Marsupilami is a European comic book character who is a fictional animal with leopard-like spots and a super long tail.  He and his friends live in the jungles of South America but remains relatively obscure in the US.  Die-hard Disney Afternoon fans like myself may remember some bumpers involving Marsupilami and he even got some shorts on Disney’s Raw Toonage 90s Saturday morning cartoon.  He’s also been in a few video games and I reviewed one about five years ago.  And here’s the sequel to that.  Some ghostly skeletons are using a magic boom box to hypnotize all the animals in the jungle, and now it’s up to Marsupilami and his long tailed friends to stop them!  Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia is a 2D platformer that plays very much like Donkey Kong Country.  It’s available on most current consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.

The game can be played solo or with two players at the same time.  In each stage you can switch between two of the three characters, but the game dictates which ones are in each stage.  Every playable character can run, jump, roll, and use their long tails to attack and swing from grapples.  Each character has their own special move you can use when you press the jump button twice.  The yellow spotted one can rocket forward and then glide down.  The brown female one can use her tail to spin and float upwards for a bit, and the black one can encase himself in his tail like a ball and bounce around impervious to spikes.

You’ll use those skills to defeat enemies, bypass obstacles, and collect fruit and musical notes.  Fruit can be used to unlock special levels and notes can open up the boss battles at the end of each world.  Also when you collect enough fruit in a level, you can replay it again in Salsa Mode.  In this mode a combo meter builds up as you collect fruit, which allows you to get even more notes.  Again, this game plays a LOT like Donkey Kong Country.  So much so that if Nintendo wanted to make another game in that series and Retro Studios was busy, the folks who made this game could probably do a good job.  Only minor problem is that it may be a bit on the short side, but it is a little bit more challenging, too.  If you like DKC style platformers, you may want to check this one out.

Kid Factor:

Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombia is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Fantasy Violence.  Defeated characters either fly off the screen or poof into smoke with a sigh, but that’s about it.  Reading skill is helpful for the text, but not necessary just to play.  The game has three difficulty modes, one where you take two hits, three hits, or are completely invincible.  But falling into pits is what usually gets you, so younger gamers still may need help with the trickier jumps.

Tags: Game Reviews, Movies with Children, Television