Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament Critic Reviews

Despite the fact that Klonoa games don't see much change from title to title, it almost doesn't need it. We still see some minor additions in each one, but in the end it's the gameplay that makes Klonoa so great.

The platforming is tight and the puzzles go from simple to devious at a perfect pace.

The controls are absolute perfection, and the ingenious level design will draw in even those too jaded to appreciate the game's charming presentation.

The infrequent annoyances of those nasty levels and the questionable localization are a small price to pay for the opportunity to revisit the 2D nirvana that so few modern games give us a chance to experience.

Sure the difficulty of later puzzles can get on your nerves but all you need to do is take a breather and set your head straight and everything will be fine.

The big change in Dream Champ Tournament is the boss stages. Unlike the previous GBA title, which simply had Klonoa and the bosses duke it out, you now have to race the bosses. This fits well with the "tournament" aspect of the story, if you're paying any attention to it.

This game is just "more" of Klonoa: Empire of Dreams, but with a new storyline and different levels. But that's not so bad considering the original game was -- and still is -- a great, unique platformer that's held up extremely well on the GBA platform.

The game is easy to learn, fun to play, and quite challenging. There aren't too many quality platform games currently being issued for the GBA, and this fills the void nicely.

Namco deserves credit for creating a game so perfectly suited to the handheld format. Each stage is subdivided into multiple sections so that it's impossible to lose more than a few minutes of progress at any given time, and an autosave function makes recording and restoring progress a completely transparent task.

Fun, though somewhat mind-boggling in the later areas.

Even though this game was made a couple of years ago, platform fans will appreciate the simplistic but thoughtful level design.

Ironically, while it has plenty of levels and action, the story is just too darn weird.

Don't get fooled by the cartoony visuals--this is one game that'll make you think long and hard in a good way.

It combined puzzles and action adventure with the platforming for an experience that was not only challenging but displayed depth and variety - and it doesn't feel old-school.

Another great platformer in a genre that is slowly shifting to 3-D, but hasn't made the movement quite yet. If you're looking for something thoroughly challenging and fun all the same, this is a dream come true.

The excellent control and stage design mixed with the clever puzzles make this one of the better (and certainly one of the most thought provoking) platformers available on GBA.

This unique marriage of the puzzle and adventure genres isn't for everyone, but those of you out there who like solving puzzles while hopping around will definitely get your money's worth.

The cutesy graphics and character design certainly won't draw anyone but the young, and what it offers in gameplay will primarily appeal to those who are already fans - not intense enough for action gamers, not devious enough for puzzle gamers.

The boss battles earn points for uniqueness alone.

Klonoa is a fun game to play but becomes repetitive and tedious quickly, and the fact that it's so similar to the first game is very disappointing.