Was it really 1997 when Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee was first released on the Playstation 1?  Around 17 years is a long time by anyone’s standards, and in this day and age in which we often see a remake of an old school classic once again trying to win over our hearts and those to for the new generation, we often see these remakes fall flat on their digital faces.  These failed attempts at remaking a long lost love, often result in you wishing that you had left that fond memory in the past rather than playing the new age abomination, Flashback I am looking at you.

Thankfully Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty is not one of those games.  Developers Just Add Water have somehow managed to capture the endearing essence of the original, by keeping elements such as the menu system and to some degree the gameplay the same, but yet managing to bring it up to date in the new era.  They’ve not changed too much, but yet not changed to little.  It’s a fine art getting that balance right and it’s very few and far between should developers ever achieve this, Just Add Water has certainly achieved this and fans of the original should be overjoyed with the results.

If you played the original Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee today, considering it’s a PS1 game, visually it’s possibly one of the few games that have aged pretty well.  Developers J.A.W could have taken the easier route and just juiced up the visuals with a higher resolution, but instead they have reworked the character models, animations, environments and its textures to a superb standard.  Without playing New ‘n’ Tasty some might make the assumption that this is a HD upgrade, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.  New ‘n’ Tasty looks absolutely beautiful, so much so that I believe you would be hard pressed to find an indie game that looks better than this on PSN at the moment.

One element that has pretty much remained the same is the audio.  Yes of course it sounds much more crisp then the PS1 classic with the soundtrack and dialogue, but let’s be honest, not much really needs tweaking in this department.  So J.A.W does want needs to be done and refines the audio as much as necessary.  Abe is a simple creature, that doesn’t need to say much, though it’s worth nothing that more dialogue has been added to Abe and his fellow Mudokons.  This was all part of his charm after all, a simple creature that likes to say hello and follow me and to let one rip whenever he wants.  Seriously (or not so seriously), I don’t think I can ever get bored of Abe trumping one out and just like the child I was back then, the child within will always giggle at the sound of Abe’s popcorn fart.

The principal of the game remains the same as the original, Abe wants to escape Rapture Farms and rescue as many fellow Mudokons slaves in the process.  Abe will be able to rescue the slaves by attempting to guide them through the death-trap puzzles leading them to safety through the bird portals that Abe will activate with his chanting.  Before attempting to rescue the Mudokons, it would be wise to have a look at the path ahead before asking them to follow you, even if its results in a death or two (hint, checkpoint restart).  As not only will you want to avoid the various death-traps, but also the armed guards known as the Sligs.

It is pretty much inevitable that you will accidently (or deliberately) get fellow Mudokons killed along the way, which is why it’s often wise to plan ahead and it has to be said that I do feel genuinely guilty when I fellow slave dies via my misguided attempts to rescue them.  Just like the original Abe does not have any direct combat abilities, and much of your time will be spent running away.  Thankfully Abe does have several means of disposing of the enemy.  For instance he can use their own traps against them such as landmines or dropping a heavy fall rock on to their heads.

During certain points in the game Abe does also have the ability to posses creatures such as the Sligs, controlling them to fire upon their own, and then exploding the possessed Slig when they’ve served their purpose.  As cute as Abe can be, he can also be pretty darn ruthless when he needs to.

Puzzles are as frustrating, yet addictive than ever before.  A big reason for this is that Abe is now easier to control and the gameplay feels far more fluid then its original predecessor.  Though don’t mistake that improvement for making the puzzles any easier.  While some of the puzzles will require you to whistle and fat the correct sequence in response to a fellow Mudokon, they’ll be many times in which you will have to utilise your quickest reflexes to progress and some much need patience.   While I welcome most puzzles in certain games, they will often frustrate the hell out of you, causing a serious dose of gamer rage.  Don’t get me wrong, many of the puzzles in New ‘n’ Tasty will still frustrate the living hell out of you, but there’s something about them that will stop you putting down the pad (or throwing it), giving you the strongest urge to overcome this challenge and when you beat it, it gives you a lot of satisfaction.  Getting this balance between testing puzzles and unbearable frustration is another fine art, yet again this is something that J.A.W has achieved with great success.

If I was going to have one very ‘minor’ criticism, it would be that at times during the more faster paced platforming jumping sections, from time to time Abe may not respond quickly enough in response to how quick you might press the jump button.  But like I said, this is a very minor criticism and to be honest, I really had to dig deep to find any issues with this game, which says a lot about the work that J.A.W has done in creating this game.

I was only playing Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee the other week, 17 years on after its original release, which gives you a hint at the kind of replay value this new and improved version will have.  Just like the original back then, New ‘n’ Tasty should have fans playing for a long time to come also.  For instance you may want to achieve the gruelling task of rescuing all the Mudokons, to at least ease you guilt to those that you may have “accidently” killed the first time round.  Also you have various secret entrances and caves to find, not to mention that New ‘n’ Tasty has two different endings to play out and more.

To rap this review up, all those that loved the original game need to download this game as soon as you can.  New ‘n’ Tasty is the ultimate fan service, with the perfect mixture of reminding us why we loved the original and thus bringing it into this new era.  The love for this game from the developers shines through, and that dedication and care will transcend to fans that love this game just as much.  In this day and age of big publishers pushing out remakes for a quick cash-in, Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty is certainly not one of those games.  This is a game made by fans, for the fans.  This ladies and gentleman, is how a ‘remake’ is done.

• Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty will be available for the PS3 and PS Vita soon as part of a Cross-Buy purchase, then later in the year for the Xbox 360, Xbox One and Wii U.

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