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New Super Lucky's Tale (Switch) is the most authentic and polished of all the recent indie 3D platformer revival titles
- Thread starter ScOULaris
- Start date
I think this is better than Yooka-Laylee of Hat in time. I really like this. Some 2d levels were not that great but 3d ones really give me that old feeling.
It was already a strong title on Xbox and PC, and this version is supposed to be substantially improved in terms of how it ends and how the camera is handled in a lot of areas. First-hand, I loved the underground puzzle levels in the original version.
I know that New Super Lucky's Tale doesn't generate a lot of excitement or discussion around here, but as someone who has been pining for the return of 3D platformers other than Mario for years now I feel that New Super Lucky's Tale is the best and most authentic of all the recent attempts from indie developers over the last few years. Yes, the game is too easy. Yes, it runs at 30fps. But taken as a whole, the feeling that I get from playing it is the closest to how I felt playing the AA platformers of the PS1/PS2 eras.
Games like A Hat in Time and Yooka-Laylee have been at the forefront of an indie-led revival of the 3D platforming genre in recent years, and both of those games had their own share of successes and failures with regard to capturing the magic of the vibrant, kinetic platformers that they sought to reference and emulate. NSLT is similarly focused on evoking nostalgic memories of older 3D platformers, but I personally feel that it is more successful in doing so than any other indie effort within this genre.
The villainous family of cats standing in Lucky's way are all full of personality and endearing in their own ways.
The game might seem a bit uninspired or overly derivative at first glance, but once you start playing it for yourself you'll see that it's crammed full of charming characters, diverse and colorful locales, delightful music, and easy-but-fun platforming. Running and jumping around these cartoon worlds stuffed with hidden collectibles as a jubilant fox makes me feel like a kid again, and my 2.5-year-old son loves to watch it just as much as he's loved watching me play through various Mario games.
You know that Playful did something right when a game like this captures the fascination of my toddler son because other similar games have failed to. He loves anything Mario, but when I showed him the Crash and Spyro remakes he lost interest quickly. Something about those character designs or maybe even the core gameplay just didn't hold his attention like Mario and now Lucky consistently do.
Do you like exploring hub worlds with doors to the game's various themed levels? Because I sure do.
To those of us who have been around for decades and lived through the last years of AA development on the PS2/Xbox/GameCube, a game like NSLT might seem like a comfy, albeit derivative return to an older style of game. But I could totally see younger kids getting into this game with fresh eyes now and looking back on it very fondly as their first memorable 3D platformer experience alongside games like Mario Odyssey.
I'll share this video that I came across as well because I think it does a good job conveying the passion of the team and their mission to create a new game with classic 3D platforming sensibilities:
It is easily the best one Liked a hat in time so far myself yooka laylee i never finished made it to the final boss and just kinda realized i was not enjoying the game and stopped
I really enjoyed the Xbox version of the game. It had some really great level design. Happy to see it get more attention on Switch!
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It's a pretty significant re-envisioning overall.
- Improved controls.
- Tons of levels have been redesigned
- All of the DLC has been merged into the main game
- Story has been totally redone
- New character introductions/cutscenes
- Vastly improved, freely controllable camera for the 3D levels
- Probably a bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting
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To be fair, the demo was just a modified small slice of the very first area of the full game.
Yeah I need to check some advanced platforming challenges on Youtube.
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I'm about three worlds/chapters into the game now, and it just keeps getting better. The theming of the worlds and the levels therein is consistently charming and interesting. I love how each one has an overarching story/conflict that is reflected in most of the levels therein and resolved by the final boss fight for that area. I'm a sucker for hub worlds and theming in my 3D platformers, so this game is checking every box I have other than difficulty.
It would be good to have all these improvements in the 60fps version of the game.
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Alright, I just got to the beach world, and I'm actually starting to get a little angry at how much this game is flying under the radar. It's SO good. I haven't played a 3D platformer this crammed with personality, color, and charm in forever. Watching all of the beach world residents jamming out to this sick beat from Lady Meowmalade is awesome:
My only real criticism other than a general lack of difficulty is how over-used the slide puzzles are and how low the page requirement is to unlock the boss door in each world. It kind of hurts the speedrunning potential of the game too, since I'd be willing to bet that simply running through nothing but puzzle levels would be the optimal path and not very fun to watch.
My only real criticism other than a general lack of difficulty is how over-used the slide puzzles are and how low the page requirement is to unlock the boss door in each world. It kind of hurts the speedrunning potential of the game too, since I'd be willing to bet that simply running through nothing but puzzle levels would be the optimal path and not very fun to watch.
So on which note:
Lucky's Tale
Super Lucky's Tale
New Super Lucky's Tale
Are they three different games, or are some expanded remakes of others? I've never quite been sure.
I rather enjoyed the demo and am considering picking it up, but was wondering if I ought to go backwards to an earlier title in the name of completeness first.
Lucky's Tale
Super Lucky's Tale
New Super Lucky's Tale
Are they three different games, or are some expanded remakes of others? I've never quite been sure.
I rather enjoyed the demo and am considering picking it up, but was wondering if I ought to go backwards to an earlier title in the name of completeness first.
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No need to go back. New Super Lucky's tale is the definitive version of the Lucky's Tale concept. These have more been iterations/expansions that sequels.
