For people familiar with Bandai Namco games, you’ll likely be aware of Klonoa. If not as a game you’d have potentially seen Klonoa-themed items in other games. While people would love to see a new entry in the series, we are getting the next best thing - a way to play the original two games on current consoles in Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series.

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile on the original Playstation and Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil on the Playstation 2. The original Klonoa looks good for a PS1-era game and that’s because the version included here is the Wii remake. 

Generally in platformers, you’ll be jumping on enemies to defeat them or hitting them with projectiles. Klonoa has always gone its own way, you hold a ring that allows you to fire wind bullets that can grab enemies and hold on to them. Enemies you’re holding can get thrown at more enemies, or other items in the level. They can also be used to double jump by throwing the enemy down to the ground. I hadn’t played the original game for a few years so I had to readjust to the controls again, mostly around how the wind bullets work and throwing. Really it’s not complicated, but after so many years of it being you can jump off enemies and not needing to plan out your double jumps, it takes a little adjusting.

The levels are fairly linear, although due to the 2.5D presentation as you move through the level you’ll see how the paths you’ve taken (or will take later) wrap around in a 3D space. While it might not be a big thing now, Klonoa came at a time when it was still pretty new in an age of 3D polygons. Even though it is largely moving on a 2D plane, the use of those environments, especially when representing indoor spaces in a 3D space.

With the remasters (and remake of the original) the visuals look nice and colourful, with a world filled with cute inhabitants including Klonoa. On the Switch you won’t be getting anywhere near 4K resolutions, but it still looks great whether on the TV or handheld screen. 

Throughout each level there are six collectibles, represented as different items in each game. You’ll be tracking down the egg canisters to collect these, Most are pretty easy to find if you’re thorough along the way. It gives you something to do within the levels, otherwise there’s little reason to go off exploring alternate routes.

There are also gems scattered across each level. Most are out in the open, and some can only be collected by throwing an enemy at one of the big ones. I gave up almost straight away trying to collect every gem, but for completionists, it will give the game a longer life than the 6-8 hours each game takes to beat.

The Klonoa games are very decent platformers, with the wind bullet and how it impacts traversal adding a different approach from your Marios and Sonics. If you’re not looking for the collectables within the levels the games do feel more straightforward.

It is a shame that the two Game Boy Advance games didn’t make the collection, although it’s not a surprise for the focus to be on the original two games. If you don’t have the means to play the original games without having to get out the old consoles or you’re a newcomer to the series, it's the opportunity to play these beloved games.

While I have played the original Klonoa many years ago, it was also the original PlayStation version. Quite a bit has changed since then, given the version here works from the Wii remake. The bigger fans of the series will likely be able to tell you if the game still controls the same, or performs the same as it did in the original. Unfortunately, I can’t help you there, but having played the Switch version I can say it does run nicely. If the framerate dipped or dropped it never happened noticeably. The games also happen to look good, with the original of course getting the benefits of the Wii remake in bringing it more in line with the sequel. 

Additions to the collection include difficulty settings. You can either keep the traditional reach of the wind bullet and the original amount of health, or you have the game be more generous with both. 2 Player Co-op is also included, however it is quite limited. The second player doesn’t get their own character, but they can give Klonoa an extra boost while player 1 stays in control. 

It’s good to see Klonoa getting a chance to shine again, Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series is an opportunity for more to play these cult classics. It’s also good to see a Switch version of a multi-platform release runs well, it’s definitely the console I want to play it on. Hopefully this isn’t the last we see of Klonoa, for now it’s worth the revisit.