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0 News Flash! Platform games are alive and well. Games such as Limbo and Little Nightmares are some of the big names out there representing this kind of genre. There’s a new addition; one which aims to shake things up a bit called Maki’s Adventure, released in January 2023, from game developers Zoroarts. It’s available now to own on Steam. I’ve been invited to take a closer look.
A Platform Adventure…. With A Twist
If you enjoy the platform sub-genre of adventure games like me let us know which games you’ve been enjoying. Also, let us know if you’ve tried this game out and your thoughts on it.
Gameplay
Maki’s Adventure seems at first to be very quick and simple. Once you have seen the quick intro with minimal exposition and have mastered the controls you are soon greeted by a lift/elevator. This elevator has five floors with each one having a range of quests to find keys to activate the platform. As you move up through the floors you complete even more quests and advance further upwards. You interact with characters and defeat enemies as you encounter them.
The character you play, Maki, is animated well and the motion feels fluid and cartoon-like. This is especially unique when you enter any water in the levels and become a shark. This allowed you to zip through parts of the game satisfyingly. It was a pleasure to control the little cute protagonist as you made your way through the levels. You are given an inventory system to equip weapons and items to help improve your stats. At first, you are given a scythe which becomes your main weapon for a while. This coupled with a quick dash enables you to evade their strikes to make your own fatal slash.
As you reach the last floor of this building you encounter the boss Nekranios an imposing giant creature whose attacks varied from fireballs, a spikey ball on a chain to warthogs running you down. Once you had the timing down and defeat him you are then left to explore more. This is where it got interesting. I was surprised to learn you could enter the sea and, in your shark form, go exploring other islands which had further adventures to go on! In this part of the game, you entered a pixelated view reminiscent of the N64 days as you sped through the seas toward other islands.
All the way through the levels and different areas you visit there are mini-games ranging from pool, fishing, bartending, darts and more! I found these broke up the game and offered something different to the hack-and-slash repetitive aspect of it all. Just as the mini-games offered a respite from the questing so did the shark travel and even riding a pelican over the seas flying through hoops. I was surprised by how much the game opens up when everything looked so simple and quick at the start.
Graphics & Audio
The graphics of the game, overall, remind me of those browser-based games from the early 2000s such as Miniclip or Newsgrounds with its 2D animation and feel. Unlike those browser-based games, Maki’s Adventure feels so much more with stunning effects created by the likes of bosses and the journey graphics when traversing from island to island. The mini-games were well made and offered up an alternative style to the platform part of the game.
The sound is equally fun and suits the situations you find yourself in. It has epic final boss scores that make the battles that bit tenser. It also has serene music playing as you swam to those far-distant lands. The character sounds were just as well-made and a call back to the early 00s style of game Maki’s Adventure is like. Never once was I taken out of the immersion of the game by weird sound/music choices.
Longevity
At first, you are led to believe the game could be quite short and completed within an hour. However, the game opens up and it could be argued that you could go on for hours more playing, collecting, and exploring the world as it opens up for you. I found myself drawn into it all and with every new island came a new look and feel. An island I visited had a jungle style of platform level which gave a change from the stone and wood textures offered up earlier.
Final Thoughts
Maki’s Adventure is a fun game at first leading you to believe it’s a relatively short game. It then opens up and gives any fan or expert of platforming games a world to explore. It’s all very well crafted and many hours can be dedicated to going from island to island doing quests and the various mini-games on offer. I’d recommend anyone give it a go. Overall, I had fun playing the game and found some of the levels challenging enough to warrant revisiting it soon.
I award Maki’s Adventure Thumb Cultures prestigious Gold Award!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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