Tembo the Badass Elephant (PC) Review

Although not released on a Nintendo or SEGA console, Tembo knows where its roots are and isn't interested in straying very far from them. The title character is basically Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Sonic, and Rambo squeezed into the body of an elephant. Clearly the whole "Badass Elephant" thing is intended to be the main selling point, but since the target audience has probably already absorbed a lifetime supply of anthropomorphic animal mascots, the game merely serves as a reminder of why this hobby was adopted in the first place.

Tembo is nonstop reminiscence. The setting and story - a peanut-enamoured human society calling on a retired elephantine commando to save them from the invading PHANTOM army - is the kind of unacknowledged surrealism that games ubiquitously accepted a couple of decades ago. More importantly, the gameplay is the thoughtless (albeit reflexively challenging) amusement of an arcade title. If nothing else, the game embodies the smooth instant gratification that Nintendo always championed.

The problem with shallow fun, however, is that it doesn't last. Tembo only contains around 20 levels clocking in at just over five hours, and it still feels too long. Part of that is because the final quarter is blatantly tacked on after a series of awesomely ridiculous "final exam"-style levels that would have otherwise capped off the experience nicely. It's also because Tembo's moveset has no depth; with the exception of the ability to spray water from his trunk, everything the pachyderm can do boils down to smashing things from different directions.

The water-spraying mechanic is the exception to most general statements that can be made about Tembo's gameplay, in part because of its diversity (it's used to put out fires, activate machinery, and conduct electricity), but also because of its originality. Entertainment is destined to be fleeting if it's presented without novelty, and nearly everything this game offers is a shameless imitation. It's not just the protagonist's talents, either; the collectible peanuts look and sound like the bananas from Donkey Kong Country, and later levels introduce bumpers ripped straight out of Sonic 2's Casino Night Zone.

It's a well-built game, at least. The controls have a few idiosyncrasies to get accustomed to (lack of an intermediate movement speed being chief among them), but they mostly feel appropriate. Specifically, they feel like controlling an elephant, i.e. the largest land animal on Earth. By adding just a little delay when attempting to cancel an attack, Game Freak has granted Tembo the aura of an unstoppable force of nature without significantly interfering with the player's sense of command. The fact that the platforming keeps its required precision at a reasonable level is also appreciated.

That said, despite the protagonist's overwhelming power, Tembo packs an old-school challenge. The game is not afraid to drop the player into a room with half a dozen fireball-launching enemies, a situation exacerbated by the main character's elephant-sized hitbox. Even the toughest obstacles have exploitable patterns, however, so the difficulty rarely (if ever) feels unfair or artificial. One consistent aspect of the challenge, though - the need to rescue hidden humans and defeat hidden enemies - always feels at odds with the otherwise fast-paced, catharsis-driven gameplay.

Although it's simply inoffensive and inconsequential to play, Tembo is a joy to watch and hear. The 2.5D perspective, saturated colours, and written sound effects give the game the atmosphere of a living comic book, and the carnage unleashed by the player's rampage is the sort of thing physics engines were made for. An enjoyable but forgettable music selection and some endearing sound effects and character voices round out the game's list of minor pleasures.