Twinsen's Little Big Adventure 2 Classic

I still remember when the game has been announced to feature a new engine giving the gamer a sense of a spacious world to explore. A year later, when playing this title, I was amazed by the magical adventures of the brave Twinsen. LBA2 is an adventure game giving the player an excellent amount (not to much, but exactly enough) of freedom to explore and try (and fail with) different approaches to solve puzzles and overcome challenges. For a long time, this game has set for me a new gaming standard no other title could reach. Still, trying to be objective, I have to say that the controls are a bit clunky and mainly due to that and the free hand, the game is quite difficult. However, as I was able to finish it without any walkthrough as a child, it shouldn't scare off the experienced players.

It's hard to say what makes LBA2 such a wonderful gem. At first you feel like you could never get over the awkward controls, weird camera angles, confusing isometric perspective and your curious abilities. An hour later, they become a second nature to you. Two hours in and you're on your way to become a master of ricocheting the ball. Same for the plot which at fist seem silly and banal, but has you in it's grip in no time. This is a game that rewards, no, demands exploration and innovation. You find yourself trying to break the rules only to find that's exactly what the designers expected you to do. And you fall madly in love with the world of Twinsen. Especially with it's weird disjointed songs. A must.

Wow it's just amazing now! Controller support and just wait until you go outside for the first time! Big grin on my face. Fully 3D now with permanently centred camera, no more hammering the enter button to get a better view. This game has never been so good

I remember I never heard about Little Big Adventure. Then a friend lent me his copy of LB2 and at first I was, what, is that a children's tale? A fable? I kept playing a little to see where it would be going before uninstalling. And I didn't uninstall it. I was completely taken by the setting, rock-solid gameplay and ambient. Yes, it is a fable. And it manages to do the impossible, take you back to that age when everything was an amazing mystery, every rock in the courtyard was a mountain range, every anthill a cave filled with adventures. I can't find better words for this than pure poetry.

They really don't make them like this anymore. I spent weeks of my childhood on this game. Even now compared to free-roaming sandbox games, it's a pretty large game with plenty to do. The combination of bitmap and polygon art was way ahead of its time, particularly in the first LBA. Controls much improved in this sequel and this game even features full audible dialogue! As did the first. Amazing! Even Final Fantasy couldn't pull that one off. One of the few games where the sequel went above and beyond expectations. Love the new characters. The new environments. This is when making a decent game that fans wanted, mattered more than profit margins. I haven't got a bad word to say about this game.