The Last Tinker: City of Colors (PC) Review

By Az Elias 23.05.2014

Review for The Last Tinker: City of Colors on PC

Remember the glorious days of 32- and 64-bit 3D platformers? 'Spoilt for choice' was an understatement. Even during the PS2 and GameCube years, there were still plenty of options out there for enthusiasts of the genre. Those games have dwindled massively in the last generation, although there has been a slight resurgence more recently, thanks to a few indie developers. After a quick look at the preview build of The Last Tinker: City of Colors, Cubed3 now has the opportunity to try out the PC release, to see if it reignites fond memories of those good old platforming days.

To call The Last Tinker: City of Colors a straight-up 3D platformer would be doing it a disservice, since it also throws adventuring and brawling into the mix, with some puzzle solving chucked in for good measure. Instead of manually jumping around for precision-based platforming, this game takes on a more linear approach to its gameplay, where crossing gaps is auto-jump based, like in 3D The Legend of Zelda games, and can even be compared to Assassin's Creed, with the main character, Kuro, hopping perfectly from stumps and ledges by simply holding the relevant direction.

Even though the gorgeously-crafted, colourful lands of Tinkerworld do indeed rekindle the nostalgic feelings of many platformers gone by, including Banjo-Kazooie and Jak and Daxter, The Last Tinker's more straightforward methods allow it to focus on other elements, and to present a much more story-oriented title. In fact, it bears a strong resemblance to Sly Cooper, going so far as to worm in some stealth sections to change up the gameplay, on top of evoking Psychonauts impressions, due to the type of exploration applied in the semi-open worlds.

That's a lot of comparisons to past video games, but when such a title comes along in a genre that has been dormant for many years, mixing in different aspects from others, it's hard not to be reminded of so many good examples.

This is by no means a collectathon, though, with hundreds of little items to scout for à la Banjo-Kazooie or Spyro the Dragon, but there are some well-hidden brushes to snuff out, serving to unlock goodies and cheat modes (another much-missed feature from the golden ages!), like big heads, a combat arena and artwork. Due to how tedious those old Rare games, in particular, managed to get for quite a few people, The Last Tinker seems to have found the right match, limiting collecting to a strictly optional endeavour.

Screenshot for The Last Tinker: City of Colors on PC

It isn't fully open world, and so becomes a very good game for the younger audience. The next goal is written in a corner of the screen, and a handy button press steers players in the right direction. Puzzles can sometimes require some thought, but are never too difficult, and there are a few different powers to collect that play parts in progression and in the combat side of things. The beat 'em up style comes to light when taking down enemies, as combos and unlockable moves allow for a fun way to defeat them, rather than the old Mario method of stomping on heads. It can get pretty button-mashy, but the types of enemies on offer mean timing and other requirements, like breaking shields, become necessary.

Just as prominent as the gameplay is the story. With some darker tones than would initially be expected from such a vibrant looking game, the world is split into three coloured districts - red, green and blue - with the inhabitants of each sadly discriminating against each other, preferring to live apart. Tinkerworld never used to be like this, and the monkey Koru tries to unite them once again, at the same time having to deal with the evil Bleakness, which has been eating away at the lands, turning them into a colourless, broken mess. The Last Tinker touches on a discriminatory theme that is sadly all around us in the real world, but it does so positively and in a light-hearted and humorous manner; the many characters of the game have great personality about them, allowing many funny moments to take place, whilst getting the message across in an effective way.

A good story set in a lovely paper craft world, The Last Tinker: City of Colors does well in its job of appealing to the younger gamers out there, offering simple platforming, combat and puzzles. What it struggles with is actually managing to match some of the best platform adventures of the (g)olden days, resulting in a title that is fun to play, but doesn't quite do enough to stand out. With the sheer lack of 3D platform titles around these days, though, it fills that much sought-after void very well.

Screenshot for The Last Tinker: City of Colors on PC

Cubed3 Rating

7/10
Rated 7 out of 10

Very Good - Bronze Award

Rated 7 out of 10

With so many 3D platform adventures having come and gone, it is hard for new ones today to try and take their place, and offer something just as fun and unique. Having been so long since the time where gamers were spoilt for choice in the genre, The Last Tinker: City of Colors comes at a time where it is easy to initially be filled with joy when first playing it, being reminded of some of those great titles of the past. After a while, though, things do begin to get a little samey, with the button-mashy nature of the combat and simple, linear gameplay beginning to wear a little thin. However, for the younger audience, this is a great title to introduce them to, and the story is certainly one to appreciate.

Developer

Mimimi

Publisher

Unity

Genre

3D Platformer

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  7/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  7/10 (2 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date None   Australian release date Out now   

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