Platypus Review (gamezone)

- gamezone -

One of my earliest memories is of sitting back and watching the magic of the then-cool claymation magic that was Gumby on television and then running to my local arcade where 2D side-scrolling classics like Defender ate all of my quarters. So imagine my delight when Platypus arrived on the PC and now on the Sony PSP. Here’s a game that combined two of my childhood favorites in one package but Platypus just relies on a single gimmick and thus dishonors the memory of the true classics it was inspired by in the first place.

At first glance, Platypus has all the makings of a unique shooter that looks like a claymation feature come to life in video-game form. It looks refreshingly unique, to say the least, and different is sometimes a very good thing. It’s great to see the little yellow clay ship shooting slender slivers at a number of enemy crafts that appear on the PSP screen. Even the backgrounds appear to be made from clay and add plenty of color to the environments. The problem is that the claymation doesn’t work well on the PSP widescreen so much of what we’ve seen on the PC just isn’t as impressive on Sony’s handheld. At least the music isn’t too bad and the sound effects are decent.

Platypus has a Story Mode but don’t expect anything riveting … after all, this is a shooter with ships and environments that are made of clay. You pilot a ship called the Platypus that sets out to defend the peaceful home world of Mungola that is being attacked by a swarm of enemy fleets set on invading the country. This means you must battle through various levels, each with their own boss fight. There’s even a Survival Mode that has you playing through the same levels, only this time you have one ship. The trick here is to see how far you can survive before you’re blown into an orange blob of clay.

The levels are short, which are great for a portable format when you just want to sit back and blast through levels on a bus or on your way home from work. It also means, however, that there’s very little substance to this game and very little imagination placed on the enemies and a good majority of the boss battles. The game throws in six different power-ups. The weapon power-ups come in the form of colorful clay stars you‘ll find in crates being lifted by balloons, each give your ship’s weapons some extra kick. For example, flying over a yellow star will grant you wide shot while a red star will add powerful rockets. It’s nothing original but the power-ups at least give you an advantage during a level filled with enemies or when you want to bring down some of the bigger enemy ships.

While you can play on your own, the game allows you to play cooperatively with a friend via an Ad Hoc connection. Two players can join in at the same time and double your chances of survival in a particularly difficult level. The good news is that the game runs at a steady framerate and that’s great but in the end the game’s rather dull levels certainly aren’t worth sharing. Sure the boss fights lend a hand in giving you a challenge and some levels contain enemies who will surprise you the first time they zip right past you but these things pale compared to the repetitive nature of your enemy’s attacks. Sure the controls are easy to use and your ship is easy to navigate so gamers young or old can pick it up and play but the short levels start looking like the last level you played.

Platypus might resemble the classic side-scrolling shooters we so loved back in the day but unique visuals and no innovation whatsoever don’t make this a great game. Yes it’s great to see a 3D shooter for the PSP and yes making it look different is nice but this one is far too repetitive and uninspiring to recommend to any gamer. Sorry, but I would skip this one and seriously consider purchasing a PSP with a compilation of classic shooters instead.

Review Scoring Details for Platypus

Gameplay: 5.0
The game moves sluggish at times and then again it moves as quickly as the other classic shooters that had inspired it but this one lacks style, creativity and fun. Even the level design could have been handled a lot better than what is seen in this game.

Graphics: 5.5
The claymation makes this a unique-looking title and the Wallace and Gromit-like movement of the clay is neat to look at for the first few levels. Even the visual effects are actually pretty cool.

Sound: 5.5
The music doesn’t get annoying in any way and the sound effects are standard shooter fare. In short, we’ve heard it all before.

Difficulty: Medium
All the things we’ve come to expect from a shooter like make it here so expect a number of enemies attempting to shoot you down as well as some huge monstrous ships that are harder to take down. You’ll really be thankful for the power-ups.

Concept: 4.5
It’s a 3D side-scrolling shooter with zany clay visuals to set this game apart. Story Mode has enough levels to keep you busy but there’s nothing refreshingly new here and chances are you’ll only play this one once or maybe not finish it at all.

Multiplayer: 5.5
You can share this game with a friend who, thanks to the Ad Hoc connection, will join you on the screen at the same time. The co-op game moves along famously without any problems whatsoever. The game also runs pretty smoothly.

Overall: 5.2
As far as side-scrolling shooters go, Platypus for the PSP doesn’t stray from the traditional 2D shooters of yesteryear but it still manages to be forgettable experience hardly worth buying. Sure the claymation visuals are a neat gimmick but gimmicks don’t make a game good. Forget this game and pick up any compilation with a true classic like Defender.