One of the more underrated and underappreciated series when it comes to retro games is Namco’s Klonoa. The first game, Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, is widely considered to be the first attempt at a platformer with 2-D gameplay and a 3-D rendered background. The style would later come to be known as 2.5-D, but it was rare to see it in a time when the industry was pushing for more and more realism in games.
The first game was remade for the Wii, and while it had some cool extra features, I just wasn’t a fan of the voice acting. I much preferred the cutesy pseudo-language spoken by Klonoa and friends in the original games. I’m probably in the minority in that regard.
So, in celebration of this classic series, the oprainfall Retro Commercial Research Team–in other words, me–has dug up some interesting TV spots for the little… uh, what kind of animal is Klonoa supposed to be, anyway? While many of the ads are from Japan, I did find one in English. Enjoy!
This weekend, PAX Prime is happening in Seattle. We’re covering the event so make sure to stay tuned to see all the impressions and interviews we’ve got in store. Here’s what we’ve got so far:
PAX Prime 2015
- PAX Prime Impressions: MTG Puzzle Quest
- PAX Prime Impressions: Armello
- PAX Prime Impressions: Necropolis
- PAX Prime Impressions: Behemoth Games
- PAX Prime Impressions: Enter the Gungeon
- PAX Prime Impressions: Choice Provisions
- PAX Prime Impressions: Mekazoo
- PAX Prime Impressions: Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Here are the highlights from the past week:
REVIEWS & PREVIEWS
- REVIEW: Sword Art Online Re: Hollow Fragment | Steve Baltimore
- REVIEW: Replay: VHS is Not Dead | Phil Schipper
- REVIEW: Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess | Justin Guillou
- IMPRESSIONS: Armello | Tom Tolios
- (18+) EROGE REVIEW: Sweet Sweat in Summer | Benny Carrillo
- RETRO REVIEW: Metroid: Zero Mission | Justin Guillou
ORIGINAL CONTENT
- Oprainfall’s Top 5 Anime Girls From the Classroom
- Mid-Season Review: Rokka – Braves of the Six Flowers
- Last Week’s King and Kong (August 17-23): Police Grumps
- Toku-talk: Jetman: The Power Rangers That Almost Was
- Campaign Hub: Operation Zero For Physical Edition of Fatal Frame V
- Total Control 45: Minecraft Needs to Stop (PODCAST)
- 2 Cents – Fatal Frame (VIDEO)
NEWS
- UPDATE: Nintendo Reveals Xenoblade Chronicles X SE
- Fatal Frame 5 Will be eShop exclusive for Wii U in NA
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Editions Revealed
- UPDATE: Shovel Knight amiibo is Real! Pre-orders are Live
- PlayStation Vita Settlement Messages Sent Out to Early Adopters
- Boston Police Prevented Possible Violent Attack Plot at 2015 Pokémon World Championship
- PRESS RELEASE: Nintendo’s 2015 Releases
- PriPara’s Outro Censored; Deemed “Highly Inappropriate”
- Senran Kagura Has Sold One Million Copies Worldwide
Also, don’t forget to check out Operation Recap on our YouTube channel for an alternate take on this week’s news.
And, as always, if you have any ideas or suggestions for retro commercials, let us know either through Facebook, Twitter, or just leave a good old-fashioned comment below.