Ty the Tasmanian Tiger
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Review of Ty the Tasmanian Tiger
Ty believes he is one of the last remaining Tazzies (that’s Tasmanian tigers to you and I!) until he meets the Bunyip Elder who tells him that the rest of his kind have been trapped in the Dreamtime (hey – read yer Aussie mythology, Sport!) by an evil bird (no….not Elle MacPherson!) named Boss Cass.
In order to save his relatives, Ty must find five sacred talismans, which will open the portal to the Dreamtime….but guess who wants the talismans too?
What?
You didn’t think that this would be plain sailing did you?!
Borrowing heavily from other games in this genre such as Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie & Sonic the Hedgehog, with a dash of Crash thrown in for good measure, this game follows the basic formula of quest and reward that is the staple of 99% of platformers. In this respect it offers nothing new, even the storyline has little to offer in the way of originality.
That said, the controls are dead easy to master which makes for a great pick-up-and-play game for children and the fantastic animated graphics are bound to appeal to the younger gamer.
As the game progresses, the difficulty does not really increase; indeed, even the bosses are not hard to beat – although of course, if I was only six years old I might think otherwise!
Control of Ty is environment-responsive: for example, when Ty is on Snowy Mountain, he slips and slides over some areas, making control quite difficult at times.
In the Outlook Safari level, small whirlwinds try to suck in Ty and his bovine steed, giving a definite ‘drag’ factor to the controls.
The pause and select screen menus bring up environment maps and mission status respectively. Both are invaluable aids in helping to complete the missions.
Of course, as one would expect, the more missions that are completed, the better the weapons (in the form of boomerangs) Ty is rewarded with. My personal favourite is the Zoomarang!!
The game features hints and tips in the form of signposts and conversations with other characters – mainly Maurie, the sulphur-crested cockatoo that acts as Ty’s guide throughout the game. Other skills such as swimming are taught by other characters to Ty as the game progresses.
With four zones, each having four levels containing numerous missions, in addition to Ty’s ‘home zone’, this game offers much in the way of playability.
Krome Studios have certainly come up trumps with this l’il beaut! Graphics are beautifully three-dimensional, with interactive environments and fully 3D polygonal backgrounds. There is little if anything in the way of seaming – a rare thing indeed, even in PS2 format. The small amount of glitching at the beginning of the game (there appears to be a fair amount of ‘noise’ in the leaves on the trees) can be more than forgiven when considering the superb artistic craftsmanship that the rest of this game offers.
Colours are bold and rich, if a little too red in places. Lighting effects are excellent, with beautiful skies and lens flares bouncing off a virtual sun!
Nice touches include dust being thrown up around the feet of the bull as he pounds along the dusty roads and sand blurring the camera view when Ty is swimming.
There is a lot of visual humour in this game; from surfing dudes with tribal tattoos on their arms to Hell’s Angels type enemies in the form of frill lizards and kangaroos!
For me, the most humorous aspects of the game are the marker points that pop up – Dunnies, complete with rolls of toilet tissue poking out from underneath the doors!
The thing that struck me first (no, not a boomerang in the back of the head!) was the accents of the characters. Very stereotypical, very corny…but very, very funny! Krome Studios is an Australian company who appear to take great delight in poking fun at their fellow countrymen – or at least the rest of the world’s perception of those bonza folk down under!
Ambient sounds such as flowing waterfalls, the pounding of hooves and birds singing are excellent. Unfortunately the music, whilst entirely appropriate and complimentary to the various environments/zones, is somewhat repetitive. That said, the tunes are very catchy and professionally performed.
Event sounds herald the reward of power ups, crystals, health-ups etc.
OUR PLEDGE: We promise that we have fully played 'Ty the Tasmanian Tiger' before writing this review. The scores given above are our honest opinion and were not influenced in any way by the manufacturer or distributor of the game.
This review was written by Nicole Neville © Absolute PlayStation
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