Game Review: New Super Lucky’s Tale (Switch)

February 1, 2020 Liam McNally Comments 0 Comment

Nintendo consoles have always been the best home for the platforming genre and New Super Lucky’s Tale is the latest IP to make an appearance on the Switch in the hope of finding an audience. Released back in 2017 along with the launch of the Xbox One X under the title ‘Super Lucky’s Tale’, New Super Lucky’s Tale is essentially the same game but with major improvements to the camera and the DLC packed in.

I first experienced this franchise at a gaming convention when trying out the Occulus Rift and Lucky’s Tale was the demo. And let me tell you – I freaking loved it! Being able to use the VR as your camera, you were able to see how far jumps were, easily look around for hidden areas and gems. After that demo, I continuously waited for the launch of the title on home console VR. Colour me disappointed when it came to the X Box One X without VR support. I still picked it up of course and while I enjoyed Super Lucky’s Tale, the camera was a significant frustration and overall, the game was a little too easy. Coming into New Super Lucky’s Tale, I was fully expecting it to be the same game but with the DLC (which I didn’t play at the time) to be packed in. But New Super Lucky’s Tale is in fact a lot more than just a port.

But before we get into the details, here’s what New Super Lucky’s Tale is all about. You play as Lucky, a little fox who needs to help his sister protect the Book of Ages. But when the pages from the book are stolen, Lucky must travel between all the worlds within the book to recover the pages and defeat the nefarious Jinx and his mischievous kids known as the Kitty Litter. It’s pretty standard platforming fare and thankfully is pretty short so you can get straight into the gameplay.

There are six worlds for you to complete beginning in Sky Castle and then moving onto Veggie Village, Wrestful Retreat, Gilly Island, Hauntingham and Foxington. Each world has it’s own unique flare and the developers have done a really good job of making these worlds vibrant and fun to explore. Within each of these worlds are doorways to other levels (think of the paintings in Super Mario 64). And what makes New Super Lucky’s Tale so fun is that each of these levels is different from the last one. One level could be a full 3D level for you to explore, the next could be a fully 2D level and the next could be a top down rail style gameplay. It keeps you on your toes which is something a lot of platformers don’t do these days.

In terms of controls, it’s pretty simple platforming fare. Control stick to run, the other control stick for the camera, one button to jump and another to whip your tail at enemies. If you’ve played Mario or any platforming game over the last twenty years then you’ll get these controls in seconds. In all, the gameplay in New Super Lucky’s Tale is very simple and somewhat too easy much of the time. This is a game aimed at a younger audience however so the difficulty is probably set about right.

Where the real gameplay comes in is in the collecting of items. In each level, there are 4 pages for you to collect. The first is for completing the level, while the second is if you find the hidden puzzle/area in each level and complete the challenge. The third is if you manage to collect 300 coins within the level and the fourth is if you collect the 5 letters that spell ‘LUCKY’. It’s all relatively easy but it does give the gameplay the element of making sure you explore each level to it’s fullest. And these worlds should be explored to their fullest because they are so pretty.

The difficulty does ramp up a fair bit in the final world ‘Foxington’ which is like a bonus world post story. I did die numerous times trying to collect all the various pages so if you are looking for a more challenging platformer, Super Lucky’s Tale does have it – you just need to make it to the end.

The issue that I have with New Super Lucky’s Tale however is in the lack of replayability. Once you’ve collected everything, there isn’t anything else to do. I originally played this game on the Xbox so upon replaying the game on the Switch, I did find the initial worlds I had already played a little boring because I had done it before. I don’t experience that feeling with other platformers like Mario. How Playful rectifies this, I’m not sure but I don’t see myself playing this game again now that I’ve completed it.

New Super Lucky’s Tale is a super cute game which is packed to the brim with charm. Some people might find it too cutesy but those people are wrong. This is a simple yet fun platformer that has real potential to shine with future instalments. If the Yooka Laylee game can go from mediocre to fantastic with one sequel then this surely means that New Super Lucky’s Tale 2 will be from good to fantastic. And I can’t wait.

Pros