Kotenok is another low-cost ($5), simple platformer published by EastAsiaSoft. Other than easily adding 1,000 gamerscore to your Achievement total, Kotenok doesn’t offer much in terms of gameplay, depth, or replay value.
Playing as a tiny kat, the goal is simple – make your way to the exit flagpole. Stages slightly grow in complexity over the 50 available but the challenges remain casual throughout. Sure, there are moments of cheap stage design that were purposely created to force some trial-and-error restarts, but this 1-hour campaign isn’t completely terrible while it lasts.
Spikes are the biggest enemy in Kotenok as they are everywhere. Unfortunately, the play control is on the looser side and the hit detection is finicky so there will be frustrating restarts. There are no checkpoints but each stage might only take 30 seconds so they are not needed. The only gameplay gimmick comes from the double jump ability. While double jumping definitely makes the game more entertaining, it isn’t anything that has not been done before. The only way to defeat the few enemy types is to bounce on their heads Mario-style too.
The worst part comes from the misleading visuals. The pixel art is fine, albeit a bit small, but the background art looks interactive. It took me a handful of stages to realize the subtle difference between the foreground platforms and the non-interactive background art. These two planes confusingly merge so well, I wish the background layer was removed completely. This becomes a problem when you need to nail a very specific jump, thinking it is ok to land on a platform that actually isn’t there. There are also many dead ends, where it looks like something should be there, or perhaps a secret, but nope, there is nothing, resulting in confusing and disappointing stage design.
In an attempt to create some replay value, there are 16 optional collectables to snag. However, they literally do nothing other than appearing on the menu on the home screen. So going out of your way to collect these tiny squares does not give the player any added benefit or unlockable. In other words, once all 50 stages are cleared, there is no incentive to replay. Without a leaderboard, score, unlockables, boss battles, or extra abilities, there just isn’t much variety or excitement.
Kotenok is as straightforward and uneventful as a platformer gets. The double jump adds a little flavor to the gameplay but without a hook and outfitted with confusing visuals, the only reason to clear this campaign is for the easy cheevos.
SCORE: 4/10
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
X/Twitter: @ZackGaz
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