This year a little platformer was released to the Nintendo Switch, and PC, titled Toree 3D. This game was published by Siactro games, and I took a look at it a few months ago, and really enjoyed it. Tree 3D had an unlockable character known as Macbat. Now, Macbat is from an older game made by the same developer of Toree 3D, and this game is known as Macbat 64. Macbat 64 was released on March 17th, 2017 on Steam, and was ported to Nintendo Switch on October 2nd, 2020. The game costs $1.99, making it a very inexpensive platformer.
Macbat 64 presents itself as a late 90s, collect-a-thon platformer. In every level, you will have to explore and accomplish a few tasks, which usually involve collecting things. The game plays like a very simplified version of Super Mario 64, or Banjo Kazooie, with the latter being a huge influence on this game. However, unlike those games, you aren’t doing multiple things on a single level to collect Stars or Jigsaws. Instead, each level has a key to get after accomplishing, so it’s not one of those collect-a-thons with a ton of stuff to get. To wrap up simple gameplay features let’s talk about how Macbat controls. Macbat actually controls similar to Toree in Toree 3D. He runs and jumps, but his jump is basically an. Macbat really does control like a generic 3d platformer, but there's nothing wrong with that, because it works for the game's level, and how the game presents itself.
The first important thing I need to mention is that it’s a love letter to the Nintendo 64. Starting with the game that seems to have given the most influence, Banjo Kazooie. The graphics don’t look like early Nintendo 64 platformers, like Super Mario 64, but of later Nintendo 64 games, with a lot of assets, and design in the game reminding me of Banjo Kazooie. For example, there’s a beach level called Birdy Beach that reminds me of Treasure Trove Cove, and a forest level called Tulshah’s Forest that reminded me of Spiral Mountain. There are also text boxes that remind me of the Banjo Kazooie text boxes, as well as a lot of characters having big, stylized eyes. however, the game also references a bunch of Nintendo games. Two examples I can think of are a 2d level called Bright Islands, reminding me of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shard, while the other is a kart racing level called Mac-Race that looks heavily inspired by Diddy Kong Racing. Even though this game references a lot of older games, I don’t get much challenge out of it, but I’ll get on to that later.
I do enjoy a lot of levels in Macbat 64. A lot of them are memorable, Bright Islands is one that always comes to mind. It’s the only main level to use the 2d layout, and I think it works well. I also love Kirby 64, so throwbacks to that game are amazing. There’s also Tubular City, which is an 80s throwback level. The aesthetic seems to be of an old vaporwave style. There are two arcade games that need to be played in order to collect something, and there’s even a Delorean, that at the end of the level, is used to finish the stage by reaching 88 miles an hour to warp to the future. Another level I find memorable is Moody Mansion. Moody Mansion is a haunted mansion, and it reminds me of Luigi’s Mansion. There are some ghost kiwis that look ridiculous, and you even run into a vampire. Every level has something memorable about it, which is what all levels in video games should achieve.
Before I go into opinions on the gameplay, let’s quickly mention the music. The game uses original music that can fit into the Nintendo 64 era that the game is going for. There’s not a single piece of music I hate, and I would even listen to it out of the game. I do personally like Toree 3D’s soundtrack better though, but Macbat 64 still has a great soundtrack.
Now, it’s time to get deep into gameplay. Now, if you read the Toree 3D review, which I very much doubt, then two main issues I brought up are also in this game. Let’s start with the camera. Like Toree 3D, the camera isn't great I do think that Macbat 64’s camera is worse due to the reason why the camera is bad. The reason is due to the camera constantly panning depending on where you are, and the camera often gets stuck behind a wall. A great level that shows this problem off is Moody Mansion, where the rooms are narrow, so the camera pans, and switches angles a lot, which makes it hard to walk around. There is an argument that this makes the game feel older, but I do feel some features of old games need to stay in the past, and late 90s platforming cameras are one of those. The other potential problem is the difficulty of Macbat 64. Like Toree 3D, even though Macbat 64 is based on retro video games, the game is not hard at all. This isn’t a problem for me, because I don't only play games for challenges, and tend to enjoy a lot of easy, but fun games. However, I can see this being a problem to some. The game is portrayed as a love letter to the Nintendo 64, and a lot of games back then were challenging, which could make a player assume they're getting into a challenge, and be disappointed to find out that the game is very easy.
Macbat 64 is a very similar game to Toree 3D, in terms of what the games are going for. Both are easy platformers that are designed to be a love letter to early 3D platformers. The main difference is that Macbat 64 has open levels, while Toree 3D is a point A to point B platformer. In my review of Toree 3D, I ended up recommending it for the fun gameplay, and its charm. Macbat 64 has that same charm and fun gameplay. I do like Toree 3D more, but for $1.99, it’s a no-brainer to try Macbat 64.
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