We’re not exactly sure what a Marsupilami is, but they don’t just own the jungle, but potentially platformer of the year!
Well, here’s something we didn’t expect: a platformer starring cartoony monkey-like critters that can go toe to toe with genre-legend Donkey Kong without so much as a blink. But here we are!
Marsupilami 2 is a fast, colourful 2D platformer, and once we got our claws into it we did not want to put it down. You leap, roll and grapple across four bright worlds, from a steamy jungle to a traffic-choked city, on a mission to stop the Mummy Queen. She’s a bandaged baddie back from the Land of the Dead, blasting a cursed tune through the trees that’s sent every animal into a wild, dancing meltdown. You have to cure the beat to save the day.
Smartly, the developer has given you three Marsupilami heroes ready for the task and they each play differently. Twister spins through gaps and floats down on a helicopter tail. Hope springs up to sky-high ledges the others can’t reach. Punch curls into a wrecking ball and just bounces everywhere, which never stops being funny. Every level lets you swap between two of the trio, so you’ve always got the right critter for the job and can experiment with new approaches.
Platformers have long since established their gameplay formula, but they still need to feel right and Marsupilami is brilliantly built. From the level design to the visuals and the character movement. Even the music is delightful.
It means that the relatively short campaign is a bit of a shame. But there’s stacks to do beyond racing through the story. There are musical notes to collect, for example. And hidden dojos to find, which throw quick-fire challenges at you. Once you’re done with the Mummy Queen, you can try Salsa Mode: here a run turns each level into a mad fruit-grabbing dash where speed cranks up your score.
Best of all, you can play the whole game in co-op. It does tend to make the boss battles a tad easy when there is two of you, but it’s stacks of fun. Plus, there’s a versus mode, too, which packs five mini-games, from a footy match to a paint-the-floor scrap that had us shrieking. It’s an absolute riot.
So back off Donkey Kong! Marsupilami 2 doesn’t just copy the platforming greats. It grabs a spot at their table and orders dessert – the whole game sparkles, and every second is a bouncy, sunny joy.
Game: Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia
Formats: PlayStation, XSX, Switch 1/2, PC
Genre: Platformer
Release: Out Now
