Review cover New Super Lucky's Tale (Nintendo Switch)
Official GBAtemp Review

Product Information:

  • Release Date (NA): November 7, 2019
  • Release Date (EU): November 7, 2019
  • Publisher: Playful Corp.
  • Developer: Playful Corp.
  • Genres: Action, Adventure, Platformer, Arcade

Game Features:

Single player
Local Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Co-operative
Nintendo hardware has always been a fond home of quality 3D platformers, but does Lucky have what it takes to stand proud next to the titan that is Mario?

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Lucky is a name I didn't know. Debuting in a launch title for the Oculus Rift in Lucky's Tale, and later coming to PC and Xbox One in Super Lucky's Tale, the fox eluded me as a mediocre attempt to kick off a new cutesy mascot platformer. I dismissed him outright, but looking back now, perhaps I was wrong to do so.

Taking a leaf out of Mario's book, Lucky returns in a confusingly titled game for the Switch, New Super Lucky's Tale. What makes this particularly odd is the fact that this is, as it happens, not a new tale, instead expanding upon the original ideas shown in Super Lucky's Tale. While with many a different game, this would usually mean a few updated graphics and maybe a bonus level or two. Our foxy friend however finds himself embarking on a completely different adventure, following the same story and the same overarching structure. As an outsider looking into the series, I feel it best to describe it as a do-over, Playful Corp's realisation there was something more lurking in their previous ideas that they just wanted to take in another direction. Though I can't speak of the original game's quality, I can say this version does not disappoint.

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Opening with a fully-voiced cutscene to set the stage, Lucky starts out strong. The antagonist, Jynx the cat, tried to steal the all-powerful book of ages. He fails, and Lucky gets pulled into a separate world with its now-separated pages after a bit of a scuffle. The general cycle sees you be transported to a world, collect some pages, beat one of Jynx's crew, and head to the next world, eventually ending up in a showdown against the big kahuna himself. The gameplay loop is simple and familiar, evoking fond memories of Super Mario 64. Each of the game's six worlds are broken down into self-contained levels, along with a hub area; to draw an easy comparison, the castle and its paintings. Each level has four pages up for grabs: one for completing the level, one for collecting 300 coins, one for finding each letter of our protagonist's name, and one secret one, often hidden behind an optional puzzle or platforming challenge. Ranging anywhere from traditional 3D platforming, to short questlines, to 2D platforming, and even runner sequences, the levels constantly found a way to keep me engaged. No two levels felt the same, each surprising me in their ability to stand out in what I otherwise assumed to be a generic by the books game.

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Graphically and stylistically, the game oozes charm. Each world has a theme, with each level revolving around a central idea matching the theme. For example, in the second world, Veggie Village, you have a town of farming worms facing the threat of machination as the Kitty Litter's genius inventor Tess moves in to make things more efficient. From this basic setup, you have a good mix of interesting ideas. There's oversized chickens that need to be freed from mysterious devices, there's a folk band that need to be reunited, you help the Carrot King himself oust the garlic menace—there's even a 2D level focused on avoiding what I can only assume to be spiky fruit. To fall back to a simple word, it's fun—brilliantly so. I can without reservation say I haven't had this much fun with a 3D platformer since Super Mario 64. There's life in every part of the game, from the Sims-esque garbled and yet somehow emotive language, to the bizarre themes and self-serving yet ever-amusing Kitty Litter, to the challenges and quests presented to you in levels. It's a game a child could pick up and an adult could enjoy, and a large part of that enjoyment stems from the satisfying movement.

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There are small puzzles and challenges littered throughout the game too!

To me, any kind of platformer starts and ends with how it controls. Your character might be unresponsive, have a dissatisfying jump, an ever-so-slightly off hitbox, there could be a lack of feedback—any number of minor issues can completely ruin an otherwise brilliant game. Coming from, as you might expect, the stunningly refined Mario series, you get a taste for a control scheme that just works. You want a reasonable jump, you want to turn quickly, to hear a fun sound effect as you stomp an enemy. There are things you take for granted as standard, and there are things you really don't expect other platformers to nail in quite the same way. Lucky feels great, but it's not as seamless an experience as a Mario game might be. You have a double jump, a tail swipe, and a dive to burrow underground or slide along solid floors. That's it; on paper there's little to learn, with each part of the moveset being introduced in the first level quite enjoyably. The jumps feel great, providing ample height and distance, with tail swiping enabling you to go just that bit further if timed properly. Burrowing is fluid and natural, the animation weaving seamlessly in a way that makes you just want to keep doing it. Where you'll perhaps need a moment of adjustment is in the movement itself—turning in particular. In what I assume to be an attempt to create a more fluid sequence of animation, you turn in an arc, in oppose to turning quickly on the spot. It's a small difference to what I'm used to, but it was enough to throw me off until I got my act together. You definitely get used to it within a level or so, but I had a good bit of frustration for the first ten or so minutes as I learned the basics.

