![\"Klonoa](\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/07e7facfa755d\/klonoa-2-dream-champ-tournament.900x.jpg\")
The \u201890s and 2000s were a totally different era. I can\u2019t tell you how many times I sat down playing the same demo discs over and over or replaying the same handful of games as a kid. Bandai Namco\u2019s old mascot Klonoa \u2014 soon to return in the upcoming Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series \u2014 is the first-ever video game character I ever did this with.<\/p>\n
I had a mild obsession with one particular demo disc that contained the first level of Klonoa: Door to Phantomile<\/strong> \u2013 the chirpy, woodwind music, the adorable floppy-eared character, and the lovely visuals just captured my enthusiasm like nothing else. And eventually, I got my hands on Door to Phantomile and the PS2 sequel \u2013 Lunatea\u2019s Veil<\/strong> \u2013 and played both of them to death. For many people, these two games (and the Wii remake of the first) are where the series ends, and these are the two titles that are included in the upcoming Switch game.<\/p>\n But I adored Klonoa and I wanted more. I couldn\u2019t resist his fluffy black and white design, or his oversized baseball cap. And I discovered a whole other world of adventures that the cat-like, rabbit-like creature had been on \u2013 particularly on Nintendo\u2019s own Game Boy Advance. Klonoa: Empire of Dreams and Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament are often forgotten alongside the black and white mascot\u2019s more famous Sony outings, but their attempts at translating Klonoa\u2019s aesthetics and gameplay to a much smaller, less-powerful system deserve attention. You can still snap them up on the Wii U if you’re quick.<\/p>\n These two handheld entries aren\u2019t even the first non-Sony titles for Klonoa, as the character got a Japan-exclusive WonderSwan game back in 1999. Klonoa: Moonlight Museum<\/strong> sees Klonoa and his friend Huepow having to restore the moon in the sky and escape the eponymous museum. The game has five worlds with six visions (levels) in each, and in each vision, you have to collect three stars to unlock a door to reach the end. It\u2019s this, and the shift to more puzzle-focused platforming, that serves as the basis for the two GBA games.<\/p>\n I haven\u2019t played that Wonderswan entry, but I snapped up Empire of Dreams faster than one of Klonoa\u2019s wind bullets the minute it dropped back in 2002 (in Europe) and devoured most of it in two sittings. Revisiting it now, I can see maybe why people don\u2019t remember this one, or didn\u2019t even know it existed, because it\u2019s missing the console game\u2019s signature 2.5D visuals. But even as a bright-eyed kid, I could tell this was 100% a Klonoa game.<\/p>\n To me, the hallmarks of a Klonoa game \u2013 besides circling around a 3D tree on a 2-dimensional plane \u2013 have always been the kaleidoscopic colours, inventive levels, adorable characters (and enemies), and the emotional gut-punch tucked away within the story. Yep, in short, Klonoa games are cute, cuddly, and always ready to make you cry. Empire of Dreams has all of this.<\/p>\n The story might not have the emotional highs of Door to Phantomile or Lunatea\u2019s Veil, but I\u2019ll be darned if I didn\u2019t sob as a littlun, and even welled up a few times while replaying it recently. Klonoa is a Dream Traveller, after all, and it\u2019s often his job to save people\u2019s dreams. And that\u2019s exactly what he\u2019s doing here. Who can\u2019t relate to having dreams, or being scared of falling short of your dreams and ambitions?<\/p>\n One of my favourite things about Empire of Dreams is just how effectively Namco translated the puzzle-platforming elements of the \u201c3D\u201d games to a 2D screen. There are some real clutch moments of platforming where the difference between missing a ledge and landing on it is mere pixels.<\/p>\n Across the game\u2019s five worlds are seven visions (levels) \u2013 five normal, an auto-scroller, and one using Klonoa\u2019s trust board \u2013 as well as a boss level at the end. You can also make levels as easy or as hard as you want \u2013 do you want to collect all 30 Dream Stones (gems) in every level? Will you risk it all for an extra life? My kid self would grip on to the GBA tightly in bed with my Worm LED light peripheral for every tight jump, hoping I\u2019d make it across. I grew up on collectathons, so there was no way I wouldn\u2019t try and get every single Dream Stone.<\/p>\n A few challenges genuinely stumped me too, and still do even today. A lot of these involve creative uses of Moos \u2013 the game\u2019s inflatable enemies \u2013 that Klonoa can pick up with a wind bullet from his special ring. Vision 4 in every world is that aforementioned boarding game, and getting all 100 Dream Stones in those levels can be really, really<\/em> tricky.<\/p>\n I spent ages huddled up over my GBA trying to memorise every little hill and every enemy placement, learning when to time the perfect jump or make Klonoa flap his big ears to make him float. And the auto-scrollers take Klonoa\u2019s platforming precision to Super Mario World levels. It\u2019s all about instinct, which as an impatient kid I was lacking a little. I\u2019m actually still a bit impatient, so replaying these levels now still caused me to get a little frustrated!<\/p>\n Perhaps that\u2019s why I never beat the game as a kid, even though I loved the aesthetics. I can\u2019t get enough of Klonoa\u2019s little pixelated \u201cWahoo!