New Super Lucky’s Tale is a remake of the original game that was made for the Oculus VR headset. It is a 3D Platformer which sees us take control as Lucky, a young fox that has found himself thrown into another dimension alongside the Book of Ages. Said book was badly damaged from the travel and its pages have been scattered throughout many worlds. As such, it is up to us to reclaim these pages and hopefully make our way back home once this book capable of opening portals to new dimensions has been restored. Our journey will take us across six different worlds, most containing their own boss fight at the end thanks to the Kitty Liter squad, a nefarious group who wants the book for their own purposes.
After the opening cut-scenes to introduce to the story, we are thrown into the first world’s hub-world. This game is rather unique in that it each dimension has its own hub-world where you can explore to find both collectibles and mini-games, instead of it simply being set dressing to enter the actual levels. It’s a perfect little place to just get used to the controls and enjoy the beautiful environments Lucky’s Tale has in spades. In terms of controls, this is on the simpler side. We can jump, attack with our tail, and burrow underground to get past some obstacles or enemy projectiles. This “New” version of Lucky’s Tale also offers full 360-degree camera control. Very little will remind you this was originally made for VR. Ironically enough, it no longer offers Virtual Reality support, which is a questionable decision.
Each world has multiple levels to complete that can be tackled in any order. All of them have four Pages that you can collect, with only one of those being gained by completing the level. The rest will require you to either find them, collect enough coins, or gather all of the five letters that spell LUCKY. Besides the rare auto-running stages, none of them have any form of time limit, or lock you off from any previous areas if you progress. It is an interesting mix of collectathons like Banjo Kazooie, and more guided platformers like Crash Bandicoot. You are free to either explore every nook and cranny in these open-world levels or follow the main path for a more guided experience. Every dimension requires a certain number of Pages to fight the boss, but just doing some of the mini-games scattered around the hub-world will likely net you enough if you want to play in that manner.
One of the most disappointing things about Lucky’s Tale is the movement speed. You gain no momentum whatsoever as you run or jump your way through the stages. Either you are not moving or you are going at a light jogging speed. This could have easily been quite an issue if the level environments have been larger, yet they are all on the small side and very condensed in nature. There is little in the way of dead space as darn near every inch of these stages have something to do or collect. They did a great job masking the lack of speed and keeping you engaged, for the most part. It slightly falls apart in the few 2D auto-running levels, which while not terrible, are not all too fun as it takes away all of the exploration and spotlights the slowness at which you move.
Those are the exception, not the rule. Where Lucky really shines and you’ll be spending most of your time in are the 3D stages. As fun as they are to look at and explore, it doesn’t end there. They went the extra mile to include a ton of memorable NPCs in them, making levels feel like more than just an area solely existing for you to run through. From the rural American mid-western talking Worms, to the ex pro-wrestler Yetis turned peaceful monks, there is a wide cast of memorable characters to meet in each dimension. Your objective usually consists of more than simply reaching the end. There are mazes to traverse, chickens to wrangle, and giant beach parties with quite the deadly laser show to survive. Everything feels like an event in this game. You can’t help but feel excited to see what comes next and the flair they add.
This is one of the most charming 3D platformers I have played in a long while. Everything feels so carefully crafted and placed. It is a really lighthearted and humorous journey that feels solely made to entertain you from start to finish. Be warned though, if it is a challenge you seek, there is near none to be found here. Lucky’s Tale is catered more toward the younger audiences, with little in the way of difficulty to impede them. The exploration, puzzles, and charm are what will carry the experience for us older folk. Even collecting everything is a relative breeze. This is the kind of title you simply play to relax and unwind.
Gameplay-wise, it focuses more on brainpower than pure reflexes. You’ll have to figure out how to progress past an obstacle, rather than skillfully platforming your way through a stage. As much as the slow moment speed would bother me in near any other title, it is a none issue here thanks to how it is designed. Something I can criticize is the lack of variety in your skillset. It is the exact same all throughout. Lucky’s Tale lacks creativity in this department. There are no power-ups or gadgets to ever spice things up and add more depth than slowly running around & double-jumping. At most, you get a lantern that allows you to see invisible platforms. That was a pretty nice gimmick which I would have loved to see more of. Your attack is a tail swipe that can defeat almost any foe you face with two strikes. A few enemies require you to burrow under to flip them over before you can attack, and others only take damage from being jumped on. Nothing to write home about and encounters are over as soon as they begin.