Outside of that minor complaint, there's really only one negative I can think of with New Super Lucky's Tale: loading times. From starting the game to getting to the main menu, it took 38 seconds. From the main menu to loading my current hub world, it took 35 seconds. From my current hub world to loading one of its levels, it took 18 seconds. It adds up, but for much of the game, it falls to the back of your mind. Around 20 seconds between levels isn't ideal, but the moment of respite to enjoy some well-written messages in the loading screen at least kept me entertained. That was, at least, until I hit my first runner stage. For those not familiar with the format, this kind of level sees you constantly moving forwards, the challenge lying in timing your jumps properly to collect everything as you go. As a completionist, I wanted to collect everything, but found myself greatly frustrated at the lack of option to restart the level. Missed something? 20 seconds to load back into the hub world, followed by another 20 seconds to reload the level. It's here the frustration kicked in, and it's here I really became aware of the loading times. It's a shame to see the game held back by such a trivial thing, but the more you play, the more you start to realise the wholesome messages of Greg the Mailgolem can't keep you occupied forever.

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Our wholesome Mailgolem and savior.

All in all though, New Super Lucky's Tale is a great game that genuinely shocked me. Going in expecting some malformed and unintentionally nightmarish mascot character awkwardly stumbling through generic levels, the charm offensive and overall polish caught me off-guard. This is a game that belongs on Nintendo platforms, and I can only hope it sees a proper sequel, even if it takes some time to load.

Verdict

What We Liked ...
  • Huge level variety
  • Enjoyable boss fights
  • Great dialogue
  • Polished and satisfying movement
  • Fun.
What We Didn't Like ...
  • Frequent and lengthy loading screens
9
Gameplay
Though it can feel a little stiff at first, the short list of movement options go a long way in making the game fantastic to play. With little to memorise, you always know your available options and can quickly execute them. Each of them brilliantly refined with fluid and satisfying feedback, the game is an absolute joy to play.
8
Presentation
With its bright and cartoonish aesthetic, Lucky will enchant you from the offset. Everything about this game screams charm—from its bizarre characters to its puzzle design and dialogue, it's a well polished and enjoyable experience.
7
Lasting Appeal
There's a good amount of content on offer in Lucky's six worlds. Each with a number of levels, which in turn have four objectives to fulfill, there's a good deal to keep you occupied. While I question whether I'll come back to this after 100% completion, I can say the ride more than justifies the cost.
8.8
out of 10

Overall

New Super Lucky's Tale is a game right at home on a Nintendo console. Featuring bright and colourful environments in a charming world full of life, it draws you in from the offset for an adventure I enjoyed more than some of Mario's. Though slightly frustrating for its loading times, it puts forward a great debut for the adventurous fox on the Switch, and I can only hope to see more down the line.
"Lucky's Tale, and later coming to PC and Xbox One in Super Lucky's Tale, the fox eluded me as a mediocre attempt to kick off a new cutesy mascot platformer. I dismissed him outright, but looking back now, perhaps I was wrong to do so."

I'm curious as to why now all of a sudden everyone is so hot on this game when as you mentioned when it was on XBO no one cared about it.

I know the dev added quality of life improvements, fixed camera issues and more, but was the platform shift the only reason to pay attention to it now? I'm just curious is all, I supported it when the XBO release came out, and will buy this version down the road, but I noticed a trend on YT and on your comment like this was some game that everyone HAS to play now since no one had heard about it before it came to Switch....really?

Thanks for the review, btw. ;-)
 
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I played the xbox version and the game was mediocre, looking into all the positiv reviews, is this a entire new game or what? the switch seems really to change perception of those games..
 
