Bang-On Balls: Chronicles Review - Balls to Banjo

Bang-On Balls: Chronicles launched late last year. The premise was simple: platform games done great are timeless. Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, even some of the better Crash Bandicoot offerings. These games act as hallmarks of the advent of 3D gaming. In modern times, however? Only one of the once heralded mascots remains relevant. And it isn’t the blue blur. Bang-On Balls: Chronicles apes the best of all of these series, and as you’ll learn in this review, it does so remarkably well.

From the offset, it’s clear that Bang-On Balls: Chronicles is most closely relatable to Rare’s platforming masterpiece. It takes the a light-hearted approach to the action with the player customising their ball from a pretty varied palette (that grows as the game continues), as you roll through a liner tutorial presentation. Even here however, there’s a smattering of collectables to find if you’re curious enough. And just like Banjo-Kazooie, it’s curiosity that will pull you to unexpected places.

Once you’re past the short tutorial and the world opens up, there’s interesting things to find everywhere. Hidden switches, treasure chests, trampolines, breakable objects. You can accidentally create fires while rolling around, revealing new paths or simply setting alight other balls. You can shoot through air ducts, fend off protesters, soar into the air and collect loot. Or, you could actually try to engage with the missions laid out for you. And this is all in the small opening hub area, in the first few minutes of the game.

There is some sort of a theme and storyline to support all of this, as minimalist as it is. Something about movies and movie sets and largely irrelevant to the action. The core experience of the game isn’t in the reason why, but the act of doing. Rolling into a new area, finding a hidden path, attempting to get to that cool looking shiny thing in the distance. It’s very easy to get sidetracked just because you found a breakable door you missed before. And that door leads to a path. Which leads to a door; which leads to a new item; which makes your ball look funnier.

There were countless times during the process of this Bang-On Balls: Chronicles review where we found ourselves blocked by a closed path. Giving up on it, we’d find a new more interesting route. Taken through what seemed to be hugely twisting and turning caverns, earning plenty of in-game currency and new items, only to find ourselves the other side of whatever was blocking us previously. Bang-On Balls: Chronicles is a game that makes you feel free to play however you wish because there isn’t really a plan. But underneath it all is a carefully crafted world design for exactly that purpose.

There’s very little pressure in the game. While there is health and occasional brushes with balls that have it out for you, combat is light and fail states are rare. Instead, Bang-On Balls: Chronicles wants you to feel free to explore at your leisure. You’ll always find something new and interesting. And when you’re ready to come back to the core objectives, they’ll be waiting. But they certainly aren’t expecting to see you soon, and there’s so much fun to be had across the width and breadth of Bang-On Balls: Chronicles.