It's a pirate's life for me.
Back in 2020, Summer of Mara introduced us to Koa, a young girl content with adventuring, farming, and enjoying a peaceful life with her friends. While Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara continue the events of this young adventurer, it's a considerably different and drastically scaled-back journey, one built around Koa visiting numerous islands to complete a series of platforming trials put in place by the five Pirates of Mara.
Summer of Mara was a game built around character and charm; however, it had several systems that didn't quite benefit the player, mechanics that were altogether frustrating, and a host of technical problems that prevented the core experience from being a satisfying one. With Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara being a much smaller and more tightly focused adventure, it feels more polished and still brings with it the elements that felt the most important; the story of Koa and her relationship with her friends.
After receiving a dire message from her friend Mayo regarding an emergency surrounding some thieving shenanigans from a band of pirates, Koa urgently takes her boat to Puni Island to find out what is going on. Well, it turns out that Mayo wasn’t exactly honest in her request toward Koa and has instead summoned the young girl to Qalis to undergo a series of pirate trials. While Koa isn’t exactly thrilled about being deceived or even wanting to become a pirate anyway, she still takes it all in stride, accomplishing the trials one after another and trying to have fun within her current situation.
Regardless of her circumstances, Koa meets up with old friends and those she met during her time there in the previous title. While it’s not exactly required that you play through Summer of Mara, it does benefit you in that many of the characters you meet up with in this latest adventure have a history with Koa that isn’t fully explained to new players. In fact, almost none of the cast have introductions to the point of explaining how Koa even knows them.
While you’ll return to Qalis and some of the surrounding islands, Qalis is drastically reduced in size and is considerably better to navigate because of this simplicity. As part of her trials. Koa will have to acquire pearls in order to retrieve stolen items from the island’s residents, items that were taken by the Five Pirates of Mara for the purpose of this trial.
While Koa and her friends will have a few soundbites, such as Koa’s “hup” when she jumps, there is no voice acting and the story is told through a series of illustrated conversations. I have to give the developer props as Koa will always be drawn in the outfit you have purchased, which is a damn nice touch and makes those outfits feel like more than just a newly acquired texture. While that story is certainly meant for a younger player, it still features more than enough jokes and pleasant dialogue for anyone to enjoy.
Koa herself is a pretty fun protagonist and feels like a vastly better and more interesting version of Dora the Explorer. She’s confident and full of youthful energy, and regardless of her current task, she always sees the light at the end of the tunnel. This makes her dialogue and interactions to be constantly positive, making her immediately likable.
Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is a platformer that wears its inspirations on its sleeve. From Mario 64 to even a few moments where it felt like a classic Sonic game, I quite enjoyed the variety on display here. From jungles to icy caverns, each environment shares in its discovery of secrets. Each level has hidden collectibles as well as a timer to achieve the record score. While you don’t need to obtain these medals, they serve as a way to challenge yourself to do better.
Each location will often bring with it some new or alternative platforming mechanic such as moving and sliding platforms, those that drop off when you land on them, to those that blink to the next set as you jump. There are also levels that have you speeding along a mostly linear path as you use speed boosts to continue your momentum. And while there weren’t as many as I’d of liked, the swimming levels were especially fun. Each level has obstacles and dangers to navigate, with gathering keys or items that you can throw at switches or baskets to open the way to dive deeper into them. Most levels usually take around three to five minutes to fully explore as you pass through the gate at the end of the level.
While Koa doesn’t take part in any sort of combat, you can roll forward after a jump to smash boxes and speed up a little. This tactic comes in handy when you have to race Mayo and her friends to earn pieces of a map. Each of the main islands is composed of a few levels and then an encounter with a boss. These fights are simple but mechanically diverse, making for pretty fun battles. Once you have completed these fights, you’ll be given a larger piece of the map. These map pieces will then need the help of a friend of Koa’s to decipher.
Map pieces vary in two overall sizes; small and big. Small pieces usually unlock islands that generally have one level to explore, whereas big map pieces unlock the next main island. You’ll also find locations to dive for treasure as well as more secrets littered around the ocean. As a cloud covering is blocking you from exploring further, having the deciphered maps for those areas will magically remove that fog and allow you to venture forth.
As you return to Qalis, you can use the seashells you gather to purchase new outfits or backpacks for Koa. And as mentioned, these appear in the illustrated conversations. There are a ton to unlock as you progress throughout the game. You can also upgrade your boat, allowing you to sail faster or even jump over obstacles in the ocean. While the sailing is pretty straightforward, I would have loved to have the boat play a bigger presence should they return to this type of game again.
Koa is a pretty simple game, especially when compared to Summer of Mara which had a lot more going on. However, this simplicity is where Koa shines, offering a fun platformer that can provide really anyone a good time, especially if you are looking to have something to play with your kids or giving them the controller and letting them enjoy themselves.
With an impressive variety in its locations and gameplay, I found Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara to be a much better experience than I was anticipating, especially with how mixed Summer of Mara was in its gameplay and technical performance. While I certainly miss the depth of its farming systems and the more expansive 3D world, I think this newest entry finds the sweet spot of how the series could evolve into providing both types of experiences.
Developer - Chibig. Publisher - Chibig. Released - July 27th, 2023. Available On - Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Windows. Rated - (E 10+) - Fantasy Violence. Platform Reviewed - Steam / Steam Deck. Review Access - A review code was provided by the PR/publisher for the purpose of this review.
Jeff is the original founder of Analog Stick Gaming. His favorite games include The Witcher III, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Hi-Fi Rush, Stellar Blade, Hellbade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the Legend of Heroes series, especially Trails of Cold Steel III & IV.