Chameleon Twist is a goofy, colorful 3D platformer that has you traversing stages using your stretchy chameleon tongue! You grab enemies, launch yourself across gaps, and swing around poles – it feels unique and satisfying. The level design is a bit simple, and the boss fights can be frustrating. But for a charming, lighthearted platforming adventure, Chameleon Twist is a fun and nostalgic ride.
While Chameleon Twist came out in America and Europe, I played a Japanese copy with an English translation patch. The western versions seem to be based on an earlier build, perhaps sent off to the localisation teams before the game was fully ready. The Japanese version has some more challenging rooms (for example, one room with lots of difficult platforms is just an empty room with collectables in the other versions), the multiplayer powerups added into the main game and some unlockable characters.
The story is pretty much non-existent. A regular chameleon sees the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland jumping into a pot and decides to follow, turning into the big headed thing in the game. From there, you go through the levels, killing everything in your path.
When you start the game, you’ll test out the moves. The tongue is very impressive as you can move it as it extends. I was expecting lots of puzzle use with it, but unfortunately the game isn’t very inventive.
The tongue is used for four moves. The first lets you swallow enemies to spit them out as bullets Then you can latch onto poles, from there, you can pull yourself towards it or spin around. Finally, you can push yourself upwards for a high jump that’s very awkward to use. You don’t gain any extra abilities and it doesn’t have the usage of Mario’s move set to keep itself interesting across the game.
Being able to move the tongue seems more like something added just to combat the terrible aiming in the game.
The biggest difficulty in Chameleon Twist is the camera. Moving it twists it in really strange ways and it’s very difficult to judge jumps and to target where you’re shooting. The game itself is quite simple – especially due to how few moves you have – although to get the boss rush mode, you have to find lots of the crowns hidden throughout the levels.
Chameleon Twist is a nice start for a game. The game needs a bit more variety and a much better camera – hopefully these are fixed in the sequel.
The story is pretty much non-existent. A regular chameleon sees the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland jumping into a pot and decides to follow, turning into the big headed thing in the game. From there, you go through the levels, killing everything in your path.
When you start the game, you’ll test out the moves. The tongue is very impressive as you can move it as it extends. I was expecting lots of puzzle use with it, but unfortunately the game isn’t very inventive.
The tongue is used for four moves. The first lets you swallow enemies to spit them out as bullets Then you can latch onto poles, from there, you can pull yourself towards it or spin around. Finally, you can push yourself upwards for a high jump that’s very awkward to use. You don’t gain any extra abilities and it doesn’t have the usage of Mario’s move set to keep itself interesting across the game.
Being able to move the tongue seems more like something added just to combat the terrible aiming in the game.
The biggest difficulty in Chameleon Twist is the camera. Moving it twists it in really strange ways and it’s very difficult to judge jumps and to target where you’re shooting. The game itself is quite simple – especially due to how few moves you have – although to get the boss rush mode, you have to find lots of the crowns hidden throughout the levels.
Chameleon Twist is a nice start for a game. The game needs a bit more variety and a much better camera – hopefully these are fixed in the sequel.
camera sucks dick, it's a really cool game besides that though :)
Chameleon Twist is a painfully fine game that has some neat ideas but doesn't go the full nine yards with it likely due to whatever budget the game had. It's a bit clunky, but its the "huh that's neat" kind of clunky where you can see what the devs were trying to cook with it.
Slurping up a bunch of enemies and spitting em out like a machine gun was really satisfying to pull off and I like how the levels were mostly designed in ways that force you to engage with enemies instead of just walking right by them. Bosses were eh, there were only like 2-3 notable ones that were cool. Presentation is fairly weak, music was alright.
The game ain't long, only 6 levels. It's over before you know it and you're kinda left with the feeling of "man, they had some neat ideas here, wish it could've been fully realized."
Overall Chameleon Twist isn't a waste of time. You can burn through it in less than an hour and it's got chill vibes. I recommend peeping it for that alone, its a fun little novelty and nothing more. Or you can speedrun it, that's fun too!
