Game Review: Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara

By Manuel

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is a new platforming title that comes to us by way of developers Chibig, Talpa Games, and Undercoders. The world of Mara was first established in 2020's Summer in Mara, but that game was something of a farming sim that featured the same world and characters. While genre shifts like this aren't exactly rare in the world of indie gaming, there are many elements that set Koa apart from your average platformer. We're going to have to do a deep dive into the game to discuss what those are, so let's get going!

While Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is something of a sequel to Summer in Mara, you can easily jump into Koa without knowing anything about the previous title. Since it does feature many of the game characters you do get to see how they've changed and grown, but I played through the entire game until I realized that this wasn't a completely original title. You take on the role of Koa, who is accompanied by her insect friend Napopo, as she sails the seas of Mara looking for adventure. The duo's journey's take them to the main island town of Qälis where they're tasked to help them recover from a recent pirate raid. This raid was not deadly though, and the pirates mostly tussled the town a bit and took a lot of its valuables. Being well acquainted with these pirates Koa agrees to help. Facing off with the pirates means that she has to head back out to sea, find their various hideouts, and learn that there is a bit more to this than meets the eye. It turns out that the pirates want to recruit Mara, while Mara is just trying to get the stolen loot back and get Qälis back to its former glory. What follows is an adventure that is as challenging as it is relaxing, complete with various regions (read: levels) to test your platforming skills.

The beautiful island of Qälis.

I actually wish there was more of Mayo in the game.

Koa is an odd game in that I think it's the first time I've played a platformer that is truly a platformer. You run, you jump, and can grab certain items, but that's it. There is no attacking of any kind and, as a matter of fact, there aren't even traditional enemies to speak of. A lot of the levels feel like the challenge levels one would find in Super Mario Sunshine or Super Mario Galaxy, but without the crushing level of difficulty. You have a base area, the aforementioned island town of Qälis, a hub world of sorts with the open sea (think a more manageable version of Wind Waker's overworld), and various levels that open up as you complete the ones before it. These levels all open up by way of maps, and your quest to recover all the stolen loot means that you also have to recover all these maps. Now even though running and jumping is most of what you'll be doing to meet these goals, there is some variety in the levels, so let's talk about that.

Seeing as there aren't any enemies, you might wonder what stops your progress. Well, there's the enemy of every platformer to deal with still: bottomless pits. Actually, bottomless pits of nothingness aren't quite as common as pools of water or lava, but the effect is the same: you take damage. There are also environmental hazards for you to avoid, with Koa being able to take three hits before dying. When you lose all these hit points you're sent back to the nearest checkpoint and start again. You don't have lives to speak of, so don't worry about having to continue if you run out. Checkpoints are scattered throughout levels and you can choose a lower difficulty that makes their appearance more frequent. These are only activated once, so you'll have to be careful if you're in a hub area that has you branch out from a central area with only one checkpoint. Thankfully even sections like this aren't exactly difficult to pass, so you'll probably be fine.

Some platforming at work.

Disappearing platforms and dodging fireballs.

I mentioned that you have the ability to pick up items, and this mechanic is present in most levels that have "puzzle" elements. You'll often be forced to travel down a challenging route, grab an item, and carry it back to the place you started from. These fetch quests usually have more than one part to them, but they do help break up gameplay a bit. Other levels have things like disappearing platforms that are tied to your jumps, areas that feature some sort of giant threat, or even areas where you'll have to race to the exit as fast as you can Sonic-style. Speaking of racing, there's actually several challenge races you can do in the main town area after beating each map, but I personally found these a bit too difficult to complete myself. Most maps have four levels, with the fourth being something of a "boss" level, though the term "challenge" might be more fitting. There are a couple encounters that I'd definitely refer to as "bosses", but mostly you'll be doing extra tricky platforming or racing against the area's leader. Most of the levels also have three items to find and these are used to expand the townspeople's shops, and provide customization for your character and ship. These aren't necessary to complete the game, but are necessary if you want to customize Koa's appearance.

Oh, and there are underwater levels.

Sailing is fun, but controlling your ship is hard.

