Reviewed: October 20, 2005
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
THQ

Developer
Avalanche Software

Released: September 19, 2005
Genre: Action
Players: 1-2
ESRB: Everyone

8
8
8
8
8.4

Supported Features:

Tak: The Great Juju Challenge is the third official console outing for our loveable native tribesman, and just when you thought you couldn’t stand to play one more platform game this year Avalanche decided to change things up a bit and put a game show twist on the action and introduce Lok (we all love Lok) as a playable character in what is perhaps the best two-player co-op game of the year, or at least a close second to Shaolin Monks.

The premise goes something like this. Once each generation, the world’s mightiest heroes, fiercest warriors, and most powerful athletes gather together to compete in “The Great Juju Challenge”. Lacking anyone with these credentials the Pupanunu village has entered Tak, who in turn recruits Lok (because he was available).

The Juju Challenge is basically a set of exhausting platform-structured levels that will require you to use all of the skills from the previous Tak adventures as well as some new tricks, plus combine them with the unique abilities of Lok. Tak and Lok will be competing with a wildly assorted cast of misfits in all sorts of obstacle course challenges and mini-games.

What has changed is with the addition of Lok as a playable character, a required playable character, the puzzles are a bit more complex and the gameplay can be quite challenging, especially if you tackle the challenge alone. The levels are specifically designed so certain sections favor certain characters.

For instance, due to an unusual aversion to fish, Lok cannot swim, but he can toss Tak onto higher ledges. Those are just two small examples of what will soon become a wealth of challenging puzzles that rival the old Lost Vikings game, minus one Viking.

The inherent problem lies with the solo gameplay and having to control both characters. Thankfully, the computer is really good about keeping the character you aren’t controlling close by and you do have some limited command abilities to order the other character to “wait” or “follow” you, but this is a pale substitute for actually playing this game with a friend.

All of the levels are under strict time limits with significant bonus points awarded for completing levels within or faster than the par time. When having to control both characters, and ordering them around and positioning them to work as a team it becomes very difficult to meet these deadlines. It’s possibly with practice, but frustrating at best.

There are also several places in the game where the characters will separate briefly and the screen will split, allowing you to access special areas, perhaps alternating levels or switches to open doors for the other. Once the characters are back together the screens will merge again.

There is a whole new gameplay dynamic in place this time with Blessing Gems that fit into the shaman jewelry and grant powers to the characters for the rest of the game. Chanting Stones can be used to alter the playing field but you will have to learn how to chant first. And then you have all sorts of potion ingredients to collect. These can be mixed at special shrines and grant powerful effects.

In addition to collect hundreds, perhaps thousands items, feathers and jewels, you will also get to fight some interesting battles including some boss battles that require some significant teamwork, and again, these play out much easier with two players. Some bosses have “sweet spots”, often two, one low and one high, so the shorter Tak must target the low area while Lok beats on the high one. Sometimes these are even place on opposites sides of the enemy in question.

The best thing about the two-player mode is that it is the exact same game as the single-player experience, both in level design and challenges. Anyone can jump in at anytime during the single-player game, and the screen will split and two gamers can work together as a team, and if either player decides to quit the screen will revert back to a single view and the remaining player will be controlling both characters again.

Tak and Lok have obviously been given the most attention when it comes to character design, but the rest of the cast is just as remarkable, and some of the costumes like the chicken and lobster suits are hilarious.

The cutscenes are just as funny as ever and really keep you playing the game just to see what will happen next. The exchanges between Tak and Lok are hysterical and surprisingly frequent. The two are going at it almost constantly throughout the game, and the between-challenge movies are just as good.

Technically, the game has some great texture work with gorgeous skies and a draw distance to the horizon with a solid framerate and not a single bit of detectable slowdown, even with two players exploring completely different parts of the level. Special effects are excellent with lots of particle effects and colored lighting.

The rest of the cast all turn in performances that are fitting with the theme and atmosphere of the game, and while they are quite good they just seem overshadowed by the Lok character.

Music is quite fitting with tribal music that is energetic yet somewhat repetition, especially given the nature that you will be playing some of these levels over and over until you get the desired score.

Sound effects are subtle yet perfect, whether it be the unique animal noises or the natural sounds of the environments, trickling water, stampeding rhino, creaking wood, whoosh of a zip-line…you get the idea. The Dolby Digital mix just surrounds you in all of this ambient goodness.

Adding a second player to the mix will immediately increase the fun factor and make the game easier to play without ruining the challenge aspects of the puzzles and gameplay. And it is highly unlikely that you will win the overall Juju Challenge without replaying at least a few of the levels. After all, practice makes perfect.

The game show style presentation, unique worlds, challenging levels, and complementary skill sets of the two playable characters help to make this one of the best Tak games in the series. And thanks to Lok it is certainly the funniest.