2D platformers are two-a-penny, but every now and then one comes along that threatens to stand out head and shoulders above the crowd.
Mekazoo may just be that game. Especially seeing as it already has a number of awards behind it.
I was lucky enough to get the chance to go hands-on with Mekazoo and I have to admit to being pretty damn wowed by the vibrant neon colours, fast paced action and glorious audio that brought it all to life.
A single player, or co-operative multiplayer title, Mekazoo from Good Mood Creators challenges you in many ways. Taking control of your five Mekanimals (or Meka-animals as I stubbornly prefer to call them), it is up to you to utilise their special powers and make it through each of the levels found within the bright 3D worlds. You can go and hit them up, completing the stages as fast as you can, or if you would prefer, take things a bit slower (not a lot slower mind), spending time searching for hidden routes, secret collectable gems or the like. Whichever way you do decide to go about things though, you’ll find some super smooth platforming goodness that just urges you to keep on playing.
To complete your tasks, you need to utilise the five animals on offer, each of which have been well thought out to bring something new to the show. The Frog can hop around, grabbing items with his tongue before spinning around and being shot off into the air, whilst the armour plated Armadillo rolls up into a ball and fires his way round like a pinball in the latest machine. The Wallaby will obviously utilise his special jumping powers alongside a wicked smash that wipes out any enemies that dare get in his way. The promise of a slower paced, tank styled Panda, crawling his way through the levels, scaling walls and swiping at enemies as he goes, and the high flying, gracefully gliding Pelican should ensure that no matter what stage you take on, the ways to success are multiplied well. And going back through completed stages over and over again, with each of the various Meks, should allow for a reasonably long gameplay experience.
Whilst Mekazoo works beautifully smooth as a solo experience, one that lends itself to a speedrunning format brilliantly well, the promise of local multiplayer cooperative action is where it gets really exciting. Should you find yourself besting the 30 stages in place and defeating the mechanized bosses and insectoid army that get in your way, the multiplayer side of thing will bring an altogether new experience.
With just the usual two animals in play at any one time, a local co-op partner will be able to call in their character when the going gets tough. With a simple push of the respective button, you’ll find Mekazoo allows players to switch to and from each animal with utter ease, no doubt triggering plenty of shouting in the process. Cooperation and timing is going to be key in the co-op world of Mekazoo, but I can’t wait to see how it all works. Even if it will potentially lead to long drawn out sofa based arguments.
You’ll find Mekazoo dropping later in 2016 on Xbox One, PS4, Wii U and PC. If you like platforming puzzles, beautiful speedrunning action, or just want to take in some soothing electronic jazz, you really should be checking it out.
