Tembo the Badass Elephant Review (PS4)
Developer: Game Freak
Publisher: SEGA
Platform: (PS4), Xbox One, PC
Release Date: July 21, 2015
MSRP: $14.99
Tembo, the Badass Elephant. Take a step back and let the title of this game sink in before you do anything else. Done? Good.
Sega and Game Freak have joined forces to make a game that is one of the simplest yet most difficult games I have ever played. Picking it up for the first time, it felt like I was playing Sonic or Donkey Kong Country so the nostalgic feeling was amazing for me, especially since it’s a new game.
The gameplay itself is simple; get from point a to point b, rescue some civilians, collect peanuts (think DK bananas or Sonic rings) and kick some ass. Our Rambo-esque buddy Tembo has a few moves at his disposal to pull this off like spraying water from his trunk, bouncing onto the competition like a boss and my personal favorite, charging right at whatever isn’t smart enough to move the hell out of the way.
There are a few boss battles that are fun and challenging, like the Scrap Dragon of Zone 1. Took me a little bit of time to shut him down though when I did figure it out, I felt kind of stupid. The game wants you to think, with simple puzzles and mechanics, but it also doesn’t rule out the possibility to just run straight at the enemies.
Speaking of enemies, aside from the boss battles, there are a variety of different ones to deal with. Standard grunts, a few different kinds of tanks, enemies with shields and so forth. Most of them can be taken out by simply plowing through them whereas others require you to jump, smash and uppercut (yes, I said uppercut). The game also packs one hell of a soundtrack that makes playing the game a blast.
As far as the plot goes, it is straight forward, told through some cool animations that show what’s going on. Enemies are attacking, beating our forces back until we unleash Tembo and start pushing the enemies back.
For the price tag, the game is fun, albeit a little on the short side but my inner completionist kept going back to try to get all the enemies and civilians for each stage. Otherwise, buy this game. It is a blast to play, and with no major voiceover, you’ll find yourself making random statements as you play. Or maybe I just did.
“I came to kick ass and collect peanuts. And it looks like I’ve got all the peanuts.” (I actually said this, among other things, while playing.)
9/10
Tembo the Badass Elephant Review (PS4) – Playstation Insider
@ The name.
