Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament

Story

Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament takes place sometime after the events of Klonoa: Empire of Dreams. The game begins shortly after Klonoa defeats the King of Despair, and receives an invitation letter that floats from the sky telling him that he has been selected to compete in the prestigious "Dream Champ Tournament" among other accomplished adventurers for the title of "Greatest Hero" as well as a cash reward. After Klonoa finishes reading, he is enveloped in a bright light and finds himself transported inside a gigantic arena alongside several other adventurers. He meets up with Lolo and Popka, only to learn that they are taking part in the competition as well, and a pompous rogue named Guntz who brushes him off immediately. The master of ceremonies, and sponsor of the tournament itself, Garlen, makes his appearance and informs everyone that they will be paired off in a single-elimination tournament that has them racing across several worlds of his own choosing. The first one to reach the end will be the winner and will advance to the next round.

Gameplay

As the third handheld Klonoa game, Dream Champ Tournament plays very similarly to the rest of the games in the series. Using traditional platformer elements, the player can move Klonoa left and right, moving the screen forward as they progress. To defeat enemies, Klonoa will have to use his special weapon, the Wind Bullet, to pull them towards him so he can pick them up. From this position, he can either toss them forward to defeat other enemies, or use them to perform a double-jump to reach places he couldn't normally. In addition, by holding the jump button, Klonoa can flap his large ears to float in place for a short time, which also somewhat increases his jump height or distance.

The game consists of five worlds split into nine small levels called "visions", including a boss level where Klonoa must compete in a foot-race with another adventurer and battle a boss at the same time. One vision is also devoted to a special stage where Klonoa must navigate his hoverboard over water or other terrain while avoiding enemies.

In each vision, there a number of items Klonoa can collect, including exactly 3 stars (Moon Stones), 30 crystals-like objects called "Dream Shards", and one sun-shaped item called a "Sun Stone". The three stars are needed to open the exit door at the end of each vision, but the remaining items are optional. By collecting all 30 Dream Shards, a section of a piece of original artwork is revealed (5 in all, one for each world). If every Sun Stone in the game is collected by the time the player beats it, special stages called "EX Stages" will become available. Beating these new stages has no bearing on the actual game, and are included just for fun.

Worlds

Klonoa must find the exit to all the visions in each of the five worlds to beat the game, and must race his current opponent at the last vision of each world. The five worlds include:

Western Jungle: A world that resembles a lush jungle that serves as the qualifying round for the Dream Champ Tournament. Since Klonoa has no specific opponent in this round, the boss race is against a large robot.

North Express: A world that is covered by miles of train tracks across a desert-like landscape. All of the competition in this world takes place aboard a gigantic train. In this world, Klonoa's opponent is Joka.

Desert East: A large desert that includes several ancient ruins from a pseudo-Egyptian era. Klonoa's opponent here is Gomeroth.

South Resort: A world that consists of Garlen's private island resort. Here, Klonoa must go against Suiryu, but only after he has been outfitted in a special suit that will allow him to travel in water.

Garlen's Castle: Garlen's personal fortress that is filled with tricks and traps. Here, Klonoa faces off with Gantz before going against Garlen himself to prove he is the greatest hero of all.

Boss Characters

Balboa: A large beetle-like monster that lives in the Western Jungle. It constantly rolls about and almost nothing can stop it (except tossing a Moo at it).

Bingobingo: A creature that roams about the Northern Express. It uses totem poles to bar the path of wanderers. It seems to be made from many parts.

Kupian: A large pink seahorse that is found in the Southern Resort. It attacks with homing missiles.

Darissa: A robotic spider in Garlen's Castle.

Garlenator: The ultimate robot Garlen builds. It is sturdy, except for a gear that is missing in the robot, leaving a part of it invulnerable.

Characters

Klonoa: The hero of the story who is transported to the Dream Champ Tournament by Garlen. Joined by his friends Lolo and Popka, he intends to prove that he is the greatest hero around.

Lolo: A priestess-in-training who was teleported to the Dream Champ Tournament along with her friend Popka. Though Klonoa worries about her safety in the competition, she assures him that her training has made her as viable a contender as anyone else.

Popka: Lolo's talkative friend who resembles a dog with pointed features and a pair of green jewels for eyes. He is also competing in the tournament, and makes quick enemies with Gantz.

Garlen: A round man with a mechanical claw for a hand who sponsors the Dream Champ Tournament to find out who is the greatest hero in the land. Using magic invitations, he is able to teleport all the participants to his arena, and sends them one by to neighboring lands to take part in his competition. There is a darker side to this shady character...

Gantz: Called the "Golden Killer", he is an adventurer who wields a large handgun and rides a hovercycle named Red Clan. Since learning that Klonoa was in the tournament, he has made it his business to compete with him.

Suiryu: A blue dragon who competes with Klonoa at the Southern Resort. Though he lacks any real formalities, he has actually been trained as a Knight before entering the tournament. As an expert swimmer, he feels that he has a natural edge in the competition. In fact, he has another identity hidden from other competitors.

Chipple: A boxing kangaroo competes with gloves and a headguard that covers his eyes. Usually displays a positive attitude and encourages others to do the same. Although, he does happen to go into a depression fit when he fails to achieve a goal.

Joka: A maniacal clown who competes with Klonoa in the Northern Express. Often resorts to cheating and other underhanded tricks in order to win.

Gomeroth: A large, green reptile who makes his trade as a fisherman and competes with Klonoa in the Eastern Desert. Despite his size, he is actually quite fast on his feet.

Zweegle: A short, rat-like character with horns; a vampire. The blood of Moos is a particular favorite of his.

Anemon: A tall, silent bandit who wears arabian-esque clothing and carries a scimitar, speculated as a jerboa as with much reference directing towards the keyword "desert".

Diglo: A large brown gorilla who makes his living as a hired bodyguard. He feels his natural strength will make him a shoo-in for the title of greatest hero.

Reception

Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament received generally positive reviews from critics upon release, earning aggregate scores of 77.50% at GameRankings and 78/100 at Metacritic. Famitsu gave the game 32 out of 40.