Pandora's Box: The Ultimate GameCube Tier List

#54: Tak and the Power of Juju

Rating: E

Players: 1

Price Range: ~$15 USD

A 3D collect-a-thon platformer.

Ah, yes, the first Tak game.

This and some more...upcoming entries exemplify the B platformer.

Clearly not as polished or as amazing as the greats, but still did something different, had its own flavor and stood out with their own experimentation, even if it didn't always pan out. Given that games today are unbelievably sterilized, it is no wonder these games are considered nostalgic favorites today.

The Tak games are no exceptions.

What a weird game.

You see, it is a 3D platformer in which you collect a whole bunch of things of little values to get closer towards a goal, to get the whole.

Now, I have some more to say than about its sequel, which was a mostly linear fare.

You control Tak with both two weapons and a set of Juju Spells to defeat enemies and to obtain the game's many collectables.

Perhaps the what is most iconic about the game would be the animal-based puzzles, in which you manipulate behaviors of several creatures (orangutans, rams, sheep, chickens, the whole bunch) in order to not only advance in the sandbox level design, but to also to snag the stage's many collectables. Many even have interactions with each other. It was definitely rather interesting. And that isn't even talking about the mounts.

I will say that this game has some meat on its bones.

An example would be the orangutan and the chimp in the tree. You see, you could use your staff to shoot an acorn at the chimp, who, thinking it was the orangutan, would throw a coconut at it, leading to the primate to move to that tree to launch them to kingdom come, which creates a great slingshot to someplace.

You have two weapons, a club and a staff. The staff is fascinating, as it increases your jump height compared to the club, lets you shoot melons, and increases your attack range while forcing you to a standstill while doing so. The club allows for longer jump with a vanilla double jump and forces hit and run tactics, but allows you to move while swinging it around.

However, the staff is mostly useless when you get the Magic Rattle, an upgraded club that does more damage than it, which is unfortunate.

Another interesting concept is the juju spells, which you can obtain from each of the game's levels.

You see, in addition to getting your hitpoints back, the game's levels have feathers lying out and about in limited quantity. You use these as your munitions for your spells, which have a variety of effects.

There is one that increases your movement speed and jump distance eat the cost of slowly burning your feathers, one that wipes the floor with a few enemies at a great cost, another that turns baddies into defenseless chickens, and even one that lets you summon a melon that can have a variety of functions.

Also, the music is actually quite great. In fact, the entire Trilogy's soundtrack is quite amazing.

However, there are many things that are...not super amazing.

I've already mentioned the Trilogy's humor, which is very hit or miss. Sometimes it is genuinely hilarious, other times it is quite childish and dumb, again reminding me that this is a Nick-published game.

Some quirks are also not very good. For example, there is a long jump in the game that is completely useless and is not used a single time in the entire game. In fact, you aren't told in game how to do it at all. There is a forced and overly long tutorial at the start that drags on and on.

Perhaps most baffling of all is the inventory screen. Such things are essential for any collectathon, but the GameCube version of the game have one of the most obtuse and obscure collection screens I've ever seen.

You see, in the PS2 version, you just have to press the select button, which is standard. However, on the GameCube port, in order to look at all the things you have, you have press the Z button and a direction on the D-Pad.

W-What!?

How on Earth is somebody supposed to know this? The only way you would realistically know is either have prior knowledge beforehand or have an instruction booklet, which is quite unlikely in both cases.

Also, some of the missions are...eh.

Oh, and you don't get the storyboard unlockable in the PS2 version that you get from collecting everything so...yeah.

Overall, a good time. Clearly, some parts are meant for kids, but for nostalgia's sake and for a low price, you'll have a unique, if familiar experience in your hands.