A Family-Friendly Platformer Dragged From 3D Platforming’s Golden Age
3D platformers evoke a very particular time for me. They will always whisk me back to the N64, PS1 and PS2, and games like Super Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie, Croc, Sly Raccoon and Ratchet & Clank. Sure, you could point to games like Donkey Kong Bananza and say that the genre is still very much alive, but I’m an old man and I can’t help but see those consoles (and the years of 1996-2005) as the genre’s purple patch.
The young chap that played those games thirty years ago (ugh, shot to the heart!) would have loved Dracamar. It shares so much of their spirit, from the ludicrous number of collectibles to the vibrant colour palette, all the way to the 3D level map. While it doesn’t quite have their character or humour, Dracamar is for those people who say, with a serious look on their face, that ‘they don’t make 3D platformers like that anymore’.
Draca-marred by Some Poor Character Design
Dracamar hands you control of your choice of three human characters, all of whom lack personality. It’s Dracamar’s weak spot – its weak underbelly – that nothing outside of its bosses really makes a mark in terms of character design. That stretches to the game’s Oki, Moki and Iko: blobby little creatures that act as the game’s villagers, enemies and your companion. They’re faceless and derivative, which – if we were being cruel – is a criticism that can be levelled at Dracamar’s world as a whole. You wouldn’t cosplay anything in the game, or buy any merch of its characters.
Which, conveniently, gets us past the one, glaring problem of Dracamar. Everything else is a joy to describe and play.
With your character chosen, you’re heading to a lovely 3D representation of the world map, where you can muck around on buildings and hills if you fancy, before finally heading into a level. And the levels are exactly what you’d hope: they are lengthy-but-dense spaces where you will always be rewarded if you duck beneath a waterfall or bust through a slightly cracked wall. It’s ‘got game’ when it comes to collectibles: if you loved finding jiggies and stars back in the day, then you will spend hours finding every last seed and golden bunny in Dracamar.
Adoring Exploring
The art is big, chunky and colourful, and never deviates from that path. There is perhaps one level that you could call ‘dark’ and that’s the last one. Everything is bright, green and lush, like you’re exploring in a kid’s soft-play. But there’s still variation within that bracket: you will be exploring a Donk City-like metropolis, a farm in a hailstorm (including umbrellas to protect yourself) and Mediterranean towns. And they are all sprawling. Dracamar does a fine line in presenting you with a vista where you can see the whole level in front of you, and then letting you reach the lighthouse or castle at the very end of it.
The gameplay is a splash of combat and puzzles, some lovely Ratchet and Clank-style pipe-grinding interludes, and a whacking great dollop of platforming. If you are worried about the combat, it’s nothing to worry about: it’s inordinately simple and forgiving, so younger players will have little trouble with it. Each enemy has a simple weakness, from bottom-bouncing to weaknesses on their sides, and they’re not hard to discern. Three health pips means that you can miss a hit without too much concern, and there are plenty of checkpoints and heart containers around the level.
The bosses are slightly more onerous, and parents might find the pad being passed to them. Checkpoints are at the start of boss encounters, and a few of them are long enough for that to be a pain (a kaiju attack and a snot boss in particular). But they get extra points for variety, as they test you in ways that the levels don’t.
More Grindrails Than Tony Hawk 3
Probably my favourite thing about Dracamar is its attention deficit. It loves to switch up its 3D levels with vehicles, sliding sections and odd curveballs like the halestorm level that we mentioned earlier. You can be merrily chugging through an area, only to find yourself strapped to a lido going down a flume, or a kite floating over air vents. There are no corners being cut in Dracamar: this is a game that surprises when it can, and that can be multiple times in one level. Even the 3D game map has some extra biplane levels (oddly, you stick close to the floor throughout) to mix up your playthrough.
The controls work well and adapt to the deluge of new additions. Each biome tends to throw in a new use for Iko (your wrist-blob-thing), which can be accessed by a tap of LT. Some levels have magnets that you can grapple to (or yank down), while others turn it into a boomerang to slap targets. Contextual hotspots can be turned into wingnuts that you can hit and spin round, marbles that are pushed into depressed sections of the level, and springs that can be turned into springboards.
Probably a 3 out of 10 on the Challengemeter
Dracamar is as smooth as its many flumes and slides, but it might be too smooth for some. It’s not a hard game, and certainly not as hard as several of the games I mentioned in the opening paragraph. It feels pitched somewhere between a family game and casual platformer, which might be disappointing for some. Even finding the final collectibles will be trivial for most players: they are mostly visible and easy to reach, rather than tucked away or at the end of a difficult gauntlet.
And we hit a number of bugs, particularly at the end of a level. We only got to see the final level-screen a few times, as it would be a completely black screen in most instances. This was most annoying at the end of the game, when the final sequence was also completely black. We’re not sure how far-reaching that problem is, but it sapped a little of our enthusiasm.
But don’t be put off, as Dracamar is a 3D platforming treat. Kids in particular will love how sprawling, vibrant and occasionally bonkers it is, all in the context of a game that doesn’t punish the player. Hardcore players will find it lightweight, but enter the world of Dracamar knowing that it isn’t going to test you much over its ten hours and there’s plenty to enjoy.
It might even be the gateway to a replay of the Banjo Kazooie series, which is never a bad thing.
Important Links
Dracamar Is A New Sun-Soaked Platforming Adventure – https://www.thexboxhub.com/dracamar-is-a-new-sun-soaked-platforming-adventure/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/dracamar/9N5F452BKD6N/0010
