Format: Advance
Genre: 2d platformer
Developer: Helixe
Publisher: THQ

Weirdly enough, I learned that the tak series is actually a nicktoons game. Made by the same people that made Rocket Power: Dream Scheme, and possibly other nicktoon games I have yet to play. Admittedly I didn't know anything about the tak series before I picked up this game, but I was aware of the name. This is a sequel game but it holds together fairly well on it's own as a stand-alone. The story follows Tak who begins this journey by being asleep. He's fighting a monster in his dream when suddenly an eyeball appears and takes the "staff of dreams" while laughing maniacally. Tak wakes up and goes to his juju buddies to ask about this "dream juju". They then set out on a quest to the planetarium where they find out that there's hordes of dream monsters invading the land and they have to wake up their buddies to close the rifts to the dream world. Turns out the whole "eyeball staff" thing wasn't such a good idea. Tak is then informed that there are 3 rifts that need to be closed, one in the swamp, the forest, and by the planetarium itself. Upon closing these rifts you're invited to the dream world itself, which looks like a giant spider filled with tentacles. Pretty sure it was a woman who thought that one up. The gameplay is your basic 2D platformer. Run, Jump, Attack. Tak also comes with some additional powers like levitate, ground pound, super roll, frontal teleport, and a charged range attack. Additionally, there are 2 extra things you can do in this game. The dream world is a hidden overlay on the gameplay and once you get enough green stuff, you can enter it by pressing R. In the dream world, things become a little distorted, some new dream blocks will appear, and wisps of mana float around all over the place. In order for Tak to perform some of his more skillful maneuvers like levitate, he requires mana. This means that you'll often enter the dream world in order to acquire mana to keep Tak moving at a good speed. The other special thing in this game is that there's an inventory. Yes, that's right, an inventory. A very small inventory but an inventory nonetheless. Tak can hold 6 items that he either finds or buys from the shop. The shop is in that weird roulette game in each world. 3 worlds total. The Rift levels of this game are pretty unique and fun in a weird way. Each level is designed with the concept of "get to the end", however, the rift levels are different. For the Rift levels you have to wake up all your little buddies scattered around the rift to destroy it, then you have to escape the level before the timer runs out, but this time completely in the dream world. It's a fairly interesting twist on the classic "escape the timer" shenanigans. The 2 key takeaways with this game are it's graphics and sound. The graphics and animations are completely on point making it aesthetically pleasing, especially the planetarium levels with the starry backwards. The music is also very good at parts, and the sounds are pleasing to the ears as well. The best sound is the one the turtle makes when he hits a wall, *knock*. You don't need a lot of skill to play this game, and there's infinite lives. It's a fun experience and a fun play as a great platformer.

Hot Tips: Planetarium 5 has a fast easy hp/mp potion.

All in All, Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams knocked it out of the park with a perfect 10 score. There were a few things about this game I would consider faults like the hitbox being a bit short, or mana depleting too fast.. but the game covers for all of it's shortcomings and then some! That 1 weird spin block is the only true downside.