Chameleon Twist
Description official descriptions
Davy the chameleon is minding his own business, when a rabbit catches his eye. Following the rabbit into its hole, he soon finds himself transformed into a super, alien chameleon, with an extra long tongue. Stuck in an unknown world, he must use his new strength to find his way out back to his home.
Using the analog stick, you can control Davy's tongue to catch enemies and throw them back as bullets, grab onto distant poles and ledges for a quick way through the land, or perform tricks like tongue-pole vault, in which he can reach even higher distances by using his tongue as a pole vault.
Spellings
- ć«ć”ć¬ćŖć³ćć¤ć¹ć - Japanese spelling
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30 People (28 developers, 2 thanks) · View all
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 66% (based on 19 ratings)
Players
Average score: 2.9 out of 5 (based on 10 ratings with 1 reviews)
The Good
Aside from my unquenchable thirst for collecting game cartridges that Iāve yet to play, my only motivation for picking up Chameleon Twist was memories of playing it alongside my mother when I was a youngster. Upon starting the game, I found this to be confusing because although some images from the game neatly fit my memory, such as the cookie enemies and the ant queen boss, the only two player mode is the battle mode, which means I couldnāt have played through the game with my mother. It sort of makes me wonder what other memories from my childhood are complete fabrications.
The transition from 2D to 3D was a painful one for video games. No precedence had really been set, so developers were forced to experiment with different control schemes and mechanics to make use of the extra dimension. Experimentation may sound fabulous in todayās world of mass-produced sequels, but it wasnāt much fun at the time. Chameleon Twist came out one year after the N64 and the seminal 3D entry in the Mario series and shares many of the growing pains of the platforming genre, but at least on the surface it has an infectiously cheerful disposition.
Youāre given a choice between 4 round-headed characters that donāt look anything like chameleons who, aside from their goofy expressions and colour scheme, are completely identical. Gameplay centers around the use of the chameleonās extendable tongue, which is used to vault them up to higher places or stick to enemies and conveniently placed posts. Itās certainly an interesting gimmick with some neat usage, but itās unfortunately weighed down by extremely sluggish controls and somewhat frustrating level design.
Itās not all bad. The game is ridiculously charming. Each of the levels focus on different mechanics, so itās certainly not hurting for variety. The soundtrack is somewhat grating, but most of the tracks are lighthearted and chirpy in a way that seemed to live and die during the early 3D era of games. Likewise, the graphics are extremely cute, or at least, the enemy designs are. The enemies in Kids Land are especially adorable, such as the aforementioned cookie enemies.
The Bad
Iāll admit that the gameās personality carried me through to the end, but I canāt say it was a comfortable journey. There were certain moments where I was almost ready to call it quits, and those moments always came down to the platforming demanding more precision than the controls are capable of.
The chameleon is a sluggish and twitchy animal with extremely poor eyesight. Movement is just so unresponsive and sticky that even the most basic actions are made difficult. None of the gameās challenges are particularly cumbersome and are always presented in bite-sized portions, but it can take multiple tries just to get your tongue wagging in the right direction. Part of the problem may be related to the N64ās stiff and inaccurate analogue stick. Most of the chameleonās abilities rely on it being pointed in the right direction, whether itās trying to latch onto a post or spit enemies at other enemies, and the precision is just not there. You can lock your character in place with the R button, which gives you a dotted line as guidance, but even then, simply lining it up with your target is difficult.
Then thereās the camera. To the gameās credit, you can control it, but only barely. There are two separate view modes to choose from: one that looks down at a fixed angle, and another that freely floats around your chameleon. Forget about the free camera, since it has a nasty habit of getting stuck behind scenery and rarely offers a useful angle. The locked camera is more usable, but just barely. It greatly limits your field of vision and tends to sway around under its own influence. This can lead to bumping into enemies obscured off-screen or running off a cliff because the camera realigned itself at an inopportune moment.
Thereās one level, the desert castle, which features a camera different from the other levels. This one chases your character throughout the whole sequence, giving the game a pseudo-sidescroller feel. I wish they used it for the other levels, because for a few glorious minutes I was actually able to muster some appreciation for the gameās mechanics instead of wrestling with a problematic camera.
Even with all these problems in mind, itās at least an endurable experience, but only because itās over in about 2 hours. It consists of only 6 levels clocking in at about 20 minutes each. As far as I can tell, thereās absolutely no penalty for death, so having to continue repeatedly at a particularly difficult section isnāt much of a hindrance. Every obstacle can be overcome with perseverance and patience, so thereās not much to get slowed down by. It also ends rather abruptly. Iām not even certain that every level needs to be completed, since the 6th level is unlocked simply by beating the 4th or 5th. Once you complete the sixth level, the game unceremoniously ends without anything resembling a climax.
Afterwards, you can go back to previous stages to try and collect any crowns that you may have missed. This allegedly unlocks special areas and some sort of boss attack mode, but I wasnāt willing to replay the game to see it.
The Bottom Line
I find it hard to completely hate Chameleon Twist, but itās equally difficult to actually like it. With its cute art style, clever mechanics, and decent assortment of challenges, it seems to have at least been made with love. Itās because of its infectiously light-hearted personality that I stuck with it, even when it demanded far too much from its own clumsy controls. Sometimes itās worth putting up with a MEDIOCRE experience if itās unique enough, and while itās unlikely that Iāll ever pick it up again for another playthrough, at least can always cherish the wonderful falsified memories I have of it.
Nintendo 64 · by Adzuken (836) · 2015
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Kartanym.
Additional contributors: Rik Hideto.
Game added February 25, 2003. Last modified June 1, 2024.