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Well, it's kind of like Spyro or other hub-and-spoke 3D platformers. You have hub worlds to explore, and the doors to the various levels are accessed from the hubs. Each hub world is themed, and all of the levels within it match that theme and follow an overarching plot/context. There are some 2D and auto-runner levels that are more strictly linear, which you might not like given your preference. The bigger 3D levels are pretty large playgrounds, however, and I find nearly all of them to have a lovely sense of scale that encourages exploration.
There's a demo out there. It wasn't strictly linear, but did guide you towards clear routes which were in themselves somewhat linear; Ratchet and Clank's level design is probably a reasonable point of comparison.
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Just keep in mind that the demo is a limited slice of the relatively small introductory area. Later levels are much larger.
Its not a very good game. Maybe if this was 1998 it might be though.
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Yes, but nearly everyone who has played both versions agrees that this is the definitive Lucky's Tale experience.
Interesting. I guess I'll give that demo a go when I got the time.
Better playing, but "definitive" means better on every aspect.
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I guess that's debatable, but what if it's better in twenty different ways but worse in only one? Isn't that still the overall best version of the game? I guess it depends on how much you weight that one inferiority compared to all of the improvements.
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Time for another update. I just finished the main game and am now dabbling in some post-game content while also revisiting past areas to 100% them (and unlock all of the remaining Lucky outfits). Here are my takeaways:
Cons:
Seriously, I'm not even joking. Yooka-Laylee was overall pretty bland and unpolished, and while A Hat in Time is good it also has its fair share of technical issues and occasionally slapdash, overly busy level design. When it comes to old-school, mascot 3D platformers New Super Lucky's Tale is without a doubt that best indie effort to date. I'm being 100% dead serious right now, and it kills me to know that some 3D platforming fans will not heed my praise for this game because of some preconceived notion about the game or having been unimpressed by footage that they saw or the demo that they played.
No. NO!
This is a truly fantastic 3D platformer made in the classic style but with just the right amount of modern flair. The amount of charm, diversity, and creativity put into every inch of this lean, polished experience is something to applaud. While Lucky himself veers into generic happy-go-lucky hero territory, all of the supporting cast and NPC's that you come across along the way are fantastic. Even the damn music is good!
Please, people. I beg of you. Even if you had your doubts about NSLT, if you're a fan of classic 3D platforming you need to play this.
Cons:
- 30fps with occasional frame hitches/skips isn't ideal
- It's a little too easy on the whole, although it isn't braindead by any means in the latter half
- Load times can be somewhat long for this type of game
- THIS IS THE BEST INDIE 3D PLATFORMER EVER MADE.
Seriously, I'm not even joking. Yooka-Laylee was overall pretty bland and unpolished, and while A Hat in Time is good it also has its fair share of technical issues and occasionally slapdash, overly busy level design. When it comes to old-school, mascot 3D platformers New Super Lucky's Tale is without a doubt that best indie effort to date. I'm being 100% dead serious right now, and it kills me to know that some 3D platforming fans will not heed my praise for this game because of some preconceived notion about the game or having been unimpressed by footage that they saw or the demo that they played.
No. NO!
This is a truly fantastic 3D platformer made in the classic style but with just the right amount of modern flair. The amount of charm, diversity, and creativity put into every inch of this lean, polished experience is something to applaud. While Lucky himself veers into generic happy-go-lucky hero territory, all of the supporting cast and NPC's that you come across along the way are fantastic. Even the damn music is good!
Please, people. I beg of you. Even if you had your doubts about NSLT, if you're a fan of classic 3D platforming you need to play this.
A youtuber I follow recently did a video on this version of the game after playing the original. I gotta say New Super Lucky's tale looks fantastic. if you are in the mood for a great an adorable 3d platformer this is 100% the game for you.
I'd be curious to play it. The VR original was fun but more as a novelty (and the overworld maps were really cool in a living diorama way). It always felt unfinished, simple, vanilla, and nothing I've seen of the two follow-ups seems that much different.
Moss took the concept a lot further. It'd be nice if more games tried something similar too.
Moss took the concept a lot further. It'd be nice if more games tried something similar too.
Don't get me wrong... it's a fun game and the mechanics are solid.... but authentic it is not. It's derivative as heck and most of it looks like it came out of a late 90's mascot-platformer generator.
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I see where you're coming from with regard to it looking like an amalgamation of generic 3D platformer tropes from the 90's mascot era of gaming. I thought the same thing about the previous iterations of Lucky's Tale on Xbox, and even going into this re-imagining on Switch I wasn't expecting anything earth-shatteringly original.
But I was genuinely surprised by the amount of personality injected into all of the areas, characters, and music throughout the game. Taken as a whole, I think that the game certainly stands on its own with a distinct personality that isn't cribbed from other platformers. Sure, its structure and some of its gameplay elements are all basically love letters to the classic 3D platformers from long ago, but it all comes together to form a much more satisfying whole that I was expecting originally.
The themes of some of the game's chapters/worlds are creative and well-executed, and the accented gibberish language given to all of the NPC's is handled well too. I just think that the game has far more character and personality than how it seems at first glance from the demo or having seen gameplay clips/trailers.
