I love watching anime and cartoons. A lot of my recommended viewing on streaming services is of that genre. If you have caught up with me in any number of MKAU streams, you’ll know I love firing off The Simpsons quotes left right, and centre. But when it comes to anime my favourite is Studio Ghibli. ‘Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara’ is developed by Chibig, Undercoders, and Talpa Games and published by Chibig and what they have brought is a beautiful homage to the Studio Ghibli name.

The plot is set in an archipelago on the sea of Mara. A city called Qalis is the main hub for the archipelago and has been raided by the five pirates. Koa a young girl residing on Home Island receives a telegram requesting her help. Koa and her friend Napopo set out for Qalis to discover the pirates have striped the city clean of all its items.

After speaking with the locals, Koa discovers the five pirates have done this to make the naming of a new pirate more interesting. Rather than just the standard race, the retrieval of the stolen items has been turned into a trial. Koa must collect map segments to reveal the locations of various islands in the archipelago to get the items back. Unfortunately, that is about as exciting as the story gets. I found the story dull and the characters uninteresting.

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is a fixed-camera, three-dimensional platformer. Think of ‘Banjo-Kazooie’, ‘Super Mario 64’, or ‘Super Lucky’s Tale’ and you are heading in the right direction. The gameplay for Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara sides very heavily to the easier side of ‘Super Lucky’s Tale’ if you have played that game. I am talking incredibly simple; I am talking put your mind in neutral and let yourself drool like you’ve had a frontal lobotomy simple. I am not saying that is a bad thing, I am just saying If you are looking for a 3D platformer with a challenge, you will not find it here.

Your progression is completely linear, unlocking each island one at a time. There is a total of eight islands to unlock, with each island gradually increasing the platforming requirements through traps and environment. A handful of various tasks like classic platforming or speed running changes up how each island’s task is to be completed. The controls are basic consisting of walk, run, tumble, jump, long jump, grab, throw, and slam. All these commands are assigned to five buttons and the left control stick makes chaining moves together very simple.

On each stage there will be collectables you can find. There are a total of five collectables being seashells, fabric, plastic, pearls, and gears. All the collectables are the currency for you to spend back at Qalis on cosmetics and ship upgrades. The stages also come with par times in which to complete them, awarding a gold, silver, or bronze medal for your efforts. Speed running offers nothing more than bragging rights and achievements.

Speaking of which, the achievements in this game are just as simple as the gameplay. It took me approximately 12 hours to 100% the game, and I wasn’t rushing or focusing on unlocking the achievements.

As mentioned earlier the graphics are a beautiful homage to Studio Ghibli. Reminding me of such works from their catalogue as ‘My Neighbor Totoro’,’ Pom Poko’, ‘Porco Rosso’ and ‘Ponyo’. The hand-painted cartoon looks with bright poppy colours certainly added to the relaxing gameplay. The feeling of relaxing in my recliner and watching a cute Saturday afternoon anime was all too real.

The music with its uplifting orchestral tones in an island theme was also relaxing. The music took centre place in the audio as the sound effects were very average. Which was okay with me as the relaxing gameplay I’d come to expect was not disrupted by loud or overly abundant noise.

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara can be a perfect fit for many different reasons. Whether you are looking for a lazy weekend with a 3D platformer, a low-effort achievement hunting game or sharing it with a child, with the added benefit of introducing them to a world like the works of Studio Ghibli, then Koa and Five Pirates of Mara will fit the bill.

Written by: Ashley Barnett-Cosgrove