14 DAY TRIAL // Flying Wild Hog is one of the newest Polish studios that have appeared on the scene and, so far, the team made a name for itself as shooter experts, bringing forth the all-new Hard Reset, a sci-fi shooter, and Shadow Warrior, a remake of the classic shooter from the 1990s.
Given this pedigree, the announcement that Flying Wild Hog is working on a colorful puzzle platformer called Juju aimed at recreating the classic experiences from many years ago.
At Gamescom 2014, the studio brought forth a playable build of Juju, designed to show off the multitude of level themes as well as the local cooperative mode.
Juju allows players to control a small creature called, what else, Juju. The story follows the adventures of the small shaman panda, as due to pesky actions, an evil creature is unleashed on the world and, in order to lock it away, fragments of another mythical item must be found and used, while saving Juju's own father.
Juju can played alone, with one player controlling the creature, or via the local cooperative mode, with another player controlling a separate creature called Peyo, a lizard-like character reminiscent of Yoshi from the Mario franchise. If players don't like him, they can control another version of Juju with a different color.
In terms of actual gameplay, Juju is a rather simple puzzle platformer with the characters running through levels, collecting coins, and beating enemies by either stomping on their heads or by employing the use of a small dash move.
What makes Juju stand out is the fact that both Juju and Peyo can start beating on a pair of bongos and cause changes in the environment. If you play your song near foes, they start dancing, leaving them vulnerable to attacks.
The controls are really tight and Flying Wild Hog even confirmed that the first thing designed in the game was the jumping system, as it's crucial for practically any platformer.
The game in general is geared towards local cooperative play, as the Polish team wanted to deliver a game that can easily be played by parents with their children. The studio even went so far as to talk with kids between the ages of 5 and 10, and many found platformers, like the Rayman ones, to be complicated and designed rather awkwardly.
As such, Juju has a simple story and less confusing mechanics. Juju and Peyo gain different abilities throughout the game, such as the power to glide, swim underwater, or to stomp. Besides completing levels, there are also boss fights in the game. Each boss is fought two times. First, to unlock one of the special powers mentioned above, and a second time to actually use that ability against the enemy.
Juju is set to debut for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 later this year.