Huge thank you to @DeemonAndGames for the Steam giveaway! Your generosity is inspiring!
A Hat in Time gained a reputation for being a great alternative to 3D Mario. It certainly had solid writing, characters, and unique scenarios, but it wasn’t a good platformer. With its extremely restrictive moveset, basic platforming challenges, and collectables that quickly lost their purpose, it was more akin to an amateur’s first stab at the genre.
Tinykin is essentially a weaker version of that title. Somehow, it’s more rudimentary while also lacking most of A Hat in Time’s redeeming qualities.
Every single mechanic in Tinykin can be traced back to a better title. The game’s namesake are the most obvious example, functioning as Pikmin that don’t require babysitting. This is fine for a platformer, but of the five types of Tinykin, only the green variety enhances the platforming in any way. The rest are used for puzzles that essentially solve themselves.
The core moveset is a lot shallower than an open-zone 3D platformer has any right to be. Take the jumping. Milodane barely has any hang time, so he drops like a rock after peak jump height. It really doesn’t pair well with his ability to glide around like Bunny Mario. The soapbar is decent, but there’s so little to master outside of the time trials. At the time of writing this, I haven’t played Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater or Jet Set Radio, the clearest inspirations for the soapbar’s physics, but it doesn’t take a pro to see how much more effort those older classics put into their movement systems.
The more I played Tinykin, the more I wondered what the point of it all was. The hub and spoke level design is neat at first glance, but the theming is just for show. Take away the wallpaper and each level plays exactly the same, even down to the number of side quests available in each one. The numerous collectables do an adequate job making the player feel like they accomplished something, but why bother collecting everything when there’s no system to help players find those last few collectibles you’re missing? The least it could do is be more friendly to completionists than Super Mario Sunshine.
Between all of that is the most uninspired platforming I’ve seen in a long time. Incredibly simple jumps and sparse use of hazards that barely punish the player to begin with. Calling it a B-grade platformer would be an insult to non-Mario platformers that actually bothered to engage the player like Banjo-Kazooie, Sonic Adventure, or Pac-Man World 2. Even A Hat in Time’s weakest challenges were more involved than this.
The story is whatever. I think it would have been more interesting if there were only a few characters that needed to learn the house’s inner workings rather than dozens of NPCs spelling out everything or telling bad jokes. Not much else to say really.
I’m willing to bet everyone reading this grew up playing at least one 3D platformer that delivered an unparalleled feeling of wonder. Given all the advancements in technology and game design, I think it’s fair to expect modern representatives of the genre to recapture that excitement. If Tinykin accomplished that for you, then please ignore my whining and be happy! I’m not here to upset readers. However, I’m not going to apologize for being honest with myself. In a world where 3D platformers are unpopular among indie and AAA studios, I cannot help but be disappointed with Tinykin’s mundanity.
A Hat in Time gained a reputation for being a great alternative to 3D Mario. It certainly had solid writing, characters, and unique scenarios, but it wasn’t a good platformer. With its extremely restrictive moveset, basic platforming challenges, and collectables that quickly lost their purpose, it was more akin to an amateur’s first stab at the genre.
Tinykin is essentially a weaker version of that title. Somehow, it’s more rudimentary while also lacking most of A Hat in Time’s redeeming qualities.
Every single mechanic in Tinykin can be traced back to a better title. The game’s namesake are the most obvious example, functioning as Pikmin that don’t require babysitting. This is fine for a platformer, but of the five types of Tinykin, only the green variety enhances the platforming in any way. The rest are used for puzzles that essentially solve themselves.
The core moveset is a lot shallower than an open-zone 3D platformer has any right to be. Take the jumping. Milodane barely has any hang time, so he drops like a rock after peak jump height. It really doesn’t pair well with his ability to glide around like Bunny Mario. The soapbar is decent, but there’s so little to master outside of the time trials. At the time of writing this, I haven’t played Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater or Jet Set Radio, the clearest inspirations for the soapbar’s physics, but it doesn’t take a pro to see how much more effort those older classics put into their movement systems.
The more I played Tinykin, the more I wondered what the point of it all was. The hub and spoke level design is neat at first glance, but the theming is just for show. Take away the wallpaper and each level plays exactly the same, even down to the number of side quests available in each one. The numerous collectables do an adequate job making the player feel like they accomplished something, but why bother collecting everything when there’s no system to help players find those last few collectibles you’re missing? The least it could do is be more friendly to completionists than Super Mario Sunshine.
Between all of that is the most uninspired platforming I’ve seen in a long time. Incredibly simple jumps and sparse use of hazards that barely punish the player to begin with. Calling it a B-grade platformer would be an insult to non-Mario platformers that actually bothered to engage the player like Banjo-Kazooie, Sonic Adventure, or Pac-Man World 2. Even A Hat in Time’s weakest challenges were more involved than this.
The story is whatever. I think it would have been more interesting if there were only a few characters that needed to learn the house’s inner workings rather than dozens of NPCs spelling out everything or telling bad jokes. Not much else to say really.
I’m willing to bet everyone reading this grew up playing at least one 3D platformer that delivered an unparalleled feeling of wonder. Given all the advancements in technology and game design, I think it’s fair to expect modern representatives of the genre to recapture that excitement. If Tinykin accomplished that for you, then please ignore my whining and be happy! I’m not here to upset readers. However, I’m not going to apologize for being honest with myself. In a world where 3D platformers are unpopular among indie and AAA studios, I cannot help but be disappointed with Tinykin’s mundanity.