DragoDino from Teal Rocks Studio is a cartoon roguelike platformer game is a mix of cuteness, challenges, frustration and lots of color. Adorably drawn graphics make this game seem as if it was designed for children, however, the intense frustration that tends to arise with platform video games is extremely present. Bob is a dinosaur who is a proud new father. He seems so happy until his child, not yet hatched, is stolen. Now he must fight his way through Forest’s Kingdom to reach the top of an enormous tree to retrieve his egg!
Randomly Generated Levels In DragoDino
While playing through the levels of the great big tree, players will encounter enemies and powerups. In order to beat the level, players must defeat the enemies who will drop blue crystals. Collect enough of the crystals and a path to the next level will open and give your dino enough power to jump to the next level’s platform. The deeper you dive into the game the harder the levels become and finding the blue crystals turns into a challenge on its own.
Randomly Generated Problems
In DragoDino, the levels are randomly generating causing an intense sense of wandering through an ever-changing forest. This isn’t the only aspect of the 2D platformer that causes a few problems for the players. Loading times are annoyingly long. Sometimes a level took so long to load I thought my Switch froze. Plus, the unforgiving design of the health system is discouraging when playing for a long period of time. Most characters have three heart capsules, until earning more, and they lose an entire capsule when merely tapping into an enemy. Once those capsules are drained, the player must restart the entire campaign! This portion of the game makes it more fun to play in short spurts rather than play through multiple levels.
Short Playtimes Are Nice
The ability to play DragoDino in short playtimes makes it all the more enjoyable by having it on the Nintendo Switch. When getting tired of racing or playing an intense RPG, having a break to attempt a level DragoDino is a fun break. And the bright and deep colors of the changing forest scenes gives it a pleasant gaming experience. Of course, having adorable playable dino characters helps!
Another thing that adds to the fun is the local co-op option. Sharing the Switch’s joy-con with a friend and playing in split screen mode is the best way to enjoy the challenge. Of course, the frustration of competing in a roguelike platformer is part of the experience.
Exploring each platform and discovering new hidden rooms is the most fun out the entire experience. I scarcely knew how many secrets lie within the game when I first began. Scrolls, hidden areas, diamonds and puzzle pieces are all placed throughout each level creating a heaven (or nightmare) for completionist gamers. Drago-Dino offers an intense merciless series of challenges that despite a few problems is extremely fun to play.
Drago-Dino hits the Nintendo eShop on April 27.
A code was supplied by Teal Rocks Studio for the purpose of this review.