I truly love pleasant surprises during PAX, and Mekazoo certainly qualifies. All I knew before playing it was that it was a platformer wherein you controlled mechanical animals. What I did not know was that you can switch between animal forms on the fly to traverse your environment. According to the press release, your mechanical friends have been transformed into monsters by insectoid forces. By defeating these corrupted friends in boss fights, you unlock their true form, and can switch between them. In the demo, you only had access to two of them, an armadillo and a frog. The armadillo can roll up curved surfaces, and the frog can jump and use his tongue to grab distant objects. According to the official website, you will also have access to a wallaby, panda and pelican.
What especially impressed me about the game was how intuitive the controls are. I jumped in with no tutorial whatsoever, and instantly grasped the basic mechanics. I had absolutely no difficulty rolling up surfaces, switching midair into a frog, and grabbing a platform. The game is also beautiful, using bright neon colors and lots of vivid backgrounds. If you liked the Donkey Kong games but want a little more mechanical flavor, I strongly recommend Mekazoo. It is slated to release sometime in Q1 of 2016 for PC, PS4, Wii U and Xbox One. In the meanwhile, check out the official website to see what I’m so excited about.
