Xbox Indie Review: Kaleidoscope

Imagine the cutest, most cuddliest object your mind could possibly fathom. Maybe a basket full of playful puppies with their scrunched-up little faces? A bunch of adorable kittens rolling around, stretching and meowing ever so preciously? They’re all a bunch of liver-devouring creatures from the dark recesses of hell compared to Kaleidoscope. Everything about this game oozes with charm and style to the point where even robots would be won over by its sugar-coated personality. My once acrimonious heart has been altered into a sweet, squishy marshmallow.

Who turned out the lights? Where are my friends? That’s what Tint, a mousy charcoal-colored creature, is wondering when he finds himself oddly deserted. The once-vibrant world was drained of its color and it’s up to Tint to unravel the mystery and restore order by exploring the magical world of Kaleidoscope and collecting the colored orbs. Each level of this 2D platformer begins in black and white with simple, yet catchy beats providing the audial backdrop. As Tint collects the orbs that are scattered throughout the levels, color is restored and the music becomes more complex and layered.

The platforming mimics and borrows a lot from the classics; the adorable black protagonist hops over spikes, jumps on enemy’s heads, leaps from one floating platform to another, and collects colorful orbs. It’s all fairly standard stuff, and although the jumping is a bit floaty, it doesn’t take too long to get a feel for the game.

The floaty controls will undoubtedly be the source of death at the beginning of the game, but thankfully there are unlimited lives and Tint has the welcome ability to immediately respawn a mere few feet from where he became corpsified. It’s kind of like Bioshock’s Vita-Chambers or using save states with an emulator. It works very well in a game like Kaleidoscope, where death lurks around every corner for the fragile hero who perishes after just one hit.

What Kaleidoscope lacks in originality it makes up for with style. As the initial grayscale levels grow richer with color, it is evident how much work went into crafting the gorgeous design. Everything is impressively surreal and whimsical and has its own character that really brings the game to life. I’m pretty sure I’ve never played a game where I get to ride an enormous tomato across a pit of spikes while avoiding projectiles that appear to be fired from an exceptionally hostile ear of corn. The soundtrack does a fantastic job of starting with a minimal tune and then seamlessly adding layers that alter the song, but preserve the essence. The final levels impressively blend NES sound effects into the soundtrack.

Tint also has a few abilities that are linked to the three colors of orbs that are scattered throughout the level. The orbs replenish his ability to run, hover and create a shield, but the bars also refill automatically. There really aren’t too many spots where the abilities are essential which means the whole orb-collection aspect of the game is purely for the aesthetic benefit of improving the graphics and the sound.

The primary adversaries are these strange enormous hairballs with feet that run back and forth and are reminiscent of the villains from the 80s cartoon, Rainbow Bright. They also have a propensity for mooing like cows. Jumping on enemies pacifies them and restores their color, perhaps suggesting that Tint is merely freeing them from some monochromatic trance.

By about the midway point of Kaleidoscope I felt like it was a car puttering on the side of road with no gas. The charm was still there, but the game felt repetitious; each of the first six levels has three special orbs to be discovered, which meant replaying the same levels three times.

As if in answer to my waning interest, the third group of levels alters the format and really rejuvenates the game. The levels are shrouded completely in darkness and Tint has to find sets of Asian-style lamps, which are clutched in the outstretched grasp of withered, gnarled trees. Another level has Tint falling and using the hover ability to avoid spikes in a manner similar to how Mega Man freezes time to avoid the fire beams in Mega Man 2.

Even without the second-half resurgence of design that propelled me towards the conclusion of the game, Kaleidoscope is a charming game with a fantastic art style and a catchy soundtrack. Its presentation make it one of the rare games nearly as much fun to watch as it is to play, and its respawn system ensures that even inexperience players won’t be too intimidated to give it a try after being captivated by its vivid, quirky graphics.

Visit the Xbox Live Marketplace to add a free demo of Kaleidoscope to your Xbox 360 download queue.

This review is based on the retail version of Kaleidoscope, available for 240 MS points ($3). It was provided for review by Morsel.

By Mike Wall at January 29, 2012.

About Mike Wall

Mike grew up and lives near Philadelphia and has been intrigued with games ever since his parents preached that they rotted his brain. He studied journalism at Penn State and got his master's degree in secondary education before realizing that not even summers off would make that job palatable. He now works in marketing and is trying to find time to continue writing a book about zombies, aliens, vampires, the end of the world, and a talking cat.