Klonoa Heroes: The Action-RPG That Never Left Japan
The Klonoa series is remembered for its dreamy 2.5D platforming, so a top-down role-playing game starring the same long-eared hero is a surprise. Klonoa Heroes: Densetsu no Star Medal was made by Namco's Klonoa Works team for the Game Boy Advance and released only in Japan on 13 December 2002. It was directed by Toshiyuki Nakanishi, who co-designed it with Aisaku Yamanaka.
At a glance
- Based on: the Japanese Game Boy Advance game Klonoa Heroes: Densetsu no Star Medal (Namco, 2002)
- Created by: Namco / Klonoa Works (original); English fan translation by rcs709 and the Klonoa Mega Chat Translation Team
- Released: December 2002 in Japan; the patched version here is a later fan project
- Genre: top-down action RPG
- What sets it apart: Klonoa's wind bullets become colour-coded weapons in a party-based adventure
The game itself
Klonoa dreams of earning a Hero Medal and teams up with the bounty hunter Guntz and Pango, a bomb-loving pangolin. Their trouble starts with monster attacks near the hometown of Breezegale and leads to a scheme to harvest energy from people's nightmares and revive Nahatomb, a corrupted hero, with the priestess Lolo as a living battery.
Combat uses Klonoa's Wind Ring, which fires blue or red wind bullets. Enemies carry a colour affinity, and matching colours hit harder. Dream Shards act as experience points, and levelling lets you spread points between attack, defence and agility. The adventure is split into eight worlds, each with smaller "visions" and a boss.
The translation
The English patch is described as complete. Its main version (1.1.9) was updated in May 2024 by rcs709 and the Klonoa Mega Chat Translation Team. A separate add-on by glazier2121 softens some of the stronger language for anyone who prefers a gentler script.
Famitsu gave the Japanese release 31 out of 40 on its launch.