Like your first crush or a carton of ice cream, The Last Tinker City of Colors looks great but is ultimately empty on the inside.
Developed by Mimimi Productions and published by Unity Games, The Last Tinker: City of Colors is a platforming game (and I use that term loosely) in which our hero Koru fights to restore color to the world around him. Through a series of puzzles and button-mashing melee brawls, Koru is tasked with bringing Colortown back to its former glory while keeping an evil force known as The Bleakness at bay. While the environment and characters are aesthetically appealing, it only masks the many gameplay limitations that make this title a vibrant distraction fit for young gamers with a limited library to choose from.
Let’s be clear here, I’m not bashing videogames created with younger audiences in mind. I’m a huge fan of TT Games’ LEGO series (though there’s an obvious over-saturation of titles at this point) and am always up for another romp in the Mushroom Kingdom. Calling The Last Tinker a fun platformer, though, is insulting to every thumb blister from the 8-bit era to present day.
Jumping from platform to platform takes minimal skill in this game, as all you’ve got to do to advance is hold down a button and jam forward similar to the Assassin’s Creed series. Even the pipes you slide across are automated, so everyone can feel like Tarzan or Tony Hawk. Maybe it’s just me, but if I wanted a pleasant passive experience, I’d just watch a cartoon.
To be fair, there are a few wrinkles in The Last Tinker’s combat system that gives it a glimmer of hope. Koru has the ability to control three colors to manipulate baddies: red (aggravate), green (frighten), or blue (grieve). You can also call upon certain friends to help you solve puzzles or simply show you the way to the next objective, so even if you feel lost you’re truly never alone. Proper utilization of these elements can make a big difference in certain perilous situations, though chances are you’ll find yourself smacking around enemies and artfully dodging before jumping back in the fray.
When it comes down to it, The Last Tinker City of Colors is a kaleidoscope of colors that gamers can push through with little recourse to the story details laid out before them in oh so many dialogue bubbles. Visually striking but otherwise quite middle-of-the-road, the game was obviously made by a team that takes pride in their work. It’s a shame that with so much effort put in to make The Last Tinker City of Colors a visual treat, the rest of it falls rather flat.
The Last Tinker City of Colors is now available on PC, Mac, and Linux.
The Last Tinker City of Colors Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCZyw-6K898