Pandora's Box: The Ultimate GameCube Tier List

#53: Ty the Tasmanian Tiger

Rating: E

Players: 1

Price Range: ~$15 USD

A 3D collect-a-thon platformer.

Now, when we talk about forgotten B platformers, the conversation would be a crime not to include Ty.

Now, this game is much more familiar than Tak, but its sandboxy levels are arguably just as great if not better.

And boomerangs? Come on. Even I have to admit that they're really cool. You use them for attacking, gliding, and even grabbing ledges. Truly well done.

While everything is a little standard in terms of gameplay, the big selling point to me would without a doubt be its Australian influence.

Everything from the way the characters speak, the terms they say, and their species, including the enemies are all of the flavor of the Great Outback, and it truly makes Ty a memorable experience. The red sands, the rainforests, the beaches, it's all here. And that isn't without talking about the inhabitants, what with a cockatoo, wallabies, others characteristic of the islandic continent.

The main villain is also literally a cassowary, which are considered literal monsters in the wild. Truly well-done.

The script is also something that all the characters chew up with their taxonomy.

One of the more well-known examples is the checkpoint system.

You see, it's an outhouse. That's right, an outhouse, or a 'dunny' as they call it.

Why?

Because in-game, having an 'accident' causes you to end up there.

Yes, it's pretty stupid, but come on, you can't help but admire the sheer wit some of the writing and wordplay truly has.

The script and dialogue are just golden all things considered, and one could find great entertainment value in the voice acting alone.

Also, some of the music, especially the main motif is just iconic, especially for anyone who was born in the 2000s like I was.

Besides that, it is just a decent platformer. Sure, there are some loose bolts, but trying something different and not always landing in the center is better than being safe and boring stuff we see a bit too much nowadays.

Some of the levels are also hit or miss. Sometimes the stages are quite condensed, and others are so unbelievably huge, that it is admirable that they give the game some scale not really seen often at the time, but also makes it a real hassle to collect everything. Boss fights are also...eh.

However, probably the one kicker here is that besides nostalgia's sake, there is no real reason to play the version from this generation of systems since, well, the game and its sequel are on modern consoles and see discounts often despite the rather cheap price.

Still, some time throwing 'rangs as an...unfortunately extinct animal is definitely quite a good time.

However...