![]() Other times, however, the threats are more urgent, such as electrified walls that immediately KO Tembo-and are quickly closing in behind you while you dash through a labyrinth of conveyor belts. Often, solving puzzles depends on using your water correctly. By combining the dash and the spray button, Tembo can even burst through fiery walls. Like those of any good platformer, Tembo’s stages are littered with unique surprises and gimmicks, many of which involve the use of Tembo’s water-spraying trunk to put out fires, water plants that transform into useful objects, push platforms, and stun certain enemies. If you smash before thinking and observing, you may discover you’ve destroyed a path to hidden goodies. Don’t get too trigger-happy with your destructive urges, however levels are filled with secrets, like collectible peanuts (get 300 for an extra life), trapped civilians (ten in each stage), and hidden rooms. Some stages are locked until a certain number of Phantom enemies are destroyed, though if you play through each stage from the onset looking to cause as much damage as possible, these numbers aren’t very hard to hit. In fact, one of the main goals in each stage is to destroy as much of Phantom’s presence as possible: every enemy or vehicle you crush and each civilian you rescue adds to Tembo’s tally of destruction. The hazards play well into the stage design, a well-balanced mix of speedy dashing and bouncing around, careful platforming, clever gimmicks, tricky dodging, and even a bit of puzzle solving… oh, and plenty of crushing through barriers and buildings with mighty elephantine strength. Stone walls might not be able to stop Tembo’s charging rampage, but explosive mines and homing missiles sure can. ![]() And those aren’t the only threats: while the average Phantom lackey is easy to stomp, they’ll start bringing out heavy artillery and tougher-to-crush weaponry as you progress. You’ll realize how carefully your skills must be used the moment you first dash headfirst into a pile of cunningly placed explosive crates. But Tembo wouldn’t be a proper platformer without tricks, traps, and hazards. It’s so fun, in fact, that you might be tempted to just smash through everything. The sheer act of moving Tembo around-rolling and bouncing around the ground into a slide and then immediately following up with an upwards trunk-hammer bash-is a delight. Part of what makes Tembo so great is the slick, precise controls-you can seamlessly chain attacks and movements into each other, moving with fluidity and finesse. ![]() ![]() The more you play, however, the more it feels like a mix between the movement of Yoshi’s Island (aerial flutter jumps and ground-pounds, aiming Tembo’s water-blasting attacks) and the modern Donkey Kong Country games (spinning jump attacks and rolls). Tembo’s main attack is a Sonic Rush-styled dash attack that smashes through anything in its way. It’s up to our heroic pachyderm to crush the evil forces with his might-literally.īeing an elephant, Tembo is not normally a fast creature, but he’s got a whole mess of skills that make him a highly mobile platforming hero. One hope remains to destroy Phantom: Tembo, the grizzled war veteran with four legs, a trunk, and two massive tusks. The story of Tembo is ridiculous, even by platform-gaming standards: a mysterious evil force called Phantom has invaded Earth, and humankind finds itself backed into a corner, fighting against this strange, oppressive regime. After a long hiatus, it's returning to its roots with Tembo the Badass Elephant, which is one of the best 2D platformers I’ve played. Before it became famous for Pokemon, Game Freak was designing action games like Pulseman.
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