Slurping up a bunch of enemies and spitting em out like a machine gun was really satisfying to pull off and I like how the levels were mostly designed in ways that force you to engage with enemies instead of just walking right by them. Bosses were eh, there were only like 2-3 notable ones that were cool. Presentation is fairly weak, music was alright.
The game ain't long, only 6 levels. It's over before you know it and you're kinda left with the feeling of "man, they had some neat ideas here, wish it could've been fully realized."
Overall Chameleon Twist isn't a waste of time. You can burn through it in less than an hour and it's got chill vibes. I recommend peeping it for that alone, its a fun little novelty and nothing more. Or you can speedrun it, that's fun too!
This is one of the worst N64 games. Although the tongue mechanic was fun they never did anything interesting with it. Bad controls, even worse camera, super easy and super short.
this is always one of those “hidden gem” retro games, and I kinda see why. It’s a really short game. Like one hour long if this is your first time. But, it’s a solid and enjoyable 3D (puzzle?) platformer for the console. Definitely feels like an early n64 game, but I didn’t mind the time I had with the game. And usually I don’t like to bring up the length of games, but like come on 1 hour for a game is crazy. The tongue mechanic is cool though.
Very good game, pretty hard as a young child, will come back to it.
Love me some tongue action.
Levels are all fairly short, game is challenging enough and has a lot of cool mechanics you'll pick up on over it's 1-2 hour duration. It's a very good platformer and a must play N64 title for sure.
Levels are all fairly short, game is challenging enough and has a lot of cool mechanics you'll pick up on over it's 1-2 hour duration. It's a very good platformer and a must play N64 title for sure.
If you were underwhelmed with Chameleon Twist, I highly recommend checking out the Japanese version because it fixes so many of the worldwide version's issues. It's slightly harder (especially the Boss Rush), boasts some extra minigames and collectibles, adds a secret boss, lets you play the Battle Mode against CPUs, and even gives you a secret code for beating the game damage-less. The main campaign is still brief, but the game has a lot more meat on its bones and overall feels more complete.
I genuinely love Chameleon Twist. It may be short but its core concept is still so fresh and allows for some truly creative and memorable stages. There's so much charm in the visuals and music, the JP version has so many modes and secrets, and the game is even super encouraging towards speedrunning and high level play. It's a crying shame most people who've played this one are only familiar with what's essentially the beta.
I genuinely love Chameleon Twist. It may be short but its core concept is still so fresh and allows for some truly creative and memorable stages. There's so much charm in the visuals and music, the JP version has so many modes and secrets, and the game is even super encouraging towards speedrunning and high level play. It's a crying shame most people who've played this one are only familiar with what's essentially the beta.
i don't care if it was short or too easy. the game was fun and had a concept. you motherfuckers
My favorite game of all time
Looking back at the earliest 3D platformers is always interesting to see how designers planned out new ways to handle an extra dimension of gameplay. For the most part, just the extreme cases of success and failure like Super Mario 64 and Bubsy 3D (probably in that order) are talked about at all. However, examples that fall right in the middle can be just as intriguing.
When it comes to Chameleon Twist, the approach to platforming is fairly basic and follows the conventions of a straightforward 2D level with a single beginning and end. The only thing that's really changed by this being in 3D is the additional z-axis in the platforms being crossed. However, the controls for this 3D space are what create one of the most unique aspects of Chameleon Twist. The tongue allows for some very bizarre but really fun mobility across the stage, either vertical pole-vaulting or horizontal sweeping. It's all fairly responsive and with just a little planning lets you whip around gaps and enemies. The level design doesn't offer much challenge until halfway through, but eventually the game provides some fresh puzzles that require you to draw out unusual tongue shapes to precisely slip across barriers. As a nice extra touch, the tongue can even lick up small enemies and fire them out as a rapid projectile, which is a really fun way to clear out obstacles. The way the tongue is used to navigate and interact with obstacles is definitely a surprisingly creative addition for 3D movement.
