New Super Lucky’s Tale Review
Fast Facts
Title: New Super Lucky’s Tale
Developer: Playful Studios
Publisher: PQube
Website: https://playfulstudios.com/new-super-luckys-tale/
Genre: Platformer
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Age Rating: PEGI 3
Release Date: 08/11/19
Price: £35.99 – Rapid Reviews were very kindly provided with a review code for this title.
New Super Lucky’s Tale puts you in the body of an adorable fox called Lucky. Unfortunately, your family and you have been separated by the evil cat sorcerer; Jinx. He wants to steal the Book of Ages for his own gain and wreak havoc on our hero’s world and to do this he’s got the help of his kitty children as well. The Kitty Litter. You’ll be traversing all manner of locations, digging through the dirt, rolling around and defeating bosses in order to save the kingdom.
It’s actually the Book of Ages which holds the key to all the locations you’ll be visiting, as Lucky you’ll be collecting pages across the games five worlds (and one extra world after you complete the main story!) and each one is set against a different backdrop. With new NPC’s and adorable characters to meet along the way – you’ll be hard pushed not to fall in love with the world that Playful Studios have created here.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Super Lucky’s Tale has been released; hence the ‘New’ part. I didn’t play the original on the Xbox or the VR version but I have done my research and it seems as if they’ve really worked hard to improve upon any niggles people had with the previous release. This includes adding new gameplay elements, stages and even making the decision to have Lucky walk on two feet instead of crawling on all fours! The definitive version of Super Lucky’s Tale is upon us.
If you’re a fan of platformers from the 90’s it’s clear there is a lot of inspiration drawn from classics such as Gex: Enter The Gecko, Glover, Banjo Kazooie and Conker’s Bad Fur Day to name a few. On each stage you’ve got four objectives; get the hidden page, collect five letters to spell LUCKY, collect 300 coins and then collect the final end of level page. It’s not too difficult a challenge and I found myself with 100% across each stage upon the first playthrough. There’s a real mixture of gameplay styles from side scroller to open-world stages to non-stop runners. This really makes the game feel fresh across each new stage you tackle and I never found myself bored in any one area.
Within each world you’ll also find puzzle stages which task you with either rolling around in a spherical ball, collecting coins and generally trying not to roll off the stage. Or moving a variety of statues into their designated pressure points. Each one of these stages will gift you with a page should you complete it. Now, these are optional so you don’t have to do them if you don’t wish to, if you’re a completionist like me though…you’ll find it hard to leave them behind.
From haunted carnivals to desert dunes you’ll be digging your way through the dirt trying to hunt down every last page. If there’s one thing I think they could have added it’s an overview of your progress, as unless you physically go up to the stage doors in each individual world you can’t see what you’ve missed along the way. The controls feel smooth and responsive with Lucky being able to double jump and add in a tail swipe for extra longevity when crossing any tricky pitfalls. The enemies range from angry birds (not those kinds) to flaming pumpkins and some areas have you disposing of a set number of them to earn a letter. So watch out for those!
Graphically New Super Lucky’s Tale looks great on the Switch. I can’t say I noticed any difference between handheld and playing on the TV, this type of game is absolutely perfect for handheld play as well. Especially if you’re a regular user of public transport, I was taking my Switch to work with me every day whilst working on this review as I couldn’t wait to jump into Lucky’s world. The music fits each themed area and one of my personal favourites was probably Wrestful Retreat which was a fun, desert filled wrestling arena where you meet a bunch of friendly yeti’s.
This has been one of the most refreshing and genuinely enjoyable gaming experiences of my year and a massive highlight. My hope for the future is we a get a sequel to this glorious gem and that it will be twice as long, that was the only downside for me. It was over too soon! If you’re looking for a platformer to keep you entertained for 6-7 hours then you really can’t go wrong with New Super Lucky’s Tale. A must-have for your Switch library!
Rapid Reviews Rating
You can purchase New Super Lucky’s Tale from the Nintendo eShop using the following link:
https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/New-Super-Lucky-s-Tale-1576370.html
