Marsupilami Hoobadventure

About the Game

Game:Marsupilami Hoobadventure
Genre: 2D Platformer
Consoles: PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch
Published:Microids
Developers:Ocellus Studios
Released: November 2021

Marsupilami is a famous comic book character made in 1952 by a belgian artist Andre Franquin. Marsupilami became very popular since its initial release and became a hit series amongs France and Belgium. Originally Marsupilami was a side character a pet to the main protagonist of the given story. However it was only a matter of time until the creators took the character from a simple pet and made its own unique spin off comic. Despite not being the excact same from the main show, the new marsupilami became an instant hit which spread worldwide and beyond just a comic. With it becoming multimedia the hero's popularity skyrocketed.

In the world of video games, despite its massive popularity Marsupilami only had 1 video game made in 1996 for the Sega Genesis called Marsupilami. In November 2021, the developers Ocellus developed the game Marsupilami Hoobadventure which is available in all platforms. Ocellus is a popular indie studio which worked on games like Asterix & Obelix XXL3 and the popular game Clash of clans. The studio's publisher is once again Microids with whom they worked with in the past multiple times and will soon be working on the 3rd main Smurf game. Marsupilami Hoobadventure turned out to be a great game that went relatively unnoticed as not many people re talking about it despite its high rating from fans and critiques alike.

The game is released as :

A Stand Alone game
Tropical Edition: Including stickers and a double sided door hanger.
Collector Edition: Including the tropical bundle and a 14cm Figurine.
Multibundle Edition: The game is usually included in bundles with other License titles like Smurfs, Asterix, Garfield and others.

Story of the Game

The plot of the game is simple and very straight forward. The oppening cutscenes introduces us to out three Marsupilamis Punch, Twister and Hope. Two of them were sleeping at their house in a beach at Palombria where a Sarcophagus was washed asshore. Twister who was awake found the Sarcophagus and began hitting it out of curiosity. Out of the blue a Mummy came out (which the game kept nameless) which was not happy from being awaken from its slumber. The mummy proceeds to curse all the animals around Palombria and puts them under it's control. The marsupilamis however are not affected by its curse and they proceed to chase the mummy in order to stop it. Not only will the heroes chase the mummy in their familiar areas but also in a land long forgotten by time where carnivorous pretadors are still around.

Thoughts on the story

I personally found the story of the game it's weakest part. To be honest the game didnt need to have a complicated story nor a well developed one, afterall, the story is set around Marsupilami. However, the game failed to this matter due to its lack of presentation. For example, we were introduced to the Mummy enemy and by the end of the game the villain doesnt even have a name. What are we meant to call it, why was it in the sarcophagus, why does it curse the animals(given it doesnt even act that bad) and how do we stop it(as in how do we reverse the curse, its like the game just cures them at the end of each level.). The game doesnt even have alot of cutscenes to escort the story and no spoken dialog through third party characters.

Gameplay

At the start of the game, the players are dropped in the hub world. The hubworld only shocases the levels of the given island. Theres a total of three main islands and one hidden world. Each island has its own ammount of levels that the player will have to clear in order to proceed. The levels re seperated in two categories,adventure level and Dojo levels. The other thing the player can do in the hub world is changing the Marsupilamis. The hero in use DOES NOT affect the gameplay. All three of them are the exact same and re simply reskins.

The adventure levels are 2D platformers where the player gets control of the hero. The main objective is to move all the way to the end of the level by avoiding any enemy and jumping from platform to platform. The players are only given three main action commands.

Stomp: With a tap of a button the marsupilami can use its tail as a drill in order to break objects and open paths that re blocked.
Punch/sprint/tail: With a tap of button, the Marsupilami will use its tail as a punch to hit its enemies. If the player is moving around and constantly taps the button, the player will use its tail as a wheel in order to move faster. Any enemy hit whilst the player is moving with its tail will instantly die. When the level offers grapping items the same button can be used in order for the player to throw its tail on the object and hang it self around it
Jump: With a tap of another button the player can jump over obstacles. Jummping on top of enemies will also kill them similar to every super Mario game ever.

In every level there are Hooba fruits, which the Marsupilamis collect and eat. There are two types, normal and golden. Normal fruits count as 1 and gold ones are worth 5. Every 100 fruits are equal to one life. At the end of each level there is a giant fruit that the player will have to tap a button in order to get points. The ammount of times the player pressed is equal to the ammount of fruits the hero will receive. Each level has two types of collectables rainbow feathers and Dojo Portal. When a player collects a feather, a board appears that shows how many are left. Each feather represents its location on the level. E.g If marsupilami collects a feather and its placed on the second slot, it means the player already missed one that was meant to be found prior to the location of the current one. This is an effective way to tell the player where more or less a feather is placed.
The feathers are unlocking parts of the collectables found in the gallery such as art of the game and 3D models. They can also unlock levels locked behind x ammount of feathers.

Dojo levels on the other hand are small squared levels that usually test the abilities of the player. During these levels the player is one shot and has to do a certain objective within a given time. Simple stuff like :

Collect rings within time
Survive for x ammount of time
Break the crates before time
Eliminate (this type) of enemies in time

A single hit can be game over. The dojo levels exist in every adventure level but also in the hubworld with harder/longer objectives. The portals unlock soundtracks in the Gallery.

Post Game Content

This type of games usually only have the same ammount of post game. First of all Collecting all the collectibles is always a nice activity to keep you revisiting the game and clear all the objectives. After a level is cleared, the Time trial is unlocked. The players will have to clear the level within a certain ammount of time. The levels remain the same but all the collectibles are removed allowing you to focus on the race. For the achievements of the game receiving a medal is all it takes to be unlocked, no need to be gold. The hidden world, aka the island of the dinasaurs has another type of challenge. These are Cataclysm> levels where the lava is a constant threat that can kill the enemy. The levels are filled with lava that is rising or simply replaces the floor with lava and the player will have to be precise with his movement.

Sound and Graphics

The game's art style is very similar to the Marsupilami reboot show. The heroes have very nice animations especially with the usage of Marsupilami's long tail movement. The cutscenes are very few which make me wish they added more as their quality was nice. However, there is still some lack of overall animations, as the boss for example plays the same animation over and over. The same can be said with the enemies as they all have very few (polished) animations. The level design is very good looking with nice backround sceneries and good platforms to manuver around.

On the other hand the music is very mediocre. It works well for the show but it doesnt have any music that you will hear after finishing with the game. It works well whilst playing but doesnt stay in memory, is simply okay.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion Marsupilami Hoobadventure is a fun 2D platformer, that i wouldnt recommend to just anyone. If the player is of a younger age, this is a perfect game. Its a simple 2D platformer with a very simple and straight forward narrative. If this game is directed towards someone like me(25+) then this game is simply okay. However, because of the fact that the game is as of now 3 years old, its price is very low which makes it an excellent choice to get and spent a few hours on. For reference the platinum trophy can be acquired within 5 hours. Its also worth mentioning that the game does come with plenty of bundles which makes the choice of obtainning it all the more possitive. As mentioned despite the mid story, the gameplay is fun and very easy to get used to. Speedrunning the levels was always fun as the movement and the level design is supporting the ideology.

Gameplay of the Game

This is a video showcasing some of my time with the the Game