Tak and the Power of Juju

The Good
Wow! This game is someone's baby. They took a lot of care in making this one, you can tell. The scenery is mind-blowing and so very very lush! The worlds that make these scenes are huge, but because it’s so vibrant and well done, it’s a pleasure to get lost! A very deep game. You get to fly like a chicken, fling sheep around, baby-sit mummies, snow board, and play with your rattle. The rattle is your most prized possession. You couldn’t succeed with out it and it’s Juju upgrades. Not only do you have tasks to do for your village’s (Pupanunu) shaman, Jibolba, and fight various creatures to do so, but a lot of this game is major puzzle solving. This may involve catapulting sheep across to Orangatang’s or riding Ryno’s to break down walls, fences and nasty Nermils, the annoying little monkey-like vermin, which you find almost everywhere. Some of these puzzles are diabolical and take a lot of work.

The character’s are really fun! While you only play as Tak, you do interact with others and they are so well drawn, and so unique that they make it feel as if your inside an actual cartoon! The script and screenplay are hilarious, which is only further enhanced by wonderful voice acting! The lines are funny and delivered with great comic timing! The opening cinematic is one of only a few that are good enough to watch without pressing play and skipping. You want to watch because it’s funny. The actual game play is straight forward and not unusual:

1. Least likely person is pushed into being a hero
2. Help the leader/villagers obtain a gem/map/icon
3. While doing so, obtain tools/items to help you
4. Beat bosses in parts of world to advance
5. Find evil bad guy fight his champion and/or him to win

The thing about “Tak and the Power of Juju” is that Avalanche and THQ have put it together in a fun package. The worlds are great, but the animation of the worlds and characters is smooth and full. There are nooks and cranny’s to explore, and very well hidden objects and prizes. The bad guys are both surprising and surprisingly hard. They pop up when you least expect them and have rather difficult attributes. This stops this game from being a good looking kids game to one that everyone will like.

The Bad
The thing that makes it good also contributes to one of it’s bad points. The worlds are so very large and full of jungle like mazes it is very hard to navigate. It takes a lot of trial and error to find what you’re looking for. There is no map system, so you’re on your own in that regard. Sometimes that can lead into harms way. Again, because of it’s size, you start to feel, well, lonely. It’s a very single person game, and while you do interact as part of gameplay, that is limited to the gameplay of that specific character. Most of the time you’re usually alone.
There is so very much to do, it is easy to get lost not only, as said above, in a physical way, but also in a game quest way. Sometimes it is confusing as to where to go or do next. Given the size of the game and worlds, it would have been helpful to include a sidekick to ask assistance. Not necessarily cheat, but gentle mild reminders of direction of play.
The jumping is very hard to become proficient at doing, and takes a lot of practice, as he uses a walking stick to “pole jump” across gaps.
Some of the puzzles are VERY hard and take a lot of patience to solve, as there is quite a bit of stuff to do for the solutions. It can get very frustrating.

The Bottom Line
It is a wonderful cartoon like game with lots and lots of fun things to do. The game-play is vast and rewarding and the puzzles very challeging! The makers of this game really enjoyed making this game, and the series. If you like puzzles then you'll love this one.
Even kids will like the great animation and gameplay. No gore or real violence. No real scarey moments, so all this means it OK for the younger set, but due to the puzzles would best suit 10+ year olds. For this same reason it is fun for older persons also, who have a nack for solving puzzles and such.