Koa opens up with an animated sequence that promises quite a bit when it comes to visuals. While there aren't any other scenes like this throughout the game, the graphics do look great in general. Now before I go any further I must mention that I played the game on the Nintendo Switch, purely in handheld mode, so I got the least optimal looking version of the game. With this in mind everything was colorful, sharp, and moved without a hitch. There's a cartoon-ish aspect to everything, and while I initially thought that most of the characters look quite ugly, they eventually began to grow on me the more I played. Animations are smooth and everything moves accurately as you'd expect it. What more could you ask of a platformer? I'm not really a fan of the art style though, but that's definitely more of a personal issue and is something that will affect players differently.

Music is actually quite good here, and I'll admit that I first assumed that the in-game music would at best just serve their purpose. Instead of that I found that many of the songs continued to live rent-free in my head long after I was done playing. The tune that plays while sailing keeps popping into my head whenever I think about the game, and I'm not sure when that is going to pass, or even if I want it to. I wouldn't say that anything here is worth going out of one's way to grab the soundtrack, but it's definitely above average and a big positive for the game. While talking sound though we should discuss my only big gripe with the game: voice acting, or lack thereof. I know it's a little unfair to expect voice acting from a small independent title, but the fact that there are a lot of random quips and sound bites made me wish that the main scenes were voiced at the very least. I imagine that some of the characters would've really come to life if they had a voice to match their unique characteristics and look. Unfortunately Koa is something of a silent experience beyond the great music, and I'll keep on shifting back and forth between disliking the characters themselves.

Planking is alive and well here!

What's this? A boss?!

Controls are key in a platformer and I'm pleased to say that they're tight and well-executed for the most part here. Performing the long jump, or even the roll that leads to it, requires a bit of timing, but isn't the worst skill to master. The big problem with the game's controls comes when discussing the game's camera. I spent my entire time with Koa attempting to adjust the in-game camera with the right analog stick to no avail. The game has no camera controls at all, and the camera moves along as it sees fit in each level. This isn't always bad, but I found jumping a bit of a chore at times as there are several areas where you're moving TOWARDS the camera and basically have to take leaps of faith in an awkward way. Since speed is a big focus of the game, these odd camera sections really stand out. You can of course combat this by trial and error, and there are no lives to worry about if you fail, but it's something that I feel could've been adjusted before release. If the game were more difficult, or featured traditional enemies, I'm sure that it would be near unplayable. As it is, it does have a few annoying sections where you're constantly fighting to get the camera where you want it.

Even a platforming noob like me was able to beat Koa in a little over five hours. It's a fun game, but the experience can be rather fleeting. That isn't to say that I was totally done with the game at this point. I had a strong urge to go back to all the levels and gather the items I had missed, and maybe get some better times in them as well. Basically the game leans into the whole "100%" thing in a way that doesn't seem too daunting. While I still haven't completed this at the time of writing (some levels are just the absolute bane of my existence) I will probably make it a goal to do so by the end of the summer in between other gaming sessions. Many people might find speedrunning a fun way to get extra value out of the game as its tight controls and fast gameplay seem built for it. I can't speak of this too much of course, but it's something that I thought about on my own and was surprised to see mentioned in some of the marketing materials for the game.

Of course there's an ice level.

Oh, and a still from the animated opening.

On paper Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is a platformer, but it's something more than that I think; it's an experience. Playing this game during a big summer heat wave really added to the allure and made it something of a true vacation experience. The game's short but sweet nature adds to this too and it gives off vibes of going on a quick weekend trip to the Mara islands. The price is right too, and all this together means that I definitely recommend the game on any platform you can grab it on. It's a cute, fun, chill game and it successfully tows the line between challenging and welcoming. It's so good that I might even check out Summer in Mara next. Until then, get to the seas and take on the Pirates of Mara!

For More Information on Koa and The Five Pirates of Mara:
https://en.tesuragames.com/games/koa-and-the-five-pirates-of-mara/

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Story: B
Gameplay: A-
Graphics: A-
Music/Sound: A
Value: A

Overall: A-

Pros:
+ A beautiful, well-animated game that is perfect for the summer.
+ Offers a chill, fast-moving experience that rarely frustrates.
+ Music is quite memorable and there are a few tunes that stick out.
+ While the game initially seems simple, there is a lot of variety to the stages, and a lot to do to truly complete it.
+ A perfect game for those who love speedruns.

Cons:
- While a fun experience, the game is rather short and somewhat easy.
- There are no enemies to speak of and some might be put off by the emphasis on pure platforming.
- While short and easy, some parts of the game feature sharp difficulty spikes.
- The game really could've benefitted from full voice acting.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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