To contrast, Chameleon Twist also shows its age with some other decisions that make it feel archaic at times. One aspect that quickly becomes apparent is the camera. Instead of following right behind the player, or offering a bird's-eye view, Chameleon Twist sticks the camera in the corner of whatever room you're in. At best, enemies or collectibles might be hidden off-screen. At worst, you'll probably miss many jumps or tongue spins from not being able to see what's right beside you. There is another camera option that tries to be more free-roaming to where the character moves, but it often doesn't offer a different angle from the fixed view. Another dated aspect is just how short the game is - just six levels about 15 minutes each. It really feels like the developers ran out of resources and time once they realized how much more effort it can take to fill up a 3D level compared to a 2D one. Because of the linear design and low difficulty for most of the game, there isn't a huge draw for replaying levels either.
Regardless of the flaws, Chameleon Twist can be a quick and unique game for 3D platformers fans. However, I could only recommend it to those who have already built up a tolerance for the shenanigans that often came with the early years of the genre.
When it comes to Chameleon Twist, the approach to platforming is fairly basic and follows the conventions of a straightforward 2D level with a single beginning and end. The only thing that's really changed by this being in 3D is the additional z-axis in the platforms being crossed. However, the controls for this 3D space are what create one of the most unique aspects of Chameleon Twist. The tongue allows for some very bizarre but really fun mobility across the stage, either vertical pole-vaulting or horizontal sweeping. It's all fairly responsive and with just a little planning lets you whip around gaps and enemies. The level design doesn't offer much challenge until halfway through, but eventually the game provides some fresh puzzles that require you to draw out unusual tongue shapes to precisely slip across barriers. As a nice extra touch, the tongue can even lick up small enemies and fire them out as a rapid projectile, which is a really fun way to clear out obstacles. The way the tongue is used to navigate and interact with obstacles is definitely a surprisingly creative addition for 3D movement.
To contrast, Chameleon Twist also shows its age with some other decisions that make it feel archaic at times. One aspect that quickly becomes apparent is the camera. Instead of following right behind the player, or offering a bird's-eye view, Chameleon Twist sticks the camera in the corner of whatever room you're in. At best, enemies or collectibles might be hidden off-screen. At worst, you'll probably miss many jumps or tongue spins from not being able to see what's right beside you. There is another camera option that tries to be more free-roaming to where the character moves, but it often doesn't offer a different angle from the fixed view. Another dated aspect is just how short the game is - just six levels about 15 minutes each. It really feels like the developers ran out of resources and time once they realized how much more effort it can take to fill up a 3D level compared to a 2D one. Because of the linear design and low difficulty for most of the game, there isn't a huge draw for replaying levels either.
Regardless of the flaws, Chameleon Twist can be a quick and unique game for 3D platformers fans. However, I could only recommend it to those who have already built up a tolerance for the shenanigans that often came with the early years of the genre.
fun but junky
Nice concept, nothing amazing. Was a good rental back in the day.
This is a game I picked up a while ago for a couple bucks and heard it was neat, and my ability to pick up more Bomberman games has been temporarily interrupted due to renovations at the place I usually buy them at, so I decided to go through this game in the meanwhile. I knew it was short, but I didn't really expect to finish it in just a little over an hour ^^;. Granted, I only did 4 out of 6 stages, but this is a super short game that albeit has a neat gimmick.
Chameleon Twist is a somewhat early N64 game with a very simple (although somewhat baffling) premise. You're a chameleon (the game has 4 different colors to pick from), just chilling out on a log, when a white rabbit right out of Alice in Wonderland hops past you and jumps into a weird, magical pot. You, being a chameleon with nothing better to do, I suppose, jump in after it, and transform into a little humanoid with a long chameleon tongue! The rabbit then proceeds to tell you to more or less get going with the adventure and leaves. You go through a few more stages, with the rabbit unlocking doors or giving you little hints about bosses here and there, but that's it for the story. Even calling it a "story" seems a bit generous. It's more like an incredibly general premise, but that isn't a bad thing.
The game is a 3D platformer that goes through 6 worlds of which you need to go through at least 4 (you gotta play at least world 2 or 3, and then again gotta play at least world 4 or 5). There aren't really meaningful secrets, but there are collectible crowns in each stage to do some platforming challenges for. Each world is a series of rooms and your goal is to get to the end and fight a boss. The bosses range in difficulty pretty significantly (I thought the stage 2 boss was pretty darn hard compared to the rest of them that I fought in worlds 1, 5, and 6), but it's far from insurmountable challenge, especially for the N64.
