MARSUPILAMI - HOOBADVENTURE

Review

Life in Polambia is just bliss for a group of three Marsupilamis who enjoy an afternoon nap on the most beautiful beach, peaceful in their nest that looks like a vertical hammock made of bamboo sticks and a giant leaf. As the waves come in and out, a weird-looking sarcophagus with a skull appears on the shore. Intrigued, one Marsupilami uses his beautiful, long tail to tap the skull several times. Immediately, the sarcophagus opens and a ghost appears right in front of them! The ghost strikes the Marsupilamis, along with the many other animals on the island, with lightning bolts that curse them all to follow it. But all three Marsupilamis seem to be immune to the spell, and are now on a mission to save all the cursed animals of Polambia and defeat the evil ghost in a Hooba, Marsupilami – Hoobadventure!

Marsupilami – Hoobadventure is a colourful platformer game developed by Ocellus Studio and published by Microids on the 17^th of November 2021 on the Steam platform. The game is also available on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and is compatible with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

The game consists of three worlds (City, Jungle And Temple) with 28 stages, including three boss levels. You have the choice to play on the Easy, Normal or Hard difficulty level, and you can change the difficulty at any time, as you see fit. In addition, there are modes of play: Adventure and Time Trial.  You must finish the Adventure first to unlock the Time Trial mode. Personally, I finished the Adventure on the Normal difficulty, and it took me 5 hours to do so without finding all the secret areas, challenges and feathers.

The first two worlds have ten stages each, while the third world has eight levels. Your adventure will start on the beach straight after the introduction, and this first level is basically a tutorial. From there, and each time you finish a level, your Marsupilami will appear on the world maps. Each map has several round shapes and several diamond shapes on it, representing each level. The Diamond levels are the bonus levels in the world, and you must collect a certain number of items - feathers and tickets - to unlock them.  Each stage in this game has some feathers and a ticket to be found. The feathers will be displayed somewhere within the level, and for sure, some will be hidden in secret areas, while others will be visible but difficult to reach. First, you need to find a small building with a colourful door. Then, when you enter it, you’ll be faced with a short but challenging timed level. Mostly, you have to collect shapes before the time runs out, and when you successfully complete the level, you’ll receive a ticket.  

Before starting a level, you can choose if you want to play with the papa, mama or the young Marsupilami. There is no difference in terms of gameplay apart from their look, but it adds a little bit of fun to the game. So, what are the abilities of this beautiful and intriguing species? Well, they can jump and run, but their main ability is how they use their long and agile tail. That’s right, they are very clever with their tails. They can create a massive knot towards the end of their tail and use it to punch enemies and obstacles with it.  They can create a wheel around their body and fly down the road like a sports car, and they can do the Hooba jump, which destroys steel cases and opens horizontal traps/doors. What you also need to know is that there are incredibly fond of fruit; they can’t stop eating the stuff!  Luckily for them, there are plenty of fruits to devour on each level! You have small round fruits that give you 1 point when eaten, while the yellow bunches of grapes give 4 points. When you reach 100 points, your Marsupilami will receive an extra life. Yes, you’ll acquire and lose plenty of lives in this game.

In terms of the level design, despite having a few secret areas, a building that leads to a time challenge and a monster chest full of fruits to find per level, they are pretty much generic. That said, you will be challenged in some of the levels. It would have been nice to have more like this. Personally, I enjoyed the jungle world the most, and the bosses’ levels were fun and challenging.

Beautiful, colourful graphics, and the controls are spot on! I didn’t encounter any issues during my playtime; the game was very enjoyable.  On your first attempt, you probably won’t collect all the feathers and tickets straightaway;  it might take you a few replays and, of course, will depend on which level of difficulty you are playing. With the Time Trial mode unlocked after you finish the main adventure, there is plenty of replayability. However, the game needed more content/levels.

Review written by THE CPT FROGGY for Zeepond.com

MARSUPILAMI - HOOBADVENTURE Steam Store Page