I have been a pretty big fan of Siactro's games, ever since I was a kid who found the original Kiwi 64 demo on GameJolt, so it's been really cool to see him blow up as a niche indie creator since the very well-deserved success of Toree 3D. So, when he announced he was releasing a sequel to Kiwi 64 called Super Kiwi 64, I was quite excited. However, when it came out in 2022, I was unfortunately a bit let-down. It was an enjoyable time and Kiwi controlled excellently, but the game was short, easy, and kinda empty. Just last week, though, Siactro suddenly announced that Super Kiwi 64 was getting a big update which added a new campaign called Doomsday as well as a few improvements to the original game. Now that it's out, did the update manage to elevate Super Kiwi 64 for me?
Let's start with the base game. Super Kiwi 64 is a simple eight-level collectathon inspired by the 3D platformers of the N64, where you play as the titular Kiwi as he gathers power cells to escape from a mysterious floating island. Right from the get-go, the best thing about Super Kiwi 64 has to be Kiwi himself. Design-wise, he is absolutely adorable and slots right in alongside iconic 3D platforming mascots of the time like Banjo, Spyro, and Conker. He also controls really well, he's fast and responsive, and his moveset is a ton of fun to use. Kiwi has a jet-pack on his back he can use to boost and glide around each level, but the most fun move is his ability to poke his beak into walls ala Pokio from Super Mario Odyssey and scale walls. Out of all Siactro's characters, Kiwi is easily my favorite to play as. That being said, one may argue that Kiwi feels a bit too good to control. You have so much control that Super Kiwi 64 is kind of piss-easy, it's almost impossible to die, and failing platforming segments is no-biggie since you can just scale up any wall you come across.
As mentioned, this game has eight open levels to explore each with six Power Cells to find, and they're all decently fun. All the levels are well-crafted and there's enough structural variety and instances of verticality to keep the game feeling fresh, but... it just feels like there's something missing. Like, let me do a comparison, Super Kiwi 64 is obviously primarily inspired by Banjo-Kazooie, the greatest collecathon platformer of all time. Banjo-Kazooie's levels are so densely-packed with objectives, every location feels like it has a purpose, and while many areas may share somewhat similar objectives, each stage also has entirely unique NPCs giving each Jiggy a unique context. This is something that even the original Kiwi 64 nailed. But in Super Kiwi 64, there are no NPCs, there are very few enemies, stages often have vast stretches of empty space, and many Power Cell objectives can feel quite samey, either asking you to find all of a certain object or just locate the Cell floating around somewhere high up. I get why Siactro did this, the island Kiwi is on is supposed to be lonely, isolating, and mysterious, but it also makes the game feel kind of empty and undercooked.
But, to give credit where it's due, I can't say Super Kiwi 64 doesn't deliver a pretty effective atmosphere. At this point, Siactro has pretty much mastered the art of the N64 era look, and his infamous surprise creepy elements really help the game's world feel so eerie and uninviting. There's tons of skeletons everywhere, and the dungeon world in particular feels quite oppressive. The David Wise-inspired soundtrack by Kent Kercher also does a great job at heightening the mood for each location, with Abandoned Forest, Desolate Desert, and Pirate Ruins in particular really standing out. So overall, the base game of Super Kiwi 64 is fine but ultimately nothing too special. It plays incredibly well, has a great aesthetic, and boasts some solid stages, but the substance within these stages feels a bit safe and under-developed, so let's see how the Doomsday update changes things.
As far as the base game is concerned, this update makes two big additions, neither of which really fix my fundamental issue with Super Kiwi 64, but they do make the experience as a whole feel more well-rounded. First off, there are actual cutscenes and voice-acting, which do a solid job at fleshing out the story just a bit more and giving the player more of a solid motivation to get Kiwi off the island he found himself off. But more importantly, the update also added Time Trials. After fully completing a level, you can revisit it and start a time trial where you race to collect all the Power Cells in a stage in a given time. These times are surprisingly strict, and actually require the player to really master Kiwi's moveset, giving the game some much needed challenge while increasing Super Kiwi 64's replayability. As I said, these additions don't fix my fundamental problem with Super Kiwi 64, the levels still feel quite empty, but they are still notable improvements in their own right.
The Doomsday campaign, on the other hand, is a lot more interesting. The premise of Doomsday is that Kiwi's friend Macbat gets captured by his ex-nemesis the Melon King, so you have to rescue him before the Melon King destroys all of reality. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, Doomsday does feel quite jank and unpolished compared to the base game. The story is a bit convoluted, the platforming can feel a bit awkward, and some of the new mechanics can bug out a bit, but Doomsday also shows an ambition and willingness to push Kiwi's gameplay in a way that the base game simply lacked. Doomsday only has two stages and a final boss, but each stage is far larger than the ones in the base game with 10 collectibles to find rather than six. The platforming feels a lot more challenging and precise, especially in the first stage where you can't poke your beak into the walls, there are a few more inventive objectives like stopping a train or taking out every enemy in the area, and the collectibles are often hidden in more devious spots that had me scratching my head for a bit. I actually died a few times in the final level too! Siactro himself referred to the Doomsday campaign as "bonkers, experimental, and a bit raw", and yeah, I can see it. It's certainly not his most polished work out there, but it shows him going outside of his comfort zone. I always felt like Siactro could make something truly special if he ever wanted to make a larger, slightly more expensive game. While Super Kiwi 64 isn't that game, this update shows it may still be in the cards, either in the upcoming Toree Saturn, or in the potential Kiwi sequel that this update may or may not have teased...
Overall, Super Kiwi 64 still isn't my favorite of Siactro's games, I think the Toree duology are more polished and satisfying experiences overall, but this update does a pretty good job at making the package feel more complete. While the world design could've used a bit more fleshing out and the new Doomsday campaign can be quite jank, as a whole, Super Kiwi 64 is still quite the charming and fun 3D platformer with an incredibly fun moveset, fantastic presentation, and finally, some much-needed difficulty.
3.5/5 Stars
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