.webp)
Written by Patrick Orquia
Title: Trifox
Developer: Glowfish Interactive
Publisher: Big Sugar
Genre: platformer, action-adventure, RPG
Number of Players: 1
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: Oct. 13, 2022
Price: $19.99
The late 90s gave birth to the 3D platformer genre. With the rise of new hardware such as the PlayStation and N64, games have gone to the third dimension, with varying quality. Both of these consoles have their array of classic 3D platformer games, such as Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie on the N64 and Crash Bandicoot and Ratchet & Clank on the PlayStation. These are classic games and came out with guns blazing and paved the way for the future of the genre.
The game that is the subject of this review, Trifox, tries to capture the essence of that same old magic that makes a 3D platforming game good. Does it succeed in doing so? Let’s find out!
In this game, you play as the titular Trifox, who starts his adventure after a group of troublesome pirates stole his TV remote control. Yep, that’s the conflict that starts the game. Simple, yet you really won’t mind it, as you are quickly thrown into the action, plus the bright and colorful cartoony visuals spells out a humorously fun time right at the beginning, and yet it is packed with challenges that will keep you on your toes.
.jpg)
There is a hub world where you start the game and end up in after every level. Here, you can view different information about your character and the game in general, plus here is also where you can unlock new abilities. You can even try them out on some targets to practice them and see which ones that you will use, depending on your playing style.
The game is divided into 4 worlds each with 4 levels. The entrance to these levels can be found in the hub world, and they open up one by one as your progress into the game. Your goal is to reach the end of the level, and defeating hordes of enemies along the way while traversing through some obstacles and solving some not-so-complicated puzzles to open locked gates or new paths. Defeated enemies drop coins, which are also obtained by destroying pots and other destructible objects. These coins are used to buy new abilities that you can equip for you to get the upper hand in completing the levels. Defeated enemies and destroyed objects may also drop healing potions that replenish your HP.
The coolest feature in this game is mixing and matching different abilities across three classes, namely Warrior, Mage, and Engineer. The Warrior class is mostly concerned with melee combat, the Mage class for distant attacks via magical spells, while the Engineer class is a little bit of both but with the use of gadgets. You don’t have to stick to just one set of abilities. Pick and choose from available abilities and assign them to different buttons and away you go. Battling enemies and evading their attacks with your chosen abilities is just fun and gives you reasons to replay levels to unlock secrets that you previously could not to get collectibles. Usually that will also mean more enemies to fight but you also get more coins in the process. You have a health bar that gets depleted when you get hit and you die when it reaches zero, but you quickly respawn in the same area to continue with the fun. Replay levels and try to die less and get more coins and collectibles in a shorter time to get a better score.
At the end of each level is a boss fight. The gradually increase in difficulty but they are mostly fun and quite challenging at times. And since the levels are replayable, you can go back to any of them with different builds to see which ones are the most advantageous to you. You will soon find your favorite abilities and probably stick with them for most of your time playing the game, but trying out all of them, that’s where the real fun lies. The game can be completed in less than 5 hours, but I think that you have enough variety and customization options to warrant multiple replays.
Overall, Trifox is a surprisingly good game that gives homage to the early years of the 3D platforming genre. From its gameplay to its overall presentation, it doesn’t seem like a debut game from a new developer. Sure, it is flawed here and there, especially on this Switch version, but its overall appeal makes me want more of this. I hope it sells well enough for future sequels to get made. It really is that good. So go out and give this game a try. Whether you play as a Warrior, a Mage, or an Engineer, or a combination of the three, you will surely have a great adventure.
REPLAY VALUE: High
PROS
- Bright and colorful visuals
- Catchy tunes
- Excellent gameplay
- Generous with coin rewards, which allows you to unlock abilities as fast as possible
- Good level design
- Good enemy variety
- Wide customization options
- Level can be replayed
- Abilities can be mixed together from across three character classes
CONS
- Underdeveloped characters
- Framerate drops when there is too much action happening on screen
- Platforming can be tricky at times because the you will have to rely on a small, translucent circle that marks where you land instead of your shadow; especially more difficult in dark areas
- Lack of voice acting and narration, which makes the bland story even less interesting, despite the clear attempt at making some of the inter-level news segments humorous
RATING: 4/5 triple foxy delights
No comments:
Post a Comment