The game's main gimmick is your big chameleon tongue, which you can use to grapple onto poles from a distance, spin around on those poles, suck up enemies to then spit them out, or even shoot it directly downward to do a higher jump at somewhat of an angle. The game controls alright, but especially the fancy tongue-jumps take a while to get used to. There are also some timed platforming sections later on that can get pretty brutal, and the combat and platforming overall have a somewhat uneven difficulty curve, but you just restart the current room when you die, so it's not big deal even if you fail.
The music is quite good even though the graphics aren't terribly impressive. I suppose the biggest flaw with this game might also be its biggest draw: it's a very simple experience. Sure it controls kinda funky, but there's just not a lot of content here, so if you're into getting all the crowns or getting through the game as fast as you can, there can be a lot to enjoy here, but if you're looking for something to sink your teeth into over the entirety of a weekend (or even a whole afternoon), there just isn't a lot here.
Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. Despite the fact that Bomberman gave me more frustration overall over a longer period of time, I would still recommend it over this game because at least Bomberman made me feel something XD. This game is just sorta "there," in a way that reminds me a bit of Snake Pass (although this game is way more actually enjoyable to play than Snake Pass is). It's very much just "a video game to be played" in a way that was of a dying breed in 1997, so it's somewhat remarkable in that regard, but it simply isn't my cup of tea at the end of the day. It's not a bad time, but it's so short and simple that I'd have difficulty recommending it if you had to pay more than a couple bucks for it.
Chameleon Twist is a somewhat early N64 game with a very simple (although somewhat baffling) premise. You're a chameleon (the game has 4 different colors to pick from), just chilling out on a log, when a white rabbit right out of Alice in Wonderland hops past you and jumps into a weird, magical pot. You, being a chameleon with nothing better to do, I suppose, jump in after it, and transform into a little humanoid with a long chameleon tongue! The rabbit then proceeds to tell you to more or less get going with the adventure and leaves. You go through a few more stages, with the rabbit unlocking doors or giving you little hints about bosses here and there, but that's it for the story. Even calling it a "story" seems a bit generous. It's more like an incredibly general premise, but that isn't a bad thing.
The game is a 3D platformer that goes through 6 worlds of which you need to go through at least 4 (you gotta play at least world 2 or 3, and then again gotta play at least world 4 or 5). There aren't really meaningful secrets, but there are collectible crowns in each stage to do some platforming challenges for. Each world is a series of rooms and your goal is to get to the end and fight a boss. The bosses range in difficulty pretty significantly (I thought the stage 2 boss was pretty darn hard compared to the rest of them that I fought in worlds 1, 5, and 6), but it's far from insurmountable challenge, especially for the N64.
The game's main gimmick is your big chameleon tongue, which you can use to grapple onto poles from a distance, spin around on those poles, suck up enemies to then spit them out, or even shoot it directly downward to do a higher jump at somewhat of an angle. The game controls alright, but especially the fancy tongue-jumps take a while to get used to. There are also some timed platforming sections later on that can get pretty brutal, and the combat and platforming overall have a somewhat uneven difficulty curve, but you just restart the current room when you die, so it's not big deal even if you fail.
The music is quite good even though the graphics aren't terribly impressive. I suppose the biggest flaw with this game might also be its biggest draw: it's a very simple experience. Sure it controls kinda funky, but there's just not a lot of content here, so if you're into getting all the crowns or getting through the game as fast as you can, there can be a lot to enjoy here, but if you're looking for something to sink your teeth into over the entirety of a weekend (or even a whole afternoon), there just isn't a lot here.
Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. Despite the fact that Bomberman gave me more frustration overall over a longer period of time, I would still recommend it over this game because at least Bomberman made me feel something XD. This game is just sorta "there," in a way that reminds me a bit of Snake Pass (although this game is way more actually enjoyable to play than Snake Pass is). It's very much just "a video game to be played" in a way that was of a dying breed in 1997, so it's somewhat remarkable in that regard, but it simply isn't my cup of tea at the end of the day. It's not a bad time, but it's so short and simple that I'd have difficulty recommending it if you had to pay more than a couple bucks for it.
