With The Last Tinker, PC gamers get a rare splash of 3D platformer nostalgia, albeit not one that’s likely to trigger a new wave for the genre.įollow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. With mainstream developers now steering clear of 3D platformers (as if they’re scared of getting all the colours of the rainbow splattered on their grey camo khakis), and indie developers sticking to the more time-tested and affordable formula of 2D platformers, any attempts to reinvigorate the genre should be commended. It’s incredibly ambitious to work in a genre whose golden age has long since passed, and whose best iterations have exclusively come from some of the most reputable developers of all time. Mimimi have created a vibrant, beautifully presented 3D platformer filled with characters who need a strong, photogenic protagonist to lead them. This is fine (for 10-year-olds), but undermines the idea that 3D platformers can be the most universal of genres, to be enjoyed by everyone. The same can be said of the story, whose cutesy allegory holds little appeal for an escapism-seeking adult.
Beneath their cute, fluffy aesthetics, they hide challenging gameplay systems that would leave the pampered modern gamer flummoxed.īeneath its visual style that wonderfully captures the spirit of 3D platformers of yore, Tinker has a shallow and forgiving gameplay system that treats you like a kid (which is exactly what we don’t want people to think if we’re to get people playing these games again). No suggestive camera shots to reveal what you should do, or trails dragging you to the very exact spot you need to go.
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You’d see a jigsaw piece in Banjo or a star in Mario Galaxy, and it’d be up to you to work out how to get to it. The reality is that the greatest games of the genre are gruellingly difficult. One of the great myths about 3D platformers is that they’re ‘kid’s’ games. There’s no edge to him on the one hand (Crash, Conker, Jak & Daxter), and not enough goof (Banjo-Kazooie, Rayman) on the other. Koru’s cold, chimpy countenance doesn’t endear him to the player, he doesn’t speak or make appealing noises like the rest of the cast, and he’s not expressive enough in cutscenes for you to get a feel for his character. Particularly likeable is the oafish mushroom Biggs, who follows you around gleefully upon request, and can be used to stomp on switches and can be ridden to charge through hordes of bleak-lings or bleak-webs.Įvery great platformer needs a lead character who burns himself into the imagination, which is something that Tinker is missing. The world is surreal and unapologetically colourful, though a little lacking in variety.Īll the characters will bring a smile to your face, from the timid bunnyfolk of the Green District to your floating sheeplike sidekick. Text boxes, meanwhile, are giant bits of card that you can see the back of when you walk around them. It’s a brave move in modern gaming to eschew spoken dialogue, but Tinker pulls it off in honest-to-N64 style. German studio Mimimi clearly have a passion for the genre’s history, as demonstrated by its use of sounds instead of speech; something we haven’t seen used so well since the Banjo-Kazooie days.
Tinker has the looks and (most of the) character to warm 3D platform nostalgics to it. It’s up to you, Koru, to make this happen. Naturally, the threat of the world going grey makes the people of red, green, and blue colour need to realise that they need to unite. In so attempting, he accidentally unleashes a malignant grey force called the Bleakness, which spreads throughout the vibrant land and threatens its very existence. The Last Tinker tells the story of Koru, a teenage ginger chimpman who is tasked with uniting the balkanised City of Colors, comprising of green, red and blue folk. But does it have enough beneath its shiny surface to not only engage PC gamers, but give the out-of-vogue genre a much-needed revival?
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It’s a strange combination, but may be a logical way to try and avert modern gamers’ gazes away from the the homogeneous mainstream, while accepting the fact that tricky platform-jumping – and bouncing off creatures’ heads – just doesn’t satiate the gaming public anymore.Īesthetically, Tinker has what it takes to rank among the 3D platform greats, and the fact that it’s doing it on on the PC of all places (though Xbox One and PS4 versions are inbound) is particularly amibitious. Mimimi Productions’ The Last Tinker attempts to recapture some of that old 3D platformer magic with a beautiful psychedelic cut-out visual style, while relying on platforming and combat mechanics that seem designed to nurture fledgling gamers for hypothetical future regurgitations like Assassin’s Creed XXII or Batman: Arkham Planet.
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