I was surprised to hear Baboon! was coming to PS4 after quite some time on the PS Vita. This is a colorful puzzler, which is a perfect time waster when on the go, so how does it fare on Sony’s home console? Read our Baboon! review to find out!

 

Baboon! has made it’s way to the PS4 with crisp 1080p visuals and a silky smooth 60 fps. You star as Tumbili who has lived in the village of Bananaville his entire life. Tumbili’s grandfather needs your help since an evil baboon pirate has made the bananas defy the laws of gravity, meaning they are floating in the air. That is not all: he also got involved with the Beetnick Band, a group of bandits and is causing all kinds of trouble, forcing all the monkeys to stay in their homes! You need to find out what the pirate and his cronies are up to, so that you can save the land before it is too late.

In Baboon! the aim is to scale the levels to make it to the finish line in the fastest time possible, but it’s not as easy as that sounds. You have a variety of hazards to avoid along the way as well as some nasty enemies. Get hit by an enemy or a hazard, and you have to repeat the level. There is no level randomization, so after some trial and error, you’ll be able to find the best routes to make it to the finish line in one piece.

To increase the challenge, you can’t jump. At all. This is where bombs come into play. You need to place a bomb somewhere very close to you and aim the cursor to make sure the thermometer on your right-hand side is filled to the top so that you can then press X for the maximum launch. You need to be careful with your aim and with how much power each bomb has so that you can make it to the next platform to rinse and repeat. There are lots of bananas to collect as well, but they are more of a bonus objective.

The dialogue is pretty funny, and the gameplay can be a challenge, but it’s not overly hard or frustrating. As long as you can beat the timer in each level, you’re set. Since you only have a single life and no checkpoints, each level must be completed in one go. Near the end of a world, you’ll enter into a boss fight that will test your skills as you try to learn its patterns so that you can be victorious.

As you progress through each world, you will unlock more types of bombs that will spice up the game quite a bit. This makes gameplay quite frantic, especially since the difficulty will only increase as you go. There is no difficulty setting to configure, so you can’t lower the challenge.

Baboon! is a fun little time waster that is very addictive. Not being able to jump completely changes the way you approach this fast-paced release, giving it a unique feel. The graphics are colorful and fun and match the feel of the gameplay, and there’s plenty of levels with some clever design that will keep you busy for a while. If you’re looking for an entertainable arcade-style release, then be sure to give Baboon! a try!

Disclaimer
This Baboon! review is based on a PS4 copy provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment Spain.