Pankapu

If you need a 2D platforming fix you can't go far wrong with Pankapu. While the polished, crisp, beautiful presentation and gameplay are engaging enough, it is nevertheless slightly let down by a few elements that affect the beat by beat and overall flow of the game. The charming characters and parallel narrative are intriguing, and while the resonant themes, fantastical atmosphere and wonderful locales enchant and are especially vibrant on a big screen, the controls aren't quite tight or precise enough considering the challenging level design an enemy combat. An enjoyable game, if not quite as strong as it could have been.

Pankapu is a remarkable game, with a charismatic look and an interesting background very well wrapped up with phases with good overall design, variety of situations and noteworthy final bosses. The progression of the character is well accomplished and also perfectly orchestrated with situations where skills are used and exploited. It does everything it sets out well without dazzling anything, but it's fun and varied enough to be enjoyed from start to finish.

Pankapu has interesting elements in its favour. The game's plot and the way it is presented is certainly one of them and its well crafted visuals add to the flavour. At the same time, the level design feels too repetitive and the game doesn't really feel like it offers anything new, as Penkapu's good story telling and visuals end up outshining almost everything else about the game.

With my time spent on this little platformer, I have developed a bit of a soft spot for Pankapu. We have been through a great deal together. The world of dreams ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there if you let it.

The bright and distinct visuals are incredibly appealing and the audio is pretty decent, too, which really helps Pankapu sink its claws into you as you play. It really channels the ‘one more go' type of play, and this is why I would recommend the game. Sure, it's not original in its gameplay mechanics, but it's just a solid, good game that harkens back to the days of playability being key.

There is no doubt that Pankapu has a beautiful art style with a lot of attention given to the character animations, but unfortunately it also suffers with clunky controls and awkward difficulty spikes.

Pankapu, a love-letter to the action-platformers of the 80s and 90s, may not quite rise to the top of the pack, but it is nevertheless another welcome, unexpectedly content-rich genre romp that’ll have you swearing at your many, many deaths, and shamelessly fist-pumping when you finally reach the next glorious checkpoint.

While Pankapu is not that original, it's a solid start for a first game from Too Kind Studio. The creative direction is beautiful, but the gameplay is not solid enough to incite a sure buy for everyone.

At its core it's a solid action/platformer, with a beautiful aesthetic and captivating sound track. The difficulty spikes combined with the frequent load times can definitely test your patience, but overall the positives outweigh the negatives. So if you're in the mood for a pleasant platformer, the dreamy world of Pankapu just might be the game for you.

Looks like it’s that time of the week, folks! The Nintendo eShop has yet another slew of new titles to explore and try, and this time around we have one to give a hands-on experience! Too Kind Studios’ Kickstarter project in 2015 gave rise to the well-animated title Pankapu: the Dreamkeeper for the Steam platform in 2016. Now in the year of our Nayru 2017, Too Kind has managed to breathe another chance of life into their title by bringing it onto the Switch console. Check out the video below as I give it a shot!