I remember growing up in the 2000s and seeing advertisements for a little know game produced by Nickelodeon and created by Avalanche Software known as Tak and the Power of Juju. even though I never got a chance to play it growing up, it looked pretty fun from what I remembered from the ads. Sort of a jungle-like adventure with many influences of ancient culture as well as mystical powers that come with having Juju magic. Now being an adult with more experience with Video games, can Tak and the Power of Juju hold up to some of the greater 3D platformers ever crafted?
The Juju elder Jibolba tells the audience (which is us) that there is a prophecy where the moon juju will be weakened by the evil Tialoc and turn the villagers of the Pupanunu tribe into sheep. Jibolba sends his lowly apprentice Tak to obtain Lok as Jibolba believes he is the mighty warrior that can stop Tialoc from his evil misdeeds. However, when it’s discovered that Lok has been turned into a sheep himself, it’s up to Tak to unknowingly take his position and thwart Tialoc’s plans with the help of friends such as Flora the moon juju’s daughter.
The story has a very cartoony and zany aspect that is mostly catered toward kids but is done so in a charming way without being too juvenile. Sure there are bathroom jokes here and there, but the games narrative gets by with its likable characters and interesting world building that while not totally memorable is still intriguing. The folks at Nickelodeon animation which is a subsidiary of Paramount had a huge hand in helping to develop the tone and personality of the entire game and it surly shows because the writing in the game is similar to what you’d see in a typical nickelodeon cartoon. Characters like Tak himself and Flora are just too charming to resist even if they can come off as annoying sometimes. There is even some good voice talent you may recognize such as Patrick Warburton playing Lok who adds his own brand of comedy to the film’s story. The story and characters may not be as memorable as the ones in 3D Mario games or Banjo Kazooie but it works just enough to make for a decent experience.
The gameplay doesn’t necessarily change up the 3D platforming genre but it doesn’t make it any worse either. You mainly play as Tak as he’ll be traveling all over the Pupanunu jungle to collect things such as Yorbles and Moonstones in order to progress further in his adventure to help fulfill his destiny. Along the way you’ll be able gather new weapons for attacking as well as magical juju powers that can be obtained by finding the circular tokens found in each world you visit. The game is a collectathon and you will need to gather a number of objects to give back to elder Jibolba so he can help heal the villagers turned into sheep. Of course this game is mainly aimed toward kids but its actually weird how many difficult spikes I ran into when trying to beat the game. they are few and far in between but sometimes there came times when the game will throw you a difficult curve ball in a less fun and more tedious way such as when you go to the temples to gather Moonstones. I appreciate a game aimed squarely at kids to make things more challenging for experienced gamers but if it took me a while to figure out how to get past certain areas, i can only imagine how long a normal kid would be stuck on certain levels when trying to beat the game. The controlling of Tak is very clunky as well as it can be hard to make precise jumps and avoid enemies swiftly. There will be times when you will ride on animals such as Rhinos and Emus to get to certain areas of a level but they are even more clunky to handle and hard to control. Then there are elements that break up the usual gameplay such as boarding down hills which sound fun in concept but much like the animals they are pretty hard to make precise jumps to reach necessarily collectables. It ain’t perfect, but this is gameplay I bet I would have loved as a kid if i did play it when it came out.
The graphics are very cartoony and stylized. Nickelodeon’s influence on the character designs and environments is very present in the final presentation and despite being a PS2 era game the game is still pretty to look it even at 480p. The atmosphere for the most part has a very lush jungle and even Aztec like scenery from the temples to the small adobe hut villages. The game’s style goes all the way with its theme of mystical juju spirits and the almost African like ways of living. Each world you visit does blend together after a while but every one of them is filled with jungle animals and interesting layouts. It is unclear who has done the music for this game, but it is very fun and easily inspired by tunes that you’d most likely hear in a jungle adventure It’s not gonna knock your socks off, but the visuals and music set out to be colorful and unique and they mostly have succeeded to an extent.
If I did play this game as a young kid, I probably wouldn’t have been able to beat it, but I would have at least enjoyed myself a whole lot. Avalanche studios would go on to make sequels to Tak and the Power of Juju as well as make other videos games like the Toy Story 3 Video Game and the Disney Infinity games. I’m all the more curious to see if the sequels that follow the first Tak game would be able to improve upon what this game started. Heck it wouldn’t be a bad idea to remake this game for a new generation of gamers. I’m glad i played this game and i honestly wouldn’t mind playing it again sometime. If your looking to play this game, try not to go in with high expectations but do expect that you’ll be in for something decent and a lot of fun if you are in the right mood.
(Final Grade: B-)