At the beginning of the game, you are greeted with a short cutscene to introduce you to the game. Our hero Bob attempts to rescue the damsel in distress, but ultimately fails. Bob is no spring chicken and he is becoming increasingly demotivated with the whole hero thing, but being a hero is what Bob does and as he finds out, walking away is not that simple. Can Bob really walk away from saving the Princess and will he ever be able to walk away and allow his arch nemesis ‘Kobbler’ to rule the Kingdoms with the power of the Orb? Will this one last run of being a hero be worth the effort for Bob or is he all set for an epic fail? Well that’s for you to find out as you jump into the crazy world of the Cloudberry Kingdom.
No matter what anyone says, first impressions is always one of our first and natural instincts, as its quite difficult to not judge a book by its cover. Before I ever set eyes on Cloudberry Kingdom, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. At quick glance it looks like a very simple game, with a simple concept and you’d be right in thinking that. Firstly the visuals are very basic and I think that might be a deliberate act by the developer to suit its very basic gameplay. But it’s this simplicity that gives Cloudberry Kingdom its own special charm. The environmental backdrops to each level are very bland and there’s not a great deal going on in the background, in most cases it’s merely a silhouette of mountains and castles. The environments in which you interact with are also very simple, jump from one block here, avoid a swinging chain there and try not to fall down the gap in-between.
In fact there’s actually no real attention to detail in any of the environments, in most cases each level would be dominated by a particular colour, such as purple, orange, red or yellow, there’s really not a lot of variety in that respect and Bob even resembles that of Karl Pilkington (which never fails to make me laugh). But yet there’s a certain charm to Cloudberry Kingdom’s visuals, it pulls you in and makes you somehow admire its simplicity. Perhaps it’s the cartoon look that appeals to gamers of all generations or perhaps it’s because it gives us a nostalgic feeling from platformers of yesteryear? I’m not entirely sure why I admire Cloudberry Kingdom’s visuals so much, but when I first fired up the game, it gave me a smile and that instant first impression has stuck with me since. This is likely down to the games natural charm, but it could also be down to the game giving you the option to customise your hero (or Bob) as you please. You can customise everything from hair, outfits, facial hair, capes and more. It’s a small detail, but one that instantly makes your hero your own.
The gameplay principle to Cloudberry Kingdom is very simple, you must get from point A to point B in a preferably faster time as possible, bouncing on enemies heads to kill them (sounds familiar?), collecting as many gems as possible on your way and try not to die (which you will…a lot). It’s this concept that makes Cloudberry Kingdom very easy to pick up and play regardless of your skill level and age. One of the main reasons for this is that the game will adjust each forthcoming level depending on how well you’re performing. If you die a lot and generally struggle with most levels, the A.I will adjust and take it a little easier on you.
Customise your Bob how you want
If you’re a superstar on this game, then the A.I will think “right then, take this on for size” and the games difficulty will increase to suit your performances. Though somehow Cloudberry Kingdoms never seems to lower the difficulty so much it becomes no challenge for the game and at the same time, despite how impossible some levels may seem, there is always a way to reach the end of any level. It’s this kind of balance that caters for almost any gamer or any skill level and big thumbs up must go to the developers for achieving this. Some levels also have checkpoints, but you’ll have to hit them to activate them. The checkpoints won’t be available on every level mind, there often reserved for the more tough levels, but either way there a godsend.
Most of your time playing Cloudberry Kingdom, you will rely on luck, as well as skill, but probably more so luck. Then when you get comfortable with the game, suddenly like a smack in the face your hit with a swinging chain or beaming laser that makes you rethink and retime certain jumps building up to that obstacle, this certainly helps keep you on your toes. In most cases you can literally fly through levels with some ease, but when the difficulty gets ramped up, prepare to have your patients tested. It’s for that reason that I would only play this game in short spells, for the sake of my controller remaining in one piece. Yet somehow despite this game frustrating the hell out of you and at times things can get a little repetitive, you continue on playing, almost in a trance state at times as you have that “one more go” feeling.
You think this looks hectic? You haven’t seen nothing yet!
All in all you have three main modes to play, ‘Arcade’, ‘Story’ and ‘Free Play’. The story mode is the campaign if you will, not that there’s not much of a story to go by. The story mode is split into 7 chapters, each chapter contains roughly 40 levels to run and jump your way through. Each chapter you play will see you control a hero with a different ability. For example you begin the first chapter with your stand Bob, but as you progress through the story you will control Bobs that got a double jump, a jet pack, wheelie Bob (in which the character is tied to a wheel and you must roll your way through levels), Tiny Bob (which resembles a certain Super Mario), straight on through to a Spaceship and more. Each character will require you to approach a level in a totally different way and each will bring their own unique challenges.
Then you have the Arcade mode, which very similar to the story mode, only this time you will have set challenges, such as increasing difficulties, surviving as long as you can before the timer runs out and more. The further you progress into the Arcade mode; you will also unlock Bobs with the other abilities to use at your disposal, as well as unlocking new challenges. Free play will allow you to pick your terms from locations, modes, which Bob you’d like to use, difficulty, the length of each levels straight on through to the amount of checkpoints you want available. You can the save your levels and use them to issue challenges to friends and even use them for some multiplayer mayhem.
Icy textures and swinging buzz saws are just a few obstacles out to get you!
It’s fair to say that the in-game soundtrack is a bit of an odd ball, I don’t really know what kind of music I’d pair with this game, but the last thing I expect hear was Drum & Base. I suppose even though it does feel very random, it does help get that adrenaline pumping as you aim to finish a level in the quickest time possible. There are other forms of music here other than D&B, but it mainly consists of other forms of dance music such as House and Trance. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of dance music, especially D&B, but on more than one occasion I found myself reaching for the mute button as I play the game in silence. Though it is worth nothing that you can turn down the SFX from the in-game options.
For £8/$10/800MSP (depending on your format), Cloudberry Kingdom does represent good value for gaming, especially if you’re a fan of the old school platformer. With the ever evolving levels that change depending on how well you are performing offers some variety for a game that can feel a little repetitive at times. You have three main modes, leaderboards and Cloudberry Kingdom can accommodate up to four players in one game and that includes local play (which is somewhat of a rarity nowadays).
This wall wants to impale you!
Cloudberry Kingdom won’t blow you away and it certainly doesn’t offer anything all that revolutionary, but what it does do is show you that you can take an old genre of gaming and mix it up with the modern day. It’s a game that literally accommodates almost all gamers alike and it can appeal to gamers from different generations, which is something that not many games can do. If you can play a trial of this game first, that would be my advice, but like me I’m sure you’ll see be fixated into that unexplainable trance and lose many hours in the Cloudberry Kingdom universe. I can’t really tell you why this game has this hold on me, perhaps it’s the music or the old school platforming or perhaps it’s that Bob has a striking resemblance to Karl Pilkington.