Lost in the shuffle of character based platformers like Blinx (ugh), Ty (ack!), and Voodoo Vince (that was decent admittedly), Tak was never given the credit deserved. His third game, The Great Juju Challenge, was arguably the best if only for the voice work of Patrick Warburton.
At its heart is a basic platformer from the previous generation, including fun, loose beat-em-up mechanics. Standard camera issues are abound and expected, but never to the point where they become a huge problem.
The story opens the world up to a competition between rival tribes to win some magical juice. This doesn’t translate into the gam eplay, which still revolves around a series of levels, but does allow for some additional fun with local drop-in/drop-out co-op. With only one player (likely all you’ll find to play a game from 2005), you can swap between characters.
Tak can handle most tasks, but sidekick Lok handles the power jobs like climbing. Their intertwined mechanics create a few puzzles, although nothing a child wouldn’t be able to handle. A timer always ticks down in every level to give the allusion that this is all a race, but it’s an excuse to avoid being looked down upon as a genre cliché. However, it’s not intrusive, allowing for plenty of time for those who like to explore to look around.
Despite aiming for the younger set, Great Juju Challenge actually delivers laughs for the older audience as well. Patrick Warburton voices Lok and remains one of the best voice actors working today. Visually, the title still holds up with colorful backdrops and sharp character models, and cinematics are full of wonderful comedic timing. It’s amazing how well this conveys its sense of humor to a wide audience.
While it may seem like a character not worthy of a trilogy of platformers, Tak is an understated, well-developed title. It’s a series that undoubtedly peaked with this third entry, especially with the co-op addition. This isn’t something you can judge by the box art and write off as a kids game. It’s well worth your time.
Tak - The Great Juju Challenge is rated E (Everyone) by the ESRB for Cartoon Violence. This game can also be found on: GameCube and PS2.
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