Reviewed by Rachel McBurney
Growing up, many gamers remember their cartoony favourites like Zelda, Banjo Kazooie, and even Super Mario as some of the titles that inspired their love of gaming. Collecting allowance over time to save up, or waiting until birthdays came around to get that one game you truly had your heart set on, just to play it over and over again for weeks, months, even years to come. Now, with so many big hits and indie developers, it can almost feel overwhelming with the amount of selection available, and what is worth spending money on. The Last Tinker: City of Colors is an indie title from Mimimi Productions, published by Unity Games, that takes us back to the days of fun and playful platformers – at a fraction of the cost. Let’s take a look at what you can expect from this new title!
City of Colors has a storyline that seems simplistic and readily understandable for children, but has so many cultural and moral undertones it can be appreciated on different levels for adults as well.
Our protagonist, Koru, is a helpful little ape who lives in a village outside of Colortown, where colours are unified and everyone can express themselves any way that choose. In Colortown, however, the years of controversy and differences between the people have divided the town into three colour disctricts – blue, green and red. Each colour represents different characteristics and emotions that have twisted and changed over time (such as red for anger, when it used to be for strength). This change has altered people’s perception of one another in unfriendly ways, and caused discrimination against anyone who is not of the same color across Colortown.
Thanks to the tension between Koru and some boys from the red district, Koru makes a deal with a purple colour spirit to save the life of his friend (who was dying because he was beaten up by the red boys), by helping the purple colour spirit reunite the colours of the land again. Unbeknown to Koru, the purple colour spirit was an evil spirit, who used Koru to create the Bleakness, a magical force that begins absorbing all the colour out of the world, and freezing the citizens in time. Through this, Koru also discovers he is one of the last remaining Tinkers: a person who can absorb powers from the spirits of each colour. Without colour, there is no life essence, and everything would be lost! It’s up to Koru to try and unite the people regardless of colour in the fight against the Bleakness, before it’s too late!
Visually speaking, it’s hard to believe that The Last Tinker: City of Colors is anything but a high-end title. No bleed effects, no characters glitching out, and a vibrant CG that while it is cartoony, is still seamless, sharp, and leaves no slight detail out. The backgrounds transitions, changes in lighting, vibrancy of colours – every detail is accounted for. The scenes are so full of life, and seem to inspired by titles like Viva Pinata, Wind Waker HD, or even Banjo Kazooie (with upgraded graphics). Even the characters’ reactions are emotional and clear in every situation, and seem unique to each individual making for a connection and immersion that overcomes the fact that it’s still clearly a cartoon. For instance, Koru doesn’t speak, but will often furrow his brow slightly, widen is eyes, or tilt his head in a manner that tells you exactly what he’s thinking in context, without him having to even say it.
Music is also imperative to an immersive gameplay, even more so than some people may truly appreciate. With every step, a seamless transition in music with happy little beats slowly transitions into more of a twangy, country feel as you approach the farmlands, and then it adds thunderous drums and low tones during boss fights. While there is no true voice acting (simply different grunts and mumbles to identify the characters as unique), the game has plenty of audible queues so you can follow along.
The mechanics are easy to slip into as well. City of Colors has all the elements of running, jumping, and sliding around the map to reach a destination platformers are known for, with a few neat combo attacks to defeat your foes thrown in when you need to! Players will have the option of using a controller or a keyboard to play with, but both are very easy to get used to. The game starts off with a tutorial that will detect what type of controller or keyboard you have, and moves the storyline along with instructions as you go, so you can feel like you’re still moving at a fairly steady pace without feeling like you’re stuck in a boring tutorial zone.
As each new type of ability is introduced (such as throwing colour balls at enemies), the game gives us a simple mission that’s part of the main storyline where they tell you how to use the new ability, but it’s slotted into the game so there isn’t any confusion before continuing on. The difficulty levels range from easy to extreme and are selectable at any time. There is even a Kid’s difficulty level! There are a few times in the story where it’s unclear where to go, and only one dialog option from a character will guide you. If you accidentally skipped the dialog – there is no going back to talk to them about it again, or select their dialog from a menu option. Tested on even Kid’s difficulty, there is no option to re-open hints once you have them – making for a frustrating experience if you weren’t paying close enough attention at some points! That being said, City of Colors is still the type of adventure that not only will adults and children alike enjoy, but the difficulty level is set so that it challenges players of all ages and skills.
It’s very hard to believe The Last Tinker: City of Colors is an indie title as the mechanics, storyline, colours, and overall gameplay feel like a AAA title. The fact that it’s so affordable($19.99 USD) makes this the type of adventure gamers really shouldn’t pass up, if anything for the chance to enjoy a youthful story that will charm even the most cynical of hearts. Addictive, immersive, and just plain fun, The Last Tinker: City of Colors is something everyone in the family can enjoy!
