2003's Tak and the Power of Juju arrived among two powerhouse Sony platform titles (Ratchet & Clank and Jak 2) but it still managed to gnash its teeth against their sleek, mold-breaking, genre-redefining formats and emerge as a contender in a genre that is increasingly being relegated to the under-12 crowd. Juju wasn’t a bad game, it simply didn’t do very much to make anyone who was quite familiar with the format feel a burning desire to pick it up and play. While the second installment, Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams improves upon the first it seems a bit behind the times. Yet, this might not be such a bad thing when it’s now so difficult to find a game in which it’s not possible to blow someone’s head off. For this reason, and the blatant approval of Nickelodeon, Tak 2 is a perfect gift for any kid whose parents don’t want to corrupt them with the GTAs and Mortal Kombats of the world.

While the premise is certainly not original, the execution is entertaining. At the game’s beginning Tak’s been sleeping like it’s his job for 16 days and his mentor, Jibolba rouses him after a series of comical attempts. After having the details of Tak’s dream interpreted by Jibolba’s brother, Tak sets off on a pretty ambiguous mission but a mission all the same. The best part of the story line is the lovable, half-witted neanderthals that populate the game - Jibolba tags along with Tak and is constantly chiming in with instructions and humor and Lok, the featherbrained, wannabe hero who is always one step behind Tak, provides all of the hearty laughter you’ll be doing during along the adventure. Taking him out would make the story crumble like a stack of Jenga blocks.

Tak does a lot of sleeping during the game (hence the dream reference in the title) and the first level is a tutorial through an ugly dream sequence level. These levels recur pretty often in the game each time injecting new moves and combos into Tak’s repertoire. Once the game gets moving though you see that the pacing is based on a series of levels arranged into landscapes that Tak must traverse. The awake levels are pretty with various animals and vegetation and plenty of movement in the backgrounds. Animals abound and flowers, trees, rushing streams and various land formations make the platforming, however typical it pans out to be, fairly interesting. Tak does little to improve upon, or even match, the graphical prowess of series’ like Jak and Ratchet & Clank but its certainly no slouch. The white water barrel ride is one of the game’s few heights of eye candy but generally things are comparable at best.

On the scale of platform game play elements Tak falls a bit short also. Sure, there are plenty of things to do like barreling down a waterfall, collecting insects, stones, scrolls and fruit for creating Juju options and controlling animals, but much of it becomes repetitious after a short time. Something the developers threw in to mix up the tasks a bit will be fun for some and annoying and tedious to others. Jibolba has conveniently turned himself into a flea in order to tag along with Tak on his journey and, when tossed at various animals (i.e., skunks, bears, squirrels, etc.) he is able to elicit various reactions. For instance, when Jibolba lands on a skunk his bite can somehow put the skunk to sleep so Tak is able to approach him and, in turn, use its strong perfume to elicit action from a nearby bear. If this sounds a bit far-fetched that’s because it is. The positive is that it makes you think critically about these elements that have been laid out before you and then put them together like a puzzle. The negative is it really isn’t that fun.

An abundance of standard abilities like various attacks, jumps and combos become unlocked as you move through the game - juju attacks, for which juju energy is needed, are the most fun of all the attacks even if they usually are overkill when fighting the hordes. Minigames unlock, two player modes and useless extras come your way as you collect juju elements and put them together in the pause screen but beyond the occassional wild ride on the back of a wild boar or barreling down a rushing waterfall, game play is quite tame and predictable. Annoying boss battles are probably the game play’s lowest point while some of the puzzles that deftly combine the influence Tak and Jibolba have over the animals would be the highest.

All in all Tak is enjoyable – for the right player. It’s obvious the developers knew their audience when they set out to make Tak 2 and it reminds some of us that not every game is made for the over 17 crowd. Tak 2 is a perfect choice for the under 17 crowd that still enjoys a good, clean romp through a fantastic world with lots to do therein. And there are a lot of you out there. If this isn’t what you want, there’s a certain fella with a three-letter name and a big gun I’d like you to meet.

Posted: December 2, 2004