\u201d cries as he double jumps with a Moo, but Empire of Dreams is a little tougher than the mascot\u2019s PlayStation outings. When I got to the game\u2019s second world, Priamill, I remember getting to vision 2 and having flashbacks about a particular jump that I spent ages trying to nail. I hit the same brick wall this time around, too!<\/p>\n Maybe because it came out so close to Lunatea\u2019s Veil (which launched before the GBA game in Europe) \u2013 a game I\u2019d probably consider one of my favourite platformers ever<\/em> \u2013 Empire of Dreams got buried in the hype. Critics raved about the PS2 game, but it sold pretty poorly. Still, Empire of Dreams did get a sequel in 2002 that carried on the 2D puzzle formula and amped up the difficulty even more. But it took almost three years to make it over to Western shores.<\/p>\n Dream Champ Tournament is probably the most difficult Klonoa game in my eyes, and my first time playing it was pretty recently because the game never came out in Europe. I was definitely bitter about this at the time, but it was perhaps a sign of Klonoa\u2019s dwindling popularity. Although, for some reason, we did get Klonoa Beach Volleyball<\/strong> on PlayStation while North America didn\u2019t \u2013 perhaps Dead or Alive<\/strong> needed a cutesy rival in Europe more?<\/p>\n I\u2019ll be honest, I don\u2019t adore Dream Champ Tournament as much as the other games I\u2019ve played. For one, the story is lacking a lot of the emotional draw I\u2019d expect from a Klonoa game. It\u2019s essentially a big tournament where lots of new and returning Klonoa characters participate \u2013 Joka from Door to Phantomile and Lolo and Popka from Lunatea\u2019s Veil make an appearance and new characters such as Guntz (called Gantz here) debut. But that\u2019s mostly it \u2013 just a bunch of friendly rivalries and a final, unsatisfying twist.<\/p>\n The levels, though, are even more tightly designed than the first, and even more beautiful. The GBA screen pops with colour and the condensed, maze-like levels are chock full of puzzles that will have you thinking. A few new enemies from Lunatea\u2019s Veil \u2013 like one that changes colour with every enemy it hits, and a second that catapults Klonoa upwards like a bullet of lightning \u2013 are utilised in some even more deceptive conundrums.<\/p>\n The bosses are a pretty big departure from the usual Klonoa formula, however, and I really<\/em> don\u2019t enjoy these. In \u201ctraditional\u201d tournament fashion, Klonoa must race against a rival at the end of every level and<\/em> fight a boss at the same time, in many cases. One involves running away from a giant rolling beetle that\u2019s pretty darn fast. Another sees a giant pink seahorse\/prawn-like creature float around every section and shoot homing missiles at you. And, despite these boss levels being split into three sections, if you fail or die at all, you have to start right back at the beginning.<\/p>\n I like the change-up in formula in practice, but in execution, Klonoa’s puzzle-based platforming and the speed-based races don\u2019t mesh together well. Unlike in the auto-scrollers where it\u2019s just Klonoa, the Moos, and devilish platforming, there\u2019s now also a timer and<\/em> another huge obstacle in the way. Not to be a negative Nancy about it, but these bosses just don\u2019t work for me!<\/p>\n I do, however, appreciate the challenge of the game \u2013 especially the EX stages, which Klonoa fans will be familiar with. These unlockable stages put all of your skills to the test in some pretty tough platforming stages where you have to use everything you\u2019ve learned up until this point. They\u2019re hard in Lunatea\u2019s Veil, but Empire of Dreams and Dream Champ Tournaments really take the cake.<\/p>\n Sadly, Dream Champ Tournament was the last new Klonoa game to release in the West. An action-RPG \u2013 Klonoa Heroes: Densetsu no Star Medal<\/strong>, often translated to Klonoa Heroes: The Legendary Star Medal<\/strong> \u2013 came out in 2002 as a Japan-exclusive, but a fan translation was completed earlier this year by Klonoa Mega Chat Translation Team (as is an English patch for Moonlight Museum). But the series has otherwise been dormant since the Wii remake of Door to Phantomile bombed in 2008.<\/p>\n Bandai Namco hasn\u2019t ever forgotten about Klonoa, though. He\u2019s made cameos in multiple Namco games such as Xenosaga Episode 1<\/strong>, multiple Tales of<\/strong> RPGs (as alternate costumes or as dolls), and even in Soulcalibur V<\/strong> and Tekken 7<\/strong>. But I\u2019m especially glad that we\u2019re soon getting Phantasy Reverie Series on Switch.<\/p>\n Just because those GBA games don\u2019t reach the same heights as the PlayStation entries, Empire of Dreams and Dream Champ Tournament don\u2019t deserve to be forgotten. Perhaps they\u2019ll pop up in that rumoured GBA Nintendo Switch Online line-up? Or did we just dream that?<\/p>\n Feel free to share your love for Klonoa and excitement for the upcoming Phantasy Reverie Series below.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nDream a littler dream<\/h2>\n
![\"Klonoa](\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/890fd8d704079\/klonoa-empire-of-dreams-nintendo-eshop-trailer-wii-u-0-28-screenshot.900x.jpg\")
![\"Klonoa](\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/47d8523781b7a\/klonoa-empire-of-dreams-nintendo-eshop-trailer-wii-u-0-34-screenshot.900x.jpg\")
Champ on this<\/h2>\n
![\"[Virtual](\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/b6831fff0c56e\/virtual-spotlight-klonoa-2-dream-champ-tournament-the-swansong-of-a-beautiful-dream-3-25-screenshot.900x.jpg\")
![\"447d2864](\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/70905ae6c8c31\/447d2864-983d-4b50-b614-81a07c7541db.900x.jpg\")
Don’t dream it’s over<\/h2>\n