The boss fights are a different story. You’ll take on a new member of the Kitty Litter squad each time and much like the rest of the cast, are all memorably charming. As cute as these feline fiends are, they pack quite the scratch compared to any other enemy. These require a whole lot more effort on your part, even though they are far from difficult encounters. Only five of the six worlds have them, however. This brings us into how abruptly the game just ends. There is a case to be made that there are only five worlds. You defeat the main villain on the fifth, and the sixth is nothing but a bunch of Trials containing no new levels in the traditional sense. That section of the game is where it starts packing a bit of a bite with some challenge to the player, yet it just felt oddly disjointed to the rest of the journey. It felt purely like bonus content and not a continuation of your prior travels. I have never finished the original Lucky’s Tale, so for all I know it very well could just be extra content thrown in for this version.
That final dimension is a mixed bag. It contains some fun platforming trials, some less than stellar combat-focused ones, and more difficult versions of the marble based mini-game. Said mini-game has your character trapped inside of a ball, and instead of moving Lucky as you usually would, you tilt the entire board in a direction to get around. These are the sections that reminded me this was originally a VR title. It is hard to perceive depth from the bird’s eye view you have and it will not be uncommon to miss a coin due to it, of which you have to collect all of them. This is hardly a big deal as they are still relatively easy, and the hit-box zone of where you can touch to collect them is rather large. Nonetheless, I found these to be by far the least fun sections of the game, and you have to complete around six of them if you want to get through the final dimension. They were just entirely optional mini-games on some hub-worlds up until then.
The other mini-game type found in some dimensions are sliding puzzles, which are completely optional. All of them grant pages if you complete them, yet are hardly necessary if you do more than the bare minimum to get through the stages. These puzzles were surprisingly fun and got far more complex than I would have imagined by the end. I couldn’t solve them with a single glance anymore then started taking them more seriously, as funny as that sounds considering it’s a children’s game. They were a blast, and unlike the marble mini-game, remained entirely optional for those that just want a platformer. Another aspect I enjoyed was the plethora of costumes to unlock, either by progressing through the game or collecting 100% of the Pages in a dimension. There are a ton of them to mix and match to your heart’s content to make Lucky look quite spiffy.
Much like our own world, getting these new threads requires cold, hard cash. In this case the golden coins you collect around stages. To further incentivize the player to collect some of those shiny gold coins and gems lying around, collecting 300 of them in a stage will net you a new Page. It sounds like a large amount, but it is a far simpler task than you’d imagine, and may occasionally find yourself reaching the threshold accidentally. They are scattered around like candy and gems are converted into tons of coins once you get your mitts on them. Trails of coins also double as a subtle way to guide the player through stages, or make it clear which areas you’ve already visited. If you are not into changing costumes, there is little reason to collect more than 300 for the Page, as that is all you can buy with currency. Or so we say, yet we platformer fans typically can’t see something shiny and not risk life & limb to collect it.
As for the replay value of previously completed levels, there isn’t much. Your main objective remains completed, so all there is to do is collecting anything that you missed the last time around. The experience is heavily reliant on its charm and sense of wonder, its gameplay alone is too simple to carry the intention of replaying levels for the sake of it. What a ride it was in the eight or so hours it took to complete, nonetheless. Better yet, it is one of the rare cases of a game having a playable demo. I strongly recommend giving that a whirl and giving the chance for Lucky’s Tale to hook you in. This is one of those times where the term ‘fun for all ages’ is perfectly suited to a product. While it lacks challenge, it gets so many other things right. It kept me thoroughly entertained with its whimsical playfulness in every aspect, ranging from its locations to the characters. New Super Lucky’s Tale is a great reminder that not every title needs to keep us at the edge of our seats or have over-complicated features. Sometimes a laid-back and simple adventure could be just as engaging if it is as lovingly made as Lucky’s Tale.
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