You’ve come a good distance, Timberman. The Huge Journey may be very a lot the bells-and-whistles platformer, however Timberman began out as a puzzle recreation on cellular. Timberman Enjoyable Recreation gave you an axe, a tree, and two buttons to press: left and proper. You whacked the edges of the tree that weren’t coated in branches, switching as you went. The problem was doing it at velocity. Anybody can dodge branches from left and proper, however are you able to do it at 100mph?
The following step for Timberman nonetheless wasn’t a platformer. That was Timberman’s foray onto console with Timberman VS. For those who’ve been close to an Xbox sale, you’ve in all probability been tempted by it. It’s perpetually lower than a quid. Timberman VS allow you to pivot from left to proper on a tree, however with associates. As much as 4 individuals may chop until they dropped.
Which brings us, lastly, to Timberman: The Huge Journey. That is Timberman’s massive commencement. Simply as Mario stepped up from bit-parts in Donkey Kong and Mario Bros to Tremendous Mario Bros, Timberman has discovered himself in a full-blown, lavish platformer of his personal. And he’s introduced a bear.
The bear has misplaced his household, and Timberman has abided by the lumberjack code by serving to him. Within the course of, he has chosen to tackle the whole lot of Evil Corp, who’re embarking on a program of mass-deforestation utilizing their big-rigs. Save the bears, save the guide chopping of timber.
The bear is alongside for the journey largely in order that Timberman: The Huge Journey could be a co-op expertise. Two gamers can play on the identical display, in an identical vein to the New Tremendous Mario Bros video games. If somebody falls behind or will get killed, they comply with behind as a bubble till the opposite participant pops them. It permits two completely different talent ranges to play collectively, and works properly.
The truth is, a variety of Timberman: The Huge Journey works properly. We needed to hold reminding ourselves that this was successfully the sequel to a one-trick cellular recreation. It is best to be capable to see that within the screenshots. That is within the prime tiers of 2D pixel artwork, not fairly reaching the realms of Useless Cells, say, however nonetheless stacked with character. For those who grew up on one of the best 16-bit platformers, then you’ll really feel proper at residence right here.
Every stage is a protracted one, taxing you for one of the best a part of ten, fifteen minutes. There’s not a lot to your goal – you’re aiming to get to the top the place an Evil Corp signal ushers you to the following stage – nevertheless it’s the journey that makes Timberman: The Huge Journey pleasing. For one, the degrees are Swiss cheese: in the event you bump and grind any given wall, there’s probability that you will discover a secret passage. In them are the letters that spell TIMBER (a basic platforming collectible), cash, or perhaps a coin-op machine the place you’ll be able to play a spot of authentic Timberman. You get one shot at enjoying this recreation and your rating will generate you cash.
We beloved how dense this made Timberman: The Huge Journey, as you are usually rewarded for all the pieces you do and all over the place you discover. We simply want there was extra of a payoff. There’s no store for spending your cash, nor are there achievements for gathering them. They’re largely there to amass 1ups, supplying you with extra lives for the degrees that comply with, however Timberman: The Huge Journey isn’t a very troublesome recreation, nor are there sufficient ranges to lose them in. So, the amassing had a barely muffled adrenaline rush hooked up.
The gameplay within the ranges is cut up properly between platforming (not of the precision selection: there’s barely a troublesome leap in all the recreation) and fight. For the latter, you’re given a weedy punch, a bottom-bounce-like slam, a mid-air rush-punch, and – the MVP – an axe throw. The factor is, we could as properly have solely written ‘axe throw’, as a result of there’s actually no cause to make use of the others. The punch places you in shut quarters, which is able to possible result in harm, whereas the rush-punch is just too erratic. We stored touchdown ourselves in hassle.
However the axe throw? Not solely does it journey a distance, nevertheless it blasts by way of enemies. After which it boomerangs again, taking them out on the return journey. It might do two hits to 1 enemy, must you time it properly, and you may leap away out of your authentic place in order that it slingshots throughout all the display. It’s busted. And it makes the opposite assaults painfully ineffective. It’s a internet destructive that it’s so dominant, however at the very least you’ve acquired one thing satisfying to make use of.
And satisfying Timberman: The Huge Journey is. It might not have any large stage set-pieces, outdoors of some boss encounters that act extra like chase sequences, nevertheless it does have some sprawling mazes, some half-puzzles that ignite the mind matter, and a few battle sequences that lock the display down and provides your axe-throw a exercise. It’s all above-par stuff, and an honest step past what we anticipated from a sequel to Timberman VS.
We simply want it lasted a little bit longer. Timberman: The Huge Journey is ready throughout three worlds, and people three worlds solely quantity to 4 ranges plus a boss in every. Certain, these ranges are ten minutes lengthy, maybe longer in the event you’re trying to find each collectible, nevertheless it nonetheless solely totals a few hours. It simply feels prefer it ought to be longer: we felt a dose of unfinished enterprise, as we didn’t really feel like we’d reached some extent of fatigue, nor did we really feel like we’d gone wherever. There’s a forest world and two industrial-themed areas, and so they bleed into one another. We’d solely popped down the highway.
Brevity isn’t at all times a destructive. Timberman: The Huge Journey could also be brief sufficient to confuse you on first playthrough, however what little is right here is good. It seems like a no-expense-spared remaster of a 16-bit platformer that by no means existed: by which we imply that it’s filled with allure and a few timeless stage design. Some busted fight threatens to pull it down, however ignore the imbalance and also you may discover yourselves waking up in a checked shirt and an enormous bushy beard.
