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KLONOA: DOOR TO PHANTOMILE (PS)
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Publisher: Sony.
Developer: Namco. Released: June 1998 (Europe). Genre: Psuedo-3D Platformer. Posted 9th May 2025. By Shane Battams © 2025 |
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With Sony keen to champion the PlayStation’s 3D capabilities, the Japanese giants would prove largely uninterested in pursuing 2D projects. It’s ironic, then, that one of the format’s greatest platformers would fuse the two to great effect. Klonoa: Door to Phantomile makes inventive use of its pseudo-3D perspective, while an abundance of charm and visual splendour make it truly captivating. It would prove a superb starting point for a consistently excellent, yet cruelly overlooked, series.
Klonoa dreams of an airship crashing into a nearby mountain, before the event duly comes to fruition. The hero investigates, along with his ring spirit, Huepow, only to encounter a being of pure darkness known as Ghadius. He aims to turn the land into a centre of nightmares, purging the dreams. This sets up an adventure across several lands as Klonoa meets various tribes and must contend with a determined rival in the form of a sinister adversary known as Joka. While it’s clear Klonoa is aimed at younger players, there’s some surprisingly dark moments and interesting twists that belie its kawaii exterior.
Charming visuals and clever gameplay mechanics make for a memorable adventure
Door to Phantomile is a wonderfully designed, eye-catching 2.5D platformer. Divided into around a dozen stages, each tasks you with reaching the end of an ever-increasingly complex course. Stages are intricate, with several side routes often leading to captured inhabitants. Klonoa can gain extra lives by collecting gems, or by finding Life coins. Visions often conclude with a boss fight, which force you to find their weaknesses and exploit them while tackling surviving an increasingly difficult set of obstacles. There’s some great use of perspective changes, including exhilarating rides down rollercoaster-like contraptions, alternate routes tucked into the background and one particularly memorable boss where Klonoa finds himself on a platform a swinging between the foreground and background.
Klonoa also showcases unique jumping mechanics. You can perform a smaller jump and glide, neither of which cover a lot of distance, but Huepow’s power helps compensate for this. You can grab enemies using the ring, which inflates creatures and allows you to either shoot them as projectiles or perform a double jump , slamming them downwards to destroy objects below. It’s a simple yet incredibly effective system, adding a wrinkle that no other developer has really tried to emulate since. Enemies evolve as you progress, and armoured goons, larger foes and mages conjuring fire prove a tough step-up for players.
Klonoa also showcases unique jumping mechanics. You can perform a smaller jump and glide, neither of which cover a lot of distance, but Huepow’s power helps compensate for this. You can grab enemies using the ring, which inflates creatures and allows you to either shoot them as projectiles or perform a double jump , slamming them downwards to destroy objects below. It’s a simple yet incredibly effective system, adding a wrinkle that no other developer has really tried to emulate since. Enemies evolve as you progress, and armoured goons, larger foes and mages conjuring fire prove a tough step-up for players.
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It’s the sheer variety Namco has incorporated that will keep you glued to the game. Rather than a continuous screen scroll, you’ll often find yourself needing to backtrack, which keeps players on their toes. Levels often throw in new kinks to change how you use your abilities. Larger foes will expand when struck, which can provide a new platform to scale higher. One level has a light/dark mechanic that sees foes becoming invincible, yet previously translucent platforms become solid. Later levels fuse multiple sections together, such as a late-game task whichtasks you with collecting four orbs in several locations to open the path. It’s incredibly well made and a joy to play. Problems are few, but include some frustrating spikes in difficulty and Klonoa’s tendency to perform a slight slide when he stops running, sometimes sending you over a platform. These are minor in the grand scheme of things, however.
It’s also a visual powerhouse for its time. Utilising 3D rendering, a la Donkey Kong Country, characters and creatures stand out visually amidst colourful and eye-catching backgrounds. Everything looks crisp and detailed, and moves along at a smooth rate. The few instances where FMVs are used are impressive, particularly the opening. Klonoa also boasts a fantastic soundtrack, one that utilises a range of instruments from flute arrangements accompanied by fast-paced drums, to joyous keyboard tracks which lend gameplay a carnival feel. The sound effects are quite clear and sound impressive, too. The game opts for gibberish voice acting which, admittedly, grates after a while. Outside of this though, the sound is great.
It’s also a visual powerhouse for its time. Utilising 3D rendering, a la Donkey Kong Country, characters and creatures stand out visually amidst colourful and eye-catching backgrounds. Everything looks crisp and detailed, and moves along at a smooth rate. The few instances where FMVs are used are impressive, particularly the opening. Klonoa also boasts a fantastic soundtrack, one that utilises a range of instruments from flute arrangements accompanied by fast-paced drums, to joyous keyboard tracks which lend gameplay a carnival feel. The sound effects are quite clear and sound impressive, too. The game opts for gibberish voice acting which, admittedly, grates after a while. Outside of this though, the sound is great.
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Door to Phantomile features some unusual boss fights, whilst its levels become steadily more elaborate
You can expect to spend around 10 hours to polish off Door to Phantomile. It builds nicely to a climactic, challenging conclusion, but there’s incentive to return. Finding all of the six inhabitants trapped in each level will unlock a bonus vision which, to be frank, is tough. You can also aim to earn 150 gems in each level if you’re feeling explorative.
In the end, Klonoa: Door to Phantomile is simply a must-own for anyone interested in the genre. With its inspired mechanics, fantastic level design and eye-catching visuals, even the most cold-hearted gamer will warm to Klonoa’s charm. When you also factor in a surprisingly dark storyline, a decent slate of content and memorable boss battles, it adds up to a superb platformer. In spite of Sony’s apparent ambivalence towards 2D gameplay, it’s proof that nothing can trump fantastic game design.
In the end, Klonoa: Door to Phantomile is simply a must-own for anyone interested in the genre. With its inspired mechanics, fantastic level design and eye-catching visuals, even the most cold-hearted gamer will warm to Klonoa’s charm. When you also factor in a surprisingly dark storyline, a decent slate of content and memorable boss battles, it adds up to a superb platformer. In spite of Sony’s apparent ambivalence towards 2D gameplay, it’s proof that nothing can trump fantastic game design.
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VERDICT"With its inspired mechanics, fantastic level design and eye-catching visuals, even the most cold-hearted of gamers will warm to Klonoa’s charm." OVERALL: 9/10 |
OTHER ENDEARING PLATFORM GAMES REVIEWED
World of Illusion (1992, Mega Drive)
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Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (2015, Wii U)
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