I wanted this game to be more charming than it ended up being.
One of those games that I picked up at Blockbuster as a 7-year-old due to the cool cover art, and it ended up being a formative experience because there was no way for me to know what was worth spending my time on at that age (for reference, it took me until 2000-2001 to pick up Ocarina of Time, and at that point my taste in games was already pretty developed). Undeniably janky in a lot of ways, but the tongue-based platforming was (and remains) very cool and unique. Plus, some of the music in this game still pops up in my brain from time to time and I catch myself humming it absentmindedly, for whatever that's worth.
this is what chameleons look like
that tongue could sure do some interesting things
I speedrun this game and it is so much fun! Such a fun early 3D platformer.
banger soundtrack, unique gameplay, doesn't blow my mind but i do enjoy it
There's a lot of throwaway scrimblo bimblo games on 64, but I promise this one's worth the time. It's short, snappy, inventive and well-executed. Get a kick out of the pseudo self-aware nature - it never 'breaks' the 4th wall in a satirical way, but the game has no shame in admitting its world exists purely to be a functional, adventurous construct. Even with boss fights and enemies, there's no 'conflict' - you jump into wonderland, beat some fuckers up, and peace out like it was an afternoon stroll. Very apt.
Jungle-gymming around with the tongue is great fun. I thought I'd hate the rigidity of the tongue whip as opposed to a physics based rope-like tongue, but it works out in the end. I like using the high jump and rotational swings to make unintended skips. My favorite part is catching dozens of enemies at once with the tongue and rapid-firing them out like a cocaine-infused Yoshi. Also appreciate a 64 gig that runs at a constant 30FPS, especially while pushing a lot of 2D objects on-screen.
Only real complaint is the camera - it often acts as a stationary object in a room and pivots around itself instead of you. You'll hit the C-right button and all of the sudden you're out of frame. Kinda dumb. And it works like a regular camera should in some levels, so, I don't get what they were cooking here.
(Play the japanese version!)
Jungle-gymming around with the tongue is great fun. I thought I'd hate the rigidity of the tongue whip as opposed to a physics based rope-like tongue, but it works out in the end. I like using the high jump and rotational swings to make unintended skips. My favorite part is catching dozens of enemies at once with the tongue and rapid-firing them out like a cocaine-infused Yoshi. Also appreciate a 64 gig that runs at a constant 30FPS, especially while pushing a lot of 2D objects on-screen.
Only real complaint is the camera - it often acts as a stationary object in a room and pivots around itself instead of you. You'll hit the C-right button and all of the sudden you're out of frame. Kinda dumb. And it works like a regular camera should in some levels, so, I don't get what they were cooking here.
(Play the japanese version!)
Very neat ideas at play here, just didn't play with them as much as I'd hope.
very clunky but despite it still great fun to play through. The multiplayer is funny in a bad way.
A game with interesting mechanics, however it's over before you know it, with an almost mindlessly easy difficulty that randomly shifts to being frustrating at the most sudden of points.
omg so much nostalgia from this
The concept of a 3D platformer character with a long, sticky tongue is a pretty cute one, and the design of the chameleons, albeit not chameleon-like in any way, are honestly lovely. Unfortunately, this game only loses more and more of its charm as it goes along. The levels just get less fun and more confusing, they don’t compliment the controls at all.
The peak of frustration here is easily with the 5th stage. The idea is that you go through these small rooms completing isolated challenges as you inch along to the end. The problem is that these challenges are mostly either punishingly precise or literal guessing games. At least this stage has a really nice boss theme, definitely one of the more memorable tracks here.
The peak of frustration here is easily with the 5th stage. The idea is that you go through these small rooms completing isolated challenges as you inch along to the end. The problem is that these challenges are mostly either punishingly precise or literal guessing games. At least this stage has a really nice boss theme, definitely one of the more memorable tracks here.