At first glance, Mekazoo has an art style and presence that made me feel that I was walking in to demo a game aimed at a younger audience. Don’t take that the wrong way though, after playing, I think that the art style is an endearing aesthetic that will make the game feel approachable to almost any gamer. When I look at the game the mix of controls and visuals makes me think of Kameo meets Donkey Kong Country.
In the full version of the game there will be five playable Mekanimals (Armadillo, Frog, Wallaby, Panda, and Pelican.) In the demo, the Armadillo and Frog were playable. The armadillo has a movement and skillset based around rolling and dashing, while the frog is based around grabbing, swinging and jumping. These two sets of moves need to be combined to move further through the stage and can be used in some very creative ways to traverse levels in unexpected ways.
When playing alone, the player has the ability to freely switch back and forth between Mekanimals and while playing Co-op either player can choose when to switch back to their character. This means you should trust your co-op partner before going in or the frustration will set in. I saw a couple of random people playing together and struggling, while my friend and I got through almost every part of the level within the first couple of attempts.
The only disappointment I had after my demo was finding out that the game will be couch co-op only. The friends and colleagues that I think would enjoy this game the most are not in the same city as me, so I hope that is something that changes by release.
Mekazoo is being developed by Good Mood Creators and is scheduled to be released by the end of 2015 and will be playable on Xbox One, Playstation 4, Wii U, and PC. You can check out the game details on http://www.goodmoodcreators.com/mekazoo.html.
