New Super Lucky’s Tale (Playstation 4)

Powah Dunk | September 1, 2020 | Review | No Comments

New Super Lucky’s Tale is the newest platformer from Playful studios. It is a revamped version of 2017s Super Lucky’s Tale, with some added content such as remixed levels and some quality of life changes in the controls and camera. It released on August 21 2020 for PS4 and Xbox One.

A huge thank you to Shaun Loughman @Shaun20130 for this review.

The story follows Lucky the Fox, a young fox who tries to defeat the evil sorcerer Jinx and his children: The Kitty Litter. He does this by traveling between worlds stored within the book of ages and collecting pages to take back control of the book and defeat Jinx. While the story is simple, the game has some charming characters throughout its short runtime, a mailman golem who loves puns is a highlight. The story will most likely appeal more to younger players due to its simplicity but the characters in the game will be enjoyed by players of all ages.

The game’s visual style is fantastic, it is incredibly vibrant and each world feels distinct from the last. It is definitely up there with the likes of Spyro Reignited Trilogy in terms of graphics. The visuals are charming from the very start of the game and are easily one of the highlights of the game. The game never looks dull and the visuals blend well with the gameplay, animations feel expressive and all of Luckys moves feel meaningful and gives the player a good sense of control over him. The character models themselves are bright and colourful while each having their own identity and you can tell them apart at a distance. Each world feels alive and captures the feel of many older 3D platformers

The music helps to set an atmosphere that fits well in each world. It’s upbeat throughout and really adds to the cheerful tone the game tries to create. Each world’s theme manages to be distinct from the last while not feeling out of place in the game. The sound design of Lucky has distinct sounds for each of Lucky’s moves, making him feel like a more complete character. The sounds in the background make the levels feel more alive and vibrant.

The gameplay is fairly simple but proves that a game doesn’t need to pose a massive challenge to the player to be an engaging experience. The game is split up into separate worlds that have around 5 main levels to complete, collecting pages to progress through the story as you go through them.. Each level has 4 main objectives: Finishing the level, collecting 300 coins, collecting letters to spell Lucky, and finding a hidden page, which usually has a puzzle to go with it. These objectives aren’t particularly difficult but add more playtime to each level. The levels usually fit into three types: 2D platforming, 3D platforming, and Auto-runners. These levels ooze charm and are reminiscent of older platformers like Banjo-Kazooie or Donkey Kong Country. Besides the main levels, you collect the rest of the pages by solving puzzles. These puzzles are either a sliding object puzzle where you have to get statues into specific positions or a marble puzzle where you have to move the environment around to move around the stage collecting coins. These are a nice distraction from the main game.

The game controls brilliantly, all of Luckys movements feel smooth and chain together well, like extending jumps by spinning in mid-air or diving towards the ground and burrowing underground. You can spend coins earned in the game’s levels to buy costumes for Lucky, giving you some nice customization options to play with. The game as a whole is easy for the most part and doesn’t pose too much of a challenge to the player, making it an ideal starting point for a younger player or somebody unfamiliar with the genre or gaming as a whole.

New Super Lucky’s Tale is a great platformer that is also simple enough to be a great game for people new to gaming as a whole. Fans of the genre shouldn’t overlook the game because of its simplicity as it’s a charming yet short experience. New Super Lucky’s Tale is a hidden gem of a platformer that shouldn’t go overlooked by players as it is incredibly charming and is short but sweet.