Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
Klonoa on the Wii is the remake of Klonoa: Door of Phantomile that released in 1998 on the original PlayStation. This faithful remake puts you in control of the cat-like Klonoa in his first adventure where he finds a magical ring and a spirit called Hewpoe. You embark on a quest to save songstress Lephise who holds the key to keep the world safe from the powerful forces of evil. 2.5D gameplay will have you platform hopping across six different worlds in an old-school treat that is likely to please existing fans of the series.

What's Hot
As far as remakes of classic games go, Klonoa is an excellent one. Namco successfully gave the original PlayStation game a grander presence on the Wii and incorporates a few new mechanics, like a cyclone move that only slows down enemies and doesn't unbalance the original game. There is plenty of imagination packed in the upgraded visuals. Vibrant colors will pop from the screen as you explore the country side composed entirely out of dreams.

The game is mainly about platform hopping and the occasional boss battle. Klonoa uses his magic ring to capture smaller enemies and use them to his advantage for the entire game. Many of the situations will have you incorporate jumping off of enemies to continue to the next areas. After a decade, the gameplay still holds up just as well as it did on the PlayStation. In fact, Klonoa is one of the best platforming games to release on the Wii. At times, the game will feel as if it were newly developed. However, you'll be constantly reminded Klonoa is from another generation with old school mechanics like precision jumps.

Klonoa wisely gives players the choice to use a number of different controller set-ups (including a GameCube controller) because the Wii-mote and the Nunchuck are clumsy for this type of action. It is never fun when motion controls feel forced on gamers because they are playing the Wii, it is a relief that Klonoa stayed true to what made the game successful in the first place and ditched unnecessary updates to the controls.



What's Not
The game starts you out in a place called Breezegale. It foreshadows Klonoa's difficulty, easy breezy. Health is plentiful and some of the bosses are plain pushovers. You'll whip through stages only occasionally getting slowed down the smallest bit by a few tricky jumps. Losing your lives only kicks you back to the beginning of the level, which makes progression incredibly easy.

In conjunction with Klonoa being incredibly easy, the game is short. The entire game doesn't take long at all to finish front to cover. Gamers who have already played the first game will find themselves blasting through all there is to see and do and moving on. It might only take a handful of hours to complete with the unfortunate mix short length and easy gameplay.

Final Word
Klonoa is one of the best platforming games on the Wii. For a game that is over a decade old, it is a testament that it can hold its own versus all the new ideas and fancy advances in gaming. It is a shame that the difficulty is set so easy and there isn't much game to play. Your time spent with Klonoa is well worth the experience, even if it is all too brief.