Tamiku is an arcade release from Josyan and Ratalaika Games in which your goal is to pop every balloon in the galaxy. Check our Tamiku review!

You are an alien from a distant galaxy who is totally obsessed with blow up balloons. Having popped every last balloon on your home planet, now you must venture to other worlds in search of more balloons to pop.

In Tamiku, the game begins with a small story segment in which the main character – Tamiku – shows how he loves to pop balloons. He popped every balloon there was to pop in his home planet, so he goes into space to find other worlds with balloons that are waiting to be popped. The story is silly, but with this being a retro-infused arcade-style release, a strong story wasn’t really necessary.

In each level, you have blue balloons that can be popped by walking over them, and red balloons, which requires you to press the X button a few times before they pop. The level design is minimalist and did remind me of some games early in the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) cycle, from games such as Balloon Fight and Ice Climber. Each level takes on a single screen, so you’ll always know what to expect.

 

For every level that you’ll take on, there will be some enemies and hazards to avoid. Enemies will be moving around each floor of a stage, and there could also be some erupting barrels to keep your eye on. You only have three heart containers, and once those are gone, you have to start over. Most enemies will move around within a fixed path, making it easier to avoid them, but there are some that will give chase or have a bit more of a random movement path.
Once you’ve gotten the hang of the gameplay, the levels will feel very easy, and you might even manage to beat them with a single life! You’ll learn as you go, and if you end up losing all of your heart containers, you’ll just have to press the X button at the Continue screen to carry on in the last level you reached.

 

There’s also a bonus level that you can play at set intervals, which mimics the gameplay of Ballon Fight for a bit, which is one of my favorite arcade releases on the NES. At this level, you have to press the X button to fly around the screen while popping red and blue balloons. The bonus level was a fun change of pace from the single-screen 2D platforming sequences,

As for the trophies, the list for Tamiku is really straightforward and is composed of eleven Gold trophies that will then net you a new Platinum trophy. To get all of them, you only need to complete the first eight levels of the game, as well as a bonus level, which, based on your skills, shouldn’t take more than 30-40 minutes at most.

 

 

Should you play this game? If you’re looking for a quick new Platinum trophy, then Tamiku is entertaining and an easy game to recommend. The gameplay is fun and really represents the type of games you might have played way back during the early days of the NES.

Disclaimer
This Tamiku review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy provided by Ratalaika Games.