Marsupilami is that cartoon character that you sort of remember, but in reality you are just remembering Disney’s Bonkers, a likewise obscure character, instead. The show started the voice talent of Jim Cummings which is one reason you think you’ve heard the characters voice before. In fact, it only lasted for one season on CBS back in 1993 here in the States. This doesn’t mean the character isn’t huge as he’s been around since the 1950s in Belgium. So, it makes sense that Marsupilami Hoobadventure is a thing, considering he’s probably a national treasure over across the pond. But as he’s a blip on the nostalgia radar here in the West, his game has a lot to prove in terms of gameplay as we have no connection with him.
I got the chance to play Marsupilami Hoobadventure over the Thanksgiving break. I picked it up on PC because I was away from my console and because the game looked pretty darn charming from all the screenshots. Anyone that knows me, knows that I love colorful games, especially in this increasingly dreary world. I love me some Call of Duty Shoot-A-Man, but sometimes I just want to sit back, relax, and play an old-fashioned platformer that doesn’t ask the world of me. Marsupilami Hoobadventure hits all the right points in that regard, and while it is a traditional side-scrolling platformer, it isn’t retro in nature. Instead, it’s modeled after the very successful Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze series.
I know a lot of people will knock games that ape off other series, but I’m of the thinking that if you base your game on something that is already proven to work, it can give you the chance to build something special on top of that, especially if you are a small studio that can’t compete with major players like Nintendo. In this case, Marsupilami Hoobadventure hits my checklist of needs and wants in a clone that’s based on an existing media property. It looks amazingly cute, with striking colors, smooth animations, and a visual flow that sucks you in. And it plays just as smooth with a very fast flow.
Environments are full of life and also help to draw the player into this happy and colorful world. The game never stops surprising people with how pretty it looks every time I show the title off to friends and family. Whenever I booted it up, people sat down to take a look at just what was going on. I can only imagine how nice it would look on a huge television on a console instead of a laptop screen. Marsupilami Hoobadventure doesn’t ask a lot of the player, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. The controls are very simple and have you jumping and rolling around at a fast pace. You’ll quickly master the controls very early in the game and helps anyone blast through levels. It’s so much fun in its simplicity that you’ll want to go back and try to break your own records.
You tap a button to roll attack which allows you to also gain speed with every tap. This makes an already quick game even faster for those that love time trials, something the game also features. You can also bop on enemies or even attack them with your tail. This tail also serves to latch onto handles that will help you scale areas or zipline across areas. You even get a ground-pound to open chests that are filled with collectibles. The trick to the game is combining all these elements together to blast through stages. It’s actually a joy to simply bounce around as fast as possible.
The game is short, but it builds well and you’ll find yourself making all sorts of choices in terms of the way you approach a stage in quick fashion. I remember playing stages and then wanting to go back simply to try another path in order to grab another collectible(s), or to trim down on my overall time. You want to try new ways to go through stages in order to collect fruits and extras if you like to 100% games. The quick nature of stages help this as going back never feels like a chore, or like something you are forced to do in order to complete stages.
The fact that the game is designed for children is to its benefit for someone like myself. I don’t have the hours to invest in grinding a game like this in order to get really good for my own benefit, or that of some online list/ranking. Games like that feel more like work the older and older I get. With everything in Marsupilami Hoobadventure being so simple I can more easily go back and try stages again and again, trying new things along the way. Then spend the games currency at locations on the map, which is laid out much like it is in Super Mario Bros. 3, the Toad houses included.
Speed-runners are going to have a blast with Marsupilami Hoobadventure as enemies, platforms, and the general stage layouts are built for speed, those that love collectible hunts will enjoy the hunting and fruit collecting, and kids who simply want a fun game with parents who don’t want them throwing a controller at the wall will love this one, especially if they want to play alongside them. It really does a great job and being open and friendly to all types of players. That’s something that can’t be said of a lot of releases not made by Nintendo in today’s day and age.
The only real issues come from the overall design of the narrative. It’s a silent adventure and doesn’t give much in the way of story. I’m sure fans of the character will understand what’s going on, but everyone else will be left out. Some skeleton spirt gets out and causes havoc and you work your way through the game to fight him. That’s about it in terms of the narrative. It’s enough to say the game has a story, but only just barely. Thankfully, the way the small story bits are told is done in a really comical way, so you do get the overall idea no matter what region of the world you are in. A way to cut corners? Maybe, but it gets the job done.
Marsupilami Hoobadventure is a short game (just over 20 levels which will take a couple of hours), and many might see that as it’s only major fault, but I see it as an opportunity. The team behind the game seemed to understand what they were working with, and I’d much rather get a short game that’s fun and never wears out its welcome over something long and boring. It’s great that a team places “fun” ahead of anything else and that can be seen here. I really do hope this title sells well as the team can really work to expand the adventure and build a legitimate series of platformers. A title like this is what these teams and their publishers should be pushing in this modern age: small solid games that can help build a series while not bankrupting a studio and/or publisher.
Final Score
Marsupilami Hoobadventure came out of nowhere and lands as one of the most fun platformers of 2021, and almost certainly the best family game of the year.
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