No, I´m not talking of a GOTY contender obviously, Tembo is a little game developed for Gamefreak (Pokemon), it was released few days ago on PS4, XBO and Steam and I, as the 2D platformer whore that I´m, decided to download it yesterday and... this game is pretty cool
Tembo has a bit of Sonic, a bit of Yoshi and a bit of Donkey Kong and it actually works pretty well, the game is fast, the controls are as tight and responsive as a good Nintendo game, it feels right to play, the levels are well designed and the game is really challenging, and I mean REALLY challenging.
While the game is nothing impressive graphic wise the artstyle does its job really well, it looks like a comic and is colorfull and funny to see, theres a good amount of humor everywhere and Tembo is kind of charismatic, is a military badass elephant after all!
Overall tembo feels like a classic platformer in a good way, it mixes elements from great games of the genre to make a very enjoyable and addictive game.
Now the biggest problem of Tembo is that is very short, only 18 levels, BUT, the levels are pretty long for this kind of platformer, on every level you need to save 10 civilians and kill huge amounts of soldiers to complete the level at 100%, wich makes you play the levels again to explore every bit of them, and more important: This game costs 15$
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy18fGAXE0w
I don´t really understand why gamefreak has not released this game on WiiU, I think it has the perfect audience there, but... oh well, who knows why, maybe in the future...
The game is currently at 73 on Metacritic with 20 reviews (ps4 version), some reviews have been pretty harsh with it while some others are really positive, I show you a good example of the diverse critical reception:
- Polygon: Even when I was forced back into levels I had already conquered, Tembo rarely lost its momentum. In the eight hours I spent as an elephant soldier, I never felt like the game's flow was interrupted. 8/10
- Videogamer: Tembo could have been great, but sadly it's a game in which you're made to crawl over the line instead of gloriously smash through it. 6/10
- Playstation Lifestyle: From out of nowhere, Game Freak has surprised everyone with a fun platformer that is not only inspired from the classics such as Sonic, Mario, Yoshi, and more, but manages to combine them in new and refreshing ways. 8/10
- Metro Game Central: A few flaws short of a modern platforming classic, but although Tembo isn’t perfect he is exactly as badass as promised. 7/ 10
- TheSixthAxis: Tembo the Badass Elephant could have been so much more than what is offered. SEGA seemed to be searching for a successor to Sonic with Tembo but at the same time wanted to get a piece of the market for particularly hard games, forgetting to make it fair at the same time. 5/10
- GamesVillage: Tembo The Badass Elephant is really truthful to its name, thanks to a furious and exciting gameplay, perfectly tailored for all the fans of the platform genre. There's nothing really original here, but nonetheless Tembo is incredibly fun. Kudos to Game Freak. 8.7/10
In conclusion, Tembo is good, not superb, but it is pretty addictive and solid. If you are a 2D platformer whore like me I think this game is gonna be a blast for you.
Now, has someone played the game? Are you buying it anytime soon on Ps4, XBO or PC? Maybe on sales? Or not interested at all?
If you want to try the game on PC there is a Free demo on Steam.
