Reviewed: November 9, 2004
Reviewed by: Roger Cox
Publisher
THQ
Developer
Avalanche Software
Released: October 11, 2004
Genre: Platform
Players: 2
ESRB: Everyone
8
9
10
8
8.2
Supported Features
Tak is back and a little more grown up, both in character and gameplay. Troubled with strange dreams, Tak can feel a dark Juju emanating from an unfamiliar world. Equipped with new powers, Tak bravely ventures outside the Pupanunu tribe and discovers an evil beyond his wildest dreams.
Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams continues following Tak on his adventures against evil. However, you will take on the role of a more experienced Tak as he goes on an epic adventure that will require him to learn all new Juju magic in order to recover the Nightmare Scepter and defeat the evil shaman, Tlaloc, once and for all. You must maneuver Tak as he is armed with new Juju abilities. He will master the ancient Juju magic of the animals, allowing him to possess various creatures and turn himself into a Spirit Animal.
This innovative sequel also features nine interactively designed linear environments and a returning cast of your favorite characters, along with three brand new Juju gods and the introduction of Jibolba's brother, JB. Nine new Nightmare Creatures will prove to be formidable foes. In addition, Tak is outfitted with new Juju powered artifacts, including the powerful Dream Shaker, which gives him the power to close dream rifts.
I’m surprised Tak isn’t as well known or respected as he should be. When the first game was released I brushed it off as child’s play. Now that I think about it, if Super Mario was a new character today I would probably brush him aside as well. Looking back, I should have picked up Tak & The Power of Juju. From now on I vow to give kiddy looking games a second glance and I believe everyone should.
You start off in a dream world (essentially the tutorial). In this world you learn new abilities and must work your way through it in order to warp back to reality. It’s here that you learn your fate: to save the princess that’s been imprisoned in the dream world by an evil guardian.
Tak 2 is a fun game, which never becomes so difficult that you scream at the TV, but it does present many clever challenges. You travel to numerous worlds filled with various animals such as bears, beavers, and wild boars. Learning to interact with the animals in your world is crucial in your journey. For example: you must bounce off of a bear’s belly (much like a trampoline) in order to reach a high ledge. The animal interactions are fun, cute, and entertaining to say the least.
As far as level designs go, they are excellent and show how hard Avalanche worked on Tak 2. You seldom find yourself lost in Tak 2 because as soon as you do there is help. For example: the “press X button for help” logo pops up in the right hand corner of the screen. Pressing it will give you the verbal assistance you need in order to continue. There are also telescopes that are well positioned to guide you toward your next objective.
Like most platformers today there are various things that you collect through out this game (bugs, crystals, and fruit). By mixing the proper combination of these three items you will create Juju potions. Potions are the key to unlocking all sorts of secrets, characters and mini-games.
Tak 2 has an intuitive control scheme making this game easy for people of all ages to pick up and begin playing. Overall, the controls are right on and feel comfortable from the get go.
There are very few downsides in Tak 2, but there are at least two major ones. I’ve had the game freeze on me three times; so make sure to save often. There is no auto save in Tak 2, but you can save at any time in the game (except cutscenes), which means no checkpoints (thank you).
Another major glitch I found is that you must defeat enemies in certain ways in order to proceed through the game. I came across an area in which I had to defeat a slew of enemies. I managed to beat all the enemies, minus-one. To beat the final enemy I used a special attack which removed the enemy from the screen (essentially killing it) but the gate didn’t open up to let me proceed. So I turned off the game and reloaded it thinking this was a one-time occurrence.
The second time around I disposed of the enemies the same way and yet again the gate wouldn’t open. The third time I did everything identically to my previous attempts except this time I killed the last enemy on the screen using a different attack. Finally the gate opened up allowing me to proceed. It’s a major glitch when you have to defeat enemies a certain way in order to proceed through the game. I shouldn’t be punished for using one of my special attacks.
The most unfortunate thing is that this glitch is frequent throughout the game. Regrettably I saved the game after one such occurrence and am now stuck without a way to proceed. This happened 12 hours in and I sadly have to restart the game. Readers should note that this glitch is why the overall score has been lowered from 8.7 – 8.2
On the positive side Tak 2 is the sort of game I will often pick up and play to cheer me up. One reason is because I love the characters in Tak 2. They are all very animated and have their own distinct personalities. You can’t help but laugh at the interactions between them.
Tak 2 reminded me of Rayman 3’s graphical style. Others might be reminded of the movie “Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest” early on. The character models in Tak 2 are excellent. They are smooth, polished, and lack jagged edges. Not once did I notice any jagged edges in any aspect of the game. Tak 2 is clean cut with lush, colorful levels to explore.
The water in Tak 2 will blow you away once you reach the water-barrel ride. Not only is the water nice, but the camera work is phenomenal. I got butterflies in my stomach just as I went over the edge of a huge waterfall.
Tak 2 gives you total control over the camera even though the auto camera works perfectly. The last time I played a game with a camera this good was while playing Super Mario 64. There are a few periods, however, where the camera locks into a fixed viewpoint for certain action sequences, but overall Tak 2 has a great camera.
The first thing you will notice before playing Tak 2 is the phenomenal voice acting. This is grade “A” acting and it really adds to the personalities of each character. Voice acting this good should be standard for all games.
Tak 2 features a colorful score that changes each time you enter a new area. You will hear that same tune looped over and over. Oddly enough the music never gets repetitive. It’s very important in the game and is flawlessly matched to fit each level.
To sum it up, Tak 2 has tremendous voice acting and excellent story presentation.
Tak 2 features a multiplayer mode for the first time. This mode is filled with a series of mini-games that you must win in order to proceed up the pyramid. Each time a player wins a game, they proceed up one step in an attempt to be the first one to the top. Initially there are very few mini-games to play (less than a handful) but as you play through the story mode you collect various items/bugs that you can mix to unlock new mini-games.
Unfortunately, after unlocking all the games, there still isn’t enough variety. The mini-games seem slow paced and after playing them once I felt no motivation to play them again. To the games credit the multiplayer mode isn’t horrible by any means but it lacks the fun level needed to be a successful feature.
This game currently sells for $40 and is one of the better games at this price. I would expect this game to fall in price after Christmas, and when it does, don’t waver for a second to pick up this title. Tak 2 is definitely one of; it not the best “E” rated platform game this year.
Tak 2 is a Nintendo quality platformer with subtle humor that will have you laughing out-loud at each cut-scene. With its beautifully animated characters, lush environments, and overall artistic game design Tak 2 will surprise many. This is a game that’s easy to pick up and play at all ages.
At the very least rent Tak 2 for the most realistic rollercoaster-white-water-ride in a barrel you’ve ever experienced. WARNING: May cause motion sickness.