Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2
Australlian for “Uninvolving Mascot platformer”
Tags: Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2 Categories: Game Cube Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Jake McNeill on Nov 10th, 2004
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2 (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Adventure | No | ||
Ty 2 is a very good mascot platformer but not a great one. However, it actually took me a while to realize just why it wasn’t great, and when it finally occurred to me, this revelation taught me something that makes me glad I played this game, as I believe it’s made me a better game critic. Really, I’m serious.
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The game’s controls are decent enough, about par for the course for a platformer. There are a lot of unique elements as well, such as Ty’s “chain bite”, that carries him through the air from target to target, and his unlimited supply of boomerangs, which he throws like projectile weapons, but can only use two at a time. Throughout the game, he’ll be able to use collectible doodads (“opals” in this game) to purchase different varieties of “’rangs”, such as an ice ‘rang, a fire ‘rang, etc., each with their own important uses. A nice little bit of variety, though nothing outright spectacular.
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However, going even further, the game tosses in a plethora of fun vehicular missions to add a ton of variety, and almost all of these are very fun. Driving, kart racing, helicopter flying, mech battling and various other mission types not only work wonders to keep things fresh, but are all well-done and integrate beautifully into the game. The kart racing areas actually feel like they could have been fleshed out just a little bit more to become their own game, the helicopter flying (in spite of the horrible fixed camera) is an addictive experience in and of itself… Basically, everything in this game seems to have received a solid effort to make it worthwhile, even the non-platforming areas.
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The game’s seamlessly interconnected areas are very big (loaded on-the fly with Metroid Prime-esque doors separating large areas), and while not particularly breathtaking to look at they are at least impressive in scope. The game’s graphics, while nothing to write home about, work adequately for the title, although it is a tad annoying to run into occasional slow-down or see foliage pop up in the distance. It should also be mentioned that the camera sucks, although saying that about a mascot platformer is like complaining that collecting stuff is boring. In other words, it’s pretty much a given.
Those complaints aside, Ty 2 actually has all the elements to be a great platformer. Original gameplay, lots of variety, and most importantly, many of the game’s activities are actually fun. So what’s the problem? Why is it that I get bored with it so quickly after turning it on? I just said it’s fun… And yet I’m not really enjoying it. What gives?
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Looking back on the most noteworthy mascot platformers of the 3D era, I’ve come to realize that each had a driving purpose, a cohesive theme that gave players a reason to play. Mario 64 had exploration. Sonic Adventure (when it didn’t suck) had speed. Ratchet and Clank had an arsenal of weapons to acquire. Sly Cooper had Stealth. Jak and Daxter (at least the latter two) had GTA-esque non-linearity. Heck, even Banjo-Kazooie made a solid attempt to make doodad-collection fun.
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All of those games took a solid core theme and worked the gameplay around it, so players always knew why they wanted to play more. Ty 2’s areas aren’t interesting enough to warrant exploration, there’s no great sense of speed, no huge collection of weapons. The game’s non-linear elements are counteracted by a general lack of stuff to do… There’s really no point to any of it. There’s no reason for me to stay in the area I’m in, and no reason to move on, other than out of boredom or some need to progress the storyline (and trust me, there isn’t).
Ty 2 gives players the freedom to choose their goals, but fails to compel them to do so. It gives players lots of places to go, but no real reason to go there. It gives them an enemy to fight, but no real urgency to do it any time soon. It gives them a playground without much to play with.
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As a result, the game becomes an entertaining time-killer you might pick up and play for twenty minutes, but lacks the staying power of those other platformers. If you have a child cursed with attention deficit disorder that doesn’t have the patience for Mario’s stars, this may be the ideal game for them. I suppose this may be appropriate, as the game’s silly stereotypical Australian characters and locales and the cartoony plot and voice acting won’t be appreciated by anyone older than a grade-schooler. On the other hand, this game doesn’t have the “pick up and play” simplicity of Crash Bandicoot, so even in the “just for kids” category Ty 2 still falls short.
That’s a shame, too. Ty 2 is best described as a collection of multiple excellent pieces that fail to form a cohesive whole due to a poor sense of direction. Everything here is fun and enjoyable, yet lacks anything that makes you crave more. And in a genre overcrowded with competition, it’s a sure bet that even this game’s strengths won’t keep it from going down under… under everyone’s radar.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Lots of variety + Some original gameplay elements + Much of this game is quite fun |
7.9 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- There's not much here to drive the player to keep playing - Lack of any sense of direction - The theme, plot, and characters will have anyone over 10 rolling their eyes - Standard platformer problems: Camera, excessive collecting, etc. |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Ty 2 has a lot of good stuff but doesn't use any of it for anything more than a nice little distraction | |
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Tags: Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2
Posted by Jake McNeill on Nov 10th, 2004 and is filed under Game Cube Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