So.... it's a remake of sorts?
Yeah, kinda! It's the same premise as the original game with QoL changes and like... A complete overhaul of levels. As I said in the review, I think the best way to describe it is as a do-over, and a good one at that.
"Lucky's Tale, and later coming to PC and Xbox One in Super Lucky's Tale, the fox eluded me as a mediocre attempt to kick off a new cutesy mascot platformer. I dismissed him outright, but looking back now, perhaps I was wrong to do so."

I'm curious as to why now all of a sudden everyone is so hot on this game when as you mentioned when it was on XBO no one cared about it.

I know the dev added quality of life improvements, fixed camera issues and more, but was the platform shift the only reason to pay attention to it now? I'm just curious is all, I supported it when the XBO release came out, and will buy this version down the road, but I noticed a trend on YT and on your comment like this was some game that everyone HAS to play now since no one had heard about it before it came to Switch....really?

Thanks for the review, btw. ;-)
I think the fact it's on the Switch has done wonders for it, but when I was bringing it up with other mag staffers, I heard how the original Super Lucky was just kinda average. It could just be that this version is a lot better than the original and is getting more attention because of it.
I played the xbox version and the game was mediocre, looking into all the positiv reviews, is this a entire new game or what? the switch seems really to change perception of those games..
Yeah lol, basically a new game from what I know.
 
9
furry platformer > mario odyssey
music from mario odyssey is better except for jump up super star
ive been missing decent platformers for a while and i think super lucky's tale has a better level design than mario odyssey
 
"most fun platformer since Mario 64"
Thing is I would have put most of Rare's efforts on the N64 ahead of Mario 64, never mind the (admittedly small) selection of things that came afterwards. Mario 64 was playable enough but I mainly consider it a tech demo spun up into a full game.
Of course others might note my lack of taste here in that I consider Mario Sunshine to be a superior effort still.

Anyway nice to see such things being done by people other than Nintendo.
 
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I enjoyed the demo so much that I bought the game. I just realized that the game isn't compatible with cloud saving...but why? is there a way to cheat using a backup? I can see that with pokemon, but this game???
 
I enjoyed the demo so much that I bought the game. I just realized that the game isn't compatible with cloud saving...but why? is there a way to cheat using a backup? I can see that with pokemon, but this game???
Actually one odd thing I noticed after reviewing is that the game doesn't support ANY kind of game transfer, not even via local wireless. I didn't even know games could opt out of that.
 
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I just looked at my savedata list. it would appear to be the only game I have where cloud saving isn't supported.
 
Actually one odd thing I noticed after reviewing is that the game doesn't support ANY kind of game transfer, not even via local wireless. I didn't even know games could opt out of that.

That's something that should be as a warning in the review.
 
Its game play and style is definitely very 3d Super Mario meets Ratchet and Lucky was kind of getting lost on pc/Xbox. I think this game should and would do well on Switch and be a hit with kids, the price is aggressive for sales . I wish it well been having fun with it :yayswitch:
 
I think you can get the languages from switch backup manager (as long as you have the nsp/xci).

I found this: https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/41267/~/which-nintendo-switch-titles-are-compatible-with-save-data-cloud-backup?

it lists (afaik) all games that don't support cloud saving. aside from this, splatoon 2, and the pokemon games, no other game really interests me. though, I can't figure out why this particular game (new super lucky's tale) doesn't support it. it doesn't make any sense. I can see pokemon and splatoon 2 not supporting it, because there's the potential for cheating or undoing trades and whatnot.

btw, I'm up to world 5 in the game. :D
 
How is 8+9+7 a 8.8?
Anyway i really like the game but ultimately felt too old for this. My Son ( 2 yrs ) loved it tho
 
How is 8+9+7 a 8.8?
Anyway i really like the game but ultimately felt too old for this. My Son ( 2 yrs ) loved it tho
Verdict Box said:
Overall (not an average)
It's not an average of those scores is how lol. But yeah I think it's a great game people of pretty much any age can enjoy.
 
Review cover
Product Information:
  • Release Date (NA): November 7, 2019
  • Release Date (EU): November 7, 2019
  • Publisher: Playful Corp.
  • Developer: Playful Corp.
  • Genres: Action, Adventure, Platformer, Arcade
Game Features:
Single player
Local Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Co-operative

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