Back in the late 90s and early 2000s, 3D platformer mascot characters were all the rage.  One such character was Ty the Tasmanian Tiger.  And just like his extinct animal counterpart, Ty hasn’t been heard from in a long time.  Until now.  Originally released on PC ten years ago, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4: Bush Rescue Returns has been remade on Switch.  And surprisingly, it’s a 2D platformer, not a 3D one!  It may be to celebrate the game’s 10^th anniversary, or the whole series 20^th anniversary.  Help Ty and his Bush Rescue animal friends in Australia save the day as he runs, jumps, and uses his boomerangs to attack.  Interestingly enough, the makers of this game, Krome Studios, are also based in Australia.  They also made Game Room, which I played a lot back on the Xbox 360.

Anyway, in this game, Ty can run, jump, and glide if you hold down the jump button while in the air.  He can also throw boomerangs that slightly hone in on targets and are very quick. And you  have a bite move that you mostly use to chomp on these propeller things to reach high places, or to deliver a blow to a boss character.  As you play, you’ll meet with all sorts of Australian animals and members of the Bush Rescue Team who will need your help.  You’ll have main goals and secondary goals where you must collect koala kids, special fruits, and more.  But the most important thing to collect are opals, which are these red ball things that are scattered all over the place.  You can use these to buy new boomerangs in the shop as well as different outfits for Ty.  Other collectables include pieces of pie to restore your health.  After you defeat a boss, you’ll get a special boomerang that has elemental powers like fire or ice, which can help you burn obstacles or put out fires, depending on the situation.  If you lose all your health, you must start over at the last checkpoint (which looks like an outhouse).  Luckily you get unlimited lives and continues.

I had a few minor problems with this game.  Sometimes goals and objectives were a little unclear, and the controls could be a bit squirrely at times.  The game also isn’t very long and doesn’t really do anything new to add to the 2D platforming genre.  I can think of a lot better 2D platformers, but this one isn’t too bad.  If you can’t get enough of these kinds of games, you may want to give this one a try.

Kid Factor:

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4: Bush Rescue Returns is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Fantasy Violence.  Your enemies are cartoony animals like frilled lizards who just disappear in a puff of smoke when defeated.  When you run out of energy, you just fall over and start back at the last checkpoint.  Reading skill is helpful for the text, but most of it has spoken voice along with it.  Younger gamers may need help with the tougher obstacles.

Tags: Game Reviews