it's odd to think that there aren't many other games that take cues from yoshi's island considering how well respected it is. the slower pace, nuanced character abilities, and high-concept level designs were incredibly novel in the mid-90s, but the shift away from side-scrolling platformers with the rise of 3D wilted this particular evolutionary branch before it had time to really blossom. thankfully while klonoa doesn't feature the sprawl of yoshi's beloved headlining debut, it offers a tightly-paced knockout of a platformer that tills the same field to create a masterfully crafted experience.

the gameplay of klonoa centers around the titular character's ability to grab virtually any enemy and use them as a makeshift projectile, which has the added by-product of giving him an extra jump when the enemy is thrown downward. while simple in concept, the planners stretched this mechanic as far as it would go thanks to smart enemy design and an excellent difficulty curve. klonoa is limited in his abilities outside of this power - he does have a yoshi-esque flutter jump when he's not carrying anything - so with any danger ahead of him the player must carefully consider enemy placement both for utility and avoidance. an enemy may need to be carried from a separate section in order to boost klonoa past an obstacle, or ungrabbable enemies in the way may force the player to lure grabbable ones over to use as ammo. further into the game the execution becomes more strict with strings of enemies to chain jumps with, insta-death surfaces, and shielded enemies, but the game never manages to feel unfair. given the number of lives that the game hands out, most will find the difficulty at that sweet spot between leisurely and strenuous. it's the perfect level of challenge for encouraging replays for collectables, and it provides enough training with mechanics to make that difficult extra stage feel achievable.

the macro-design shows a clear influence from some of the key-driven levels present in yoshi's island. levels here don't stick to a left-to-right structure and instead generally feature per-room challenges that require a higher level of spatial awareness thanks to elements of both the foreground and background playing into small puzzles. while early on each stage rarely approaches non-linearity outside of small side-jaunts that contain collectables, the later stages begin playing with interconnected stage designs that feature loop-backs and stage-wide object effects such as turning elevators on or opening doors. none of it is truly exploratory (outside of one neat stage that features four keys that can be obtained in any order), but it does go a long way towards actualizing the locations beyond mere vessels of challenge.

vision 6-2 in particular shows a keen awareness of parallelism as an effective way to both present a series of challenges and the feeling of an authentic environment. this level involves a single large cylindrical tower with a long column-filled room that contains different pathways to take. more difficult pathways are locked behind timed switch puzzles at the end of the pathway before it. these switch puzzles inside the tower must be accessed by moving a block located outside of the tower behind a puzzle centered around a super-sized version of a common enemy which impedes progress. reaching this section on the outskirts of the tower requires making it through a climb sequence from within the tower, and before that a precision platforming section over a perilous drop away from the tower. the cycle of these different elements each getting increasingly more difficult imparts the feeling of true progress as one makes their way further and further through the column-filled corridor until they finally reach the end, where they can ascend the final part of the tower to reach a monumental boss fight. an exceptional display of level design chops that illustrates - more than just mechanical understanding - a conscious synthesis of micro-design and macro-design to elevate mere gameplay into a worthy struggle through perilous odds that rewards persistance and patience.

it must be said that the bosses are all excellent as well. each provides a unique twist on the enemy-throwing formula that utilizes the same hierarchy of movement, primary, and auxillary obstacles that I layed out in my cuphead review. klonoa has the extra trick up its sleeve of having those enemies be both tool and trial at once, and the bosses use this to great effect. in many instances the auxillary attack itself consists of or contains the very enemies you need to use to damage the boss, and weighing when to avoid them and when to seize them for an attack creates a lovely risk/reward element that keeps each fight fresh. no boss resembles any other boss, and most of them provide a perfect blend of attacks to keep the player on their toes and repetition to a minimum (the second boss is a little stale tho, there's a lot of downtime during it that unfortunately makes it the weakest of the bunch).

what perhaps really elevates this game beyond the rest of its ilk is its attention to aesthetic detail. no aspect feels cheap or rushed, from the rotating pentagonal prism health bars that each boss has to the gorgeous vision start splashes with unique names and subtitles each. every character is well-animated and meshes well with the 3D backdrops, and the game doesn't skimp on gorgeous oscillating polygonal effects illustrating the magical capabilities of the cast, small particle effects when klonoa runs across certain surfaces, and cinematic swirling camera angles as klonoa takes corners and breathes in monumental structures. the story is also full integrated into gameplay, with smooth transitions and everything handled in-engine with unique sprites that really sell the integration. the story itself is compact and strays little from a vague KH-esque light and darkness dichotomy, which suits the pacing of the game perfectly; mature enough for adults to appreciate while simplisitic enough to avoid overwhelming a child. it neatly foreshadows up to its infamous final cutscene twist, and while shockingly abrupt and bittersweet for a game of this nature, it perfectly captures the emotion with the turmoil and rush of the final FMV before the credits roll. it's evident that this is the culmination of hideo yoshizawa's vision of an action game that marries unvarnished gameplay to cinematic qualities.

a little note to fellow popstarter users: this game is pretty playable up to the end if you can stomach semi-frequent crashes between levels that will require a quick reset (thankfully this is after you save, so you won't lose any progress). in a couple of cases this skips important cutscenes, so be advised. I also found it impossible to reach the credits thanks to a crash after the final boss, and thus after a couple tries I resorted to duckstation to finish the game off. disappointing to be sure, but it's a testament to the game's quality that I was perfectly willing to replay the final boss (all three phases) over and over again to make sure it wasn't a fluke, and frankly it was worth it in the end just so I could play the majority of the game on a proper CRT! this is a game that benefits greatly from that phosphorescent swirl of an authentic old screen.