Upon first blush, Lil Gator Sport seems to be like a zoomed-in and smoothed-out model of A Brief Hike. Whereas the sport does definitely look like closely influenced by the indie darling — from its cute animal characters to its bigger park setting — it was additionally clearly influenced by one other set of video games: The Legend of Zelda.
The builders at MegaWobble have packed Lil Gator Sport to the brim with Zelda references. The sport actually begins off with a dialog between two characters a few “legend of hero” recreation, and one of many first objects you get is a T-shirt turned glider with a design that appears similar to Hyperlink’s paraglider in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. However Lil Gator Sport isn’t only a clear ploy to attraction to longtime Zelda followers by means of references; it’s the Zelda-like I didn’t know I wanted. It combines the exploration components of Breath of the Wild with a way of allure and earnestness that jogs my memory of The Wind Waker, telling an overarching story that’s a joyous ode to these of us who grew up taking part in Zelda video games and eager to be Hyperlink.
Lil Gator Sport follows the story of somewhat gator — I named mine Ham — and their older sister. Once you begin, you see the 2 as youngsters as they resolve to make their very own model of a “legend of hero” recreation that they will play outdoors with two gamers. Quick-forward a couple of years, and the older sister has grown up and gone to school. To Ham’s delight, she returns dwelling for fall break, however he’s quickly unhappy to seek out she’s glued to her pc as she works on a bunch undertaking. Ham then takes it upon themselves to create a recreation that’s so cool that their sister can’t assist however wish to play once more, simply as the 2 did as youngsters.
Picture: MegaWobble/Playtonic Mates
The general premise of the sport is straightforward. Because the little gator, you run round searching for mates and full their requests as a part of your made-up recreation. There are further options that I’ll let gamers uncover for themselves, however the bulk of the in-game motion includes climbing, gliding, and gathering cardboard scraps from cutout props of enemies to craft new objects and outfits. As you discover the forested island park, you’ll enterprise up and round waterfalls, weave your manner by means of playsets, and take within the fall hues of the yellow, orange, and pink timber.
Whereas the gameplay appears to take extra affect from Breath of the Wild, what stood out to me, and what I really love concerning the recreation, is the way it balances the childlike veneer of the protagonist’s perspective with a poignant emotional core that’s harking back to Wind Waker.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker follows a younger Hyperlink who units out on a journey to save lots of his kidnapped sister from Ganon. It’s the primary Zelda recreation that made me cry; the clip of Hyperlink waving goodbye to his granny towards the massive blue sky completely seared itself into my childhood mind. That recreation, like many Zelda video games, has a somber story at its middle, nevertheless it additionally encompasses a cartoony, cel-shaded look and markedly whimsical dialogue and world design. Hyperlink fights monsters but in addition meets eccentric characters, like a person who dons an all-white fringe jacket and dances day and evening and a bunch of faculty youngsters who bully Hyperlink however then problem him to hide-and-seek.
Picture: MegaWobble/Playtonic Mates through Polygon
Lil Gator Sport accommodates the same sense of levity that I miss seeing in trendy Zelda video games. The sport oozes with childlike playfulness; some characters will burst into rainbow confetti to make an exit, and the scrawled textual content doesn’t have correct capitalization or punctuation. You may flip a nook on a hill and see a monkey sporting a tux and colourful bracelets as much as their armpits, or full a whole quest line to activate the water for the native splash pad.
However similar to in Wind Waker, the childlike nature of the sport pairs with its deeper emotional story. As you discover Lil Gator Sport’s world, you’ll discover that the island is imbued with the reminiscences of adventures previous; you’ll often see grayed-out variations of you and your sister that hook up with that previous. When you work together with these silhouettes, you’ll get to see all of the earlier reminiscences of your character and their sister — from the 2 sharing a quiet second between sheer cliffs to the pair joyfully bounding down a hill.
The stakes of Lil Gator Sport are markedly smaller than these in Wind Waker; you aren’t saving your sister from Ganon, however as an alternative from the stress of a bunch undertaking. Regardless, the emotional drive feels simply as essential. Everytime you full a quest, the gator sends a goofy selfie to their sister in a bid to point out them how cool the whole lot is. They typically double- and triple-text their sister of their pleasure, solely to obtain slightly muted responses. The gator’s earnest love for his or her sister feels nearly unhappy, but in addition shifting, because it neatly captures what a one-sided relationship can appear like when persons are at completely different phases of their lives.
It’s a stunning gem of a recreation that touches on my nostalgia for Zelda however nonetheless managed to inform a singular story by means of the gator and their sister’s relationship. It’s a narrative concerning the little gator’s deeper want to attach with somebody once more within the current, and the way video games facilitate that. So if you happen to’re searching for an enthralling pick-me-up earlier than The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom comes out, don’t ignore Lil Gator Sport.
