POSTED 27/7/15


TEMBO THE BADASS ELEPHANT

Game Freak/SEGA

“I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant’s badass, 100 percent!”

Imagine a war elephant with the abilities and attitude of Rambo. That’s Tembo and, as you’ve likely surmised by now, he’s badass. Recalled to duty by the National Army after the mysterious forces of PHANTOM invade Shell City, he’s a one pachyderm fighting machine who’s more than willing to throw his considerable weight around in the name of all that’s good and right and stuff.

Tembo the Badass Elephant is a classically styled platformer. It’s Sonic the Hedgehog with a significantly embiggened protagonist – and a bandana, natch. There are also nods to the likes of Mario and Yoshi. It comes to us via Game Freak, who are better known for their Pokémon games, and boasts their usual slickness. There’s even a “gotta collect ’em all” vibe happening, for as you rush headlong through myriad levels taking out PHANTOM baddies and their equipment, you must also scarf peanuts, save captives and score enough kills to unlock further levels.

That can be really bloody frustrating.

Also frustrating are the controls. Sure, there’s a brief tutorial of the cumbersome combos as you commence your tour, but make one slightly wrong move in the heat of speedy battle and you’re peanu- erm, penalised. Some may say fair enough, but when you’re sent way back to grind familiar ground after falling through – yes, through - a platform once again, you may emit words of a rather unsavoury nature. As you will when encountering boss levels.

This is all a shame, for Tembo looks and sounds faberoonie. Animation’s slick and there’s enough polish to keep Patrick Stewart’s bonce glowing eternally. There just wasn’t enough applied to the bolts and, well, nuts.

Instead of taking inspiration from ever-reliable fellow elephant Horton’s work ethic, somewhere Game Freak did a flibbertigibbety Maysie.

CLICK THIS!



CLICK THIS!