Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil

Developer: Namco
Publisher: Namco
Release Date: July 25, 2001
System: PlayStation 2
ESRB Rating: E

In a nutshell: Selective double jump.

0:00 I've been hearing excellent things about the Klonoa series of platformers for years, but I only purchased this one because it was $8 at GameStop. And I'm only playing it now because a Twitter friend gave it a high recommendation. I am cheap and easily influenced, apparently.

0:01 A big-eared, black and blue bunny thing with red sneakers runs down a dirt road in a green clearing as the camera pans dramatically around. A little ditty plays and he jumps, crying out "Yeah!" as he does. The title appears. Alrighty then! New game!

0:02 The game gets early bonus points for allowing me to toggle which button is "shoot" and which is "jump." Obviously X should be jump, but it's nice of them to offer the option...

0:03 Very gentle, somewhat discordant music plays in the background. It sounds a bit like someone playing on a recorder. I'm not a fan.

0:04 "Klonoa Works Presents Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil -- There's a forgotten dream. Was it a dream I can't remember, or a dream I won't remember? Have I got the dream or has the dream got me? Surely, there was a dream." The black and blue guy is falling upside-down through an inky void with some small white lights. DreamVoice: "Help... help me." Now he's fallen in the ocean on a quiet, rainy night full of clouds. "There he is," says the crew of a red biplane passing by. "Okay, okay... leave it to me!" They swing by to pick him up, but then think twice because of some witnesses on the beach. "We can't risk losing the Ring." They fly off to menace another day, I suppose.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer