. Unsurprisingly, some aspects of the Klonoa games are outdated. Still, Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil still hold up impressively.
Both titles constrain our movement as if it were a 2D sidescroller, with enemies, characters and environments rendered in 3D. Players control Klonoa as he runs, jumps and grabs enemies in two games spanning dozens of levels. Its main attack includes a magic ring that draws enemies towards it. Once caught, Klonoa can use them as a springboard to boost itself to high platforms or throw them like bullets at other enemies. With these simple game mechanics, the creators actually create a successful puzzle platformer, in which the player must learn to use the enemies in the area to their advantage in order to progress.
Both titles share a very similar progression in their difficulty curve. Although both the first game and the second start in a very easy way, the difficulty increases all the time. The increasingly complex challenge joins platforming sections that require more precision as levels progress. To overcome some of them, we must carefully observe the layout of the platforms, remember what interactions we can make with each creature, and put them into practice with skill and precision. Under the lovely appearance, there is a spicy game at times.
Despite the four years that passed between the release of the first and second, the differences between the two games in the Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series aren’t that great either. Apart from a handful of different enemies and some extra powers, Lunatea’s Veil is clearly a continuation of the “more of the same” principle. They both stand out for their excellent level design, something that has easily held up over the years.
Technically, the remasters are successful, although with some minor flaws. The increased resolution of the textures is clearly noticeable, while some backgrounds seem to benefit less from the visual facelift. The colors are brighter and the 60 fps make the game flow smoothly without any hesitation. On the other hand, the idea of adding two difficulty levels is a nice bonus for the youngest (or again less experienced) gamers in the family. From the start you can choose an Easy mode with infinite lives, increased hearts and less damage. The cooperative mode also seems to be specially made for the youngest audience. The co-op player takes on a supporting role to help the main player progress. Completing the games instead unlocks a more difficult mode for those who still want an extra challenge.
This collection mainly exists to experience Door to Phantomile and Lunatea’s Veil on more modern hardware. The lack of additional content is disappointing (especially as this game is coming out in celebration of its 25th anniversary), but you still get two classic, very charming, but too often forgotten platformers that are good for hours of fun! They are also very solid remasters that further emphasize the appeal of the vibrant colors and charming designs. Those who look back on Klonoa with nostalgia will love that both titles are available on today’s consoles, while others can still discover two cool platform games from the past this way